No mention is made of Elihu. The listing of the names of the three friends is in the same order as when they were introduced in 2.11. Good News Translation does not give the tribal or ethnic identifications of the three friends. These should be included in the translation, unless they are unacceptably redundant in the receptor language. In verse 8 God said that Job would pray for the friends, and in verse 9 Job has done this. Job’s prayer was that God would not disgrace the friends as they deserve. In this way the friends also come out with their integrity intact.

As in verse 8, the LORD accepted Job’s prayer is literally “the LORD accepted the face of Job,” which is to be taken as “the LORD answered Job’s prayer.” New English Bible avoids the repetition by bringing forward from verse 10 “when he had prayed for his friends,” and not repeating that clause again in verse 10. This is a recommended step, which gives a more logical order than either Revised Standard Version or Good News Translation. Therefore verse 9 may be translated, for example, as “Then Eliphaz the Temanite … did what the LORD told them to do, and God answered Job’s prayer when he prayed for his three friends.”

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 .