Eliphaz’s point of departure is that God is disciplining Job, although this could hardly be Job’s view of the matter. Behold, happy is the man: Behold translates the same particle found in 4.3, but here it functions as a connective, according to Dhorme, linking verse 17 to verse 16. Its meaning as a linking word would be “and so, therefore, because of that”; however, most translations do not treat it as a linking word. In fact most do not translate it. Happy translates the same Hebrew expression found in Psalm 1.1; 94.12. It is the term used in the Old Testament to describe a fortunate person. Here it means that the person whom God reproves is to be considered fortunate, deserving congratulations. In translation the use of a term implying luck or chance should be avoided. The Hebrew word for man is ʾenosh and not ʾish as in Psalm 1.1. However, in the present context the word is general and refers to “anyone,” and so Good News Translation “Happy is the person.” God reproves translates “ʾEloah corrects (or, disciplines).” The word is used as a legal term in 13.3, where it has the meaning of making a charge against someone, “argue my case.” Here it means to correct someone for misconduct, to reprimand, rebuke.
The verb in line a of verse 17, reproves, is in the third person singular, but the verb despise shifts to the second person imperative in line b. Such a shift is not natural in some languages. Therefore it will sometimes be necessary to shift line a to the second person; for example, “You are a fortunate person to have God correct you,” or idiomatically, “… when God makes you walk a straight path.” Alternatively we can translate both lines as third person, so that line b would be, for example, “Therefore such a person should not resent it when God rebukes him.”
Despise not the chastening of the Almighty: despise is not to be taken in the sense of “to hate” but rather “reject, refuse, repel, turn down.” Chastening translates a Hebrew term for disciplined teaching in wisdom, as seen in Proverbs 1.3; 23.12. In Proverbs 3.11-12 “The LORD reproves him whom he loves.” The word is close in meaning to reproves in line a.
The Almighty translates the Hebrew Shaddai, which appears here for the first time in Job but occurs thirty-nine times throughout the book. Shaddai is a name for God used mainly in Genesis and Exodus. Some interpreters suggest that the poet uses this name to give his poem the atmosphere of the patriarchal setting. The meaning of Shaddai is obscure, and some translations retain it as a proper name (New Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Dhorme). Others like Good News Translation translate it here as “God,” but elsewhere Good News Translation uses “Almighty God,” and once “The Almighty.” (See the section entitled “The names of God” in the introduction, “Translating the Book of Job,” page 21.) Based on the traditional usage of the Almighty, translators may wish to adapt this to say something like “God who is very powerful,” “God the great and mighty one,” “The mighty God,” “The most powerful God,” “God who can do all things,” or “The most powerful One.” The two lines are parallel, with little if any step-up of intensification in the second line. “God corrects” in line a is matched by “Shaddai disciplines” in line b. The noun phrase chastening of the Almighty must often be expressed as a clause; for example, “The teaching (guidance, discipline) which God gives you,” or “When God instructs and corrects you.”
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 .