For she leaves her eggs to the earth: leaves in the sense of “abandon” is argued against by some scholars who understand the verb to mean “lays,” and this implies that the ostrich cares for its eggs. From the content of verses 15-18 it is clear that the poet takes the proverbial view of the careless ostrich. Therefore Good News Translation translates “The ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground.”

And lets them be warmed on the ground implies that the ostrich does not cover the eggs with her body but wanders off and lets the heat from the sun and the earth keep them warm. Verse 15 makes clear that in this line the ostrich is not warming her eggs in the sand while she sits on them, but that they are warmed by other means after she has walked away, or, as New English Bible says, “she abandons … letting them be kept warm by the sand,” which may also be rendered “letting the sand keep them warm.”

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 .