If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?: Elihu again picks up the thought Job expressed as a rhetorical question in 7.20: “If I sin, what do I do to thee…?” What do you accomplish against him translates “what do you do against him,” which is equivalent to asking “how does that affect God?” or as a statement, “that does not affect God” or “that is nothing to God.” The line may also be rendered, for example, “If you sin, that is nothing to God,” or “If you sin, how does that do anything to God?” or “… what difference does it make to God?”

And if your transgressions are multiplied: transgressions means the same in noun form as sinned in line a. Multiplied means “over and over, again and again, repeatedly.” The question part of the sentence has the same meaning as in line a. In Hebrew, as in Revised Standard Version, both lines consist of an “if” clause followed by a question. Good News Translation makes line a an “if” clause followed by a negative statement, but uses the question form in line b for variety of style.

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 .