Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up…? is the second question put to Job about a bird of prey; this time the bird is the eagle or vulture. The term translated as eagle is the same as that in 9.26. The Septuagint translated “vulture,” and this is followed by Bible en français courant, Bible de Jérusalem, and New English Bible. Pope says the word nesher designates both eagles and vultures, including the golden eagle and the carrion vulture. In modern times eight species of eagles and four of vultures are found in Palestine. Although most modern translations have eagle, the context of verses 28-30 describes the vulture better than the eagle. Mounts up refers to the soaring or high flying habits of these birds. Line a may be rendered “Do you give the eagle (vulture) the command that makes it fly high into the sky?” or “Do you order the vulture (eagle) to soar in the sky?”

The second question asks if Job commands this bird to make his nest on high. On high refers to a high mountainous area, which Good News Translation translates “high in the mountains.” In languages in which there are few hills and no mountains, the description in verse 27 will require saying something like “Does the eagle wait for you to tell it to build its nest on the highest rocks?” or “… on the highest place it can find?”

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 .