All men have looked on it: it refers to the work of God in verse 24a. The subject in both lines of verse 25 is “mankind,” and the verb in each line means “see.” Line a may be rendered “Everyone sees God’s work.” The second line man beholds it from afar is better expressed in the Good News Translation text than in the margin, “but we can only watch from a distance.” If “everyone” is used in line a, “they” may be appropriate in line b. The idea is that human beings see God’s works, but only imperfectly. Verse 25 may also be expressed “Everyone has seen the things God has made, but they have only seen them from a great distance.”

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 .