He scorns the tumult of the city depicts the wild donkey scorning (literally “laughing at”) the noisy city. The wild donkey sees no reward in living under the stress and din of civilization. In the open deserts he is free to roam, and, unlike his domesticated cousin, he hears not the shouts of the driver. Shouts translates the same word rendered “thunderings” in 36.29. In 3.18 the word here rendered driver was translated as “taskmaster,” meaning the one who oversees slaves doing forced labor. See Isaiah 9.4. Driver refers here to the man who drives the animals, making them work, a task that is carried out by whipping the animals and shouting commands at them. The fortunate wild donkey hears none of this abuse. Good News Translation‘s rendering is too general and should not be followed.

In languages in which scorns or “laughs at” cannot be said of a donkey or other animal, translators must often express this differently; for example, “He avoids the noise of the city,” or as in Good News Translation, “keep far away from the noisy cities.” The second line may also be expressed “they never hear donkey-drivers shouting at them” or “they never hear men shouting at them to make them work.”

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 .