Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: Therefore translates a Hebrew connective which normally introduces a logical result, but in this context it introduces Elihu’s opinion that stands in contrast with verse 9. New Jerusalem Bible translates with “then.” “But” in New English Bible is more appropriate in English to show the contrast. This verse has three lines. Men of understanding is literally “men of heart” and will be repeated in verse 34. The “heart” is the seat of intelligence in Hebrew thought. In verse 1 Elihu appealed to the “wise” and the “learned,” and now he invites the “intelligent men,” or as Good News Translation says, “men who understand.” Elihu is no doubt continuing to speak with sarcasm in addressing the friends, and translators should reflect this, as in verse 1.

Far be it from God that he should do wickedness is an emphatic negative statement in Hebrew, which Good News Translation has expressed as a question expecting a negative answer, incorporating line c into line b. Lines b and c are parallel in meaning, with the usual word pair ʾEl and Shaddai used in that order. Far be it from is found also in Genesis 18.25. We may translate this phrase “God would never consider doing evil” or “Evil is the last thing God would think of doing.”

And from the Almighty that he should do wrong says almost the same thing as the previous line, but with Shaddai as the subject. The word pair translated wickedness in line b and wrong in line c is the same pair found in 27.7, rendered by Revised Standard Version as “wicked” and “unrighteous,” and translated by these same words in Good News Translation. There is no essential difference intended in their meanings, and they may be translated by similar words for evil or wickedness. In such close parallelism translators may wish to reduce the two lines to one.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .