There are three lines in verse 16 instead of the usual two, and the division between the first two is uncertain.
He also allured you out of distress has no specific subject, but Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version are no doubt correct in making God the subject. Allured translates a verb whose tense does not make clear whether Elihu is describing Job’s past experience, as in Revised Standard Version, or some future possibility, as in New International Version, “He is wooing you from the jaws of distress.” Allured translates the same verb used in 2.3, where God says that Satan “moved me” (Revised Standard Version), “persuaded me” (Good News Translation). In Deuteronomy 13.6 the same verb is translated by Revised Standard Version as “entices.” Some interpreters consider it unlikely that God is the subject if this verb is used in its usual sense of “entice.” Some take the subject to be a broad place in line b. Accordingly Moffatt translates “your wide freedom has beguiled you.” Out of distress is literally “from the mouth of distress.” Some change this to get “wealth,” and so “wealth has enticed you” or “riches have seduced you.” Dhorme understands the verb rendered allured to mean “remove,” and regards it as a movement to a more specific term than the general verb “delivers” in verse 15a. He translates “and similarly he will remove you from the jaws of trouble.” This is similar to Good News Translation “God brought you out of trouble” and is recommended.
Into a broad place translates a single Hebrew word which has been rendered “expanse, freedom, abundance, amplitude” and is followed by where there was no cramping, which is literally simply “no cramping” and has the apparent sense of “unconfined, without restriction.” Then the Hebrew adds “instead of it” or “beneath it.” Dhorme transfers “instead of it” to the beginning of line b and makes line b contrast with distress: “instead of it (trouble), you will enjoy unrestricted abundance.” Good News Translation understands a broad place to refer to security and translates “and let you enjoy security.” This is as good a guess as any, and far better than referring to unlimited space, as in Revised Standard Version and others. This line may also be rendered “and takes good care of you” or “and provides for your needs.”
And what was set on your table was full of fatness: set is uncertain. The word is used in Isaiah 30.15, where it means “quietness or resting.” Dhorme gives it the meaning of “filled,” “And your table will be filled….” Good News Translation has “Your table was piled high….” Fatness in this context refers to rich food, as in Isaiah 55.2, where Good News Translation translates “the best food of all.” Although Good News Translation is recommended as a suitable model for translating verse 16, Rowley offers a different one in which wealth is the subject in line a: “Wealth hath enticed thee, unlimited abundance behind thee, thy table loaded with rich food.” Another possibility is “God took away your misfortune; in its place he gave you all you could want, and even your table was loaded with the richest foods.”
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 .