He who withholds kindness from a friend: the first line of this verse is difficult to interpret. Nearly every translation consulted is different. Since the next line is clear, it sometimes helps to start from there; and most interpreters look for something that will match forsakes the fear of the Almighty. Dhorme makes a change in the first word in line a to get “despise or scorn,” and the subject of this action is a friend. By his account line a would be “His friend has scorned compassion” or “His friend has refused to be compassionate.” Forsakes is thus matched by “scorn.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project considers the word rendered “scorn” to mean “the one who collapsed” and rates the reading “B,” which means that there is some doubt about the word translated withholds in Revised Standard Version. Kindness and Good News Translation “loyal” translate the Hebrew chesed, meaning pity, mercy, compassion, which are the result of a relationship of loyalty. If line a is taken to mean “His friend has failed to show mercy,” it matches extensively with the whole of line b.
In nearly all translations line a is in the third person singular. Only Good News Translation shifts to “I,” Job speaking of himself. New Jerusalem Bible keeps it general but shifts to second person. Translators are free to follow Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, or another translation, but may need to provide a note saying the Hebrew is unclear in line a. Some other renderings which may be used are: Bible en français courant “The downtrodden man has a right to a bit of goodness from a friend”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “He who is down and out needs a true friend”; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “The man who has collapsed has the right to the mercy of his neighbor”; New Jerusalem Bible “Refuse faithful love to your neighbor (and you forsake the fear of Shaddai)”; New International Version “A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends.” Many of these translations are followed in line b by a concessive clause such as “even though he forsakes the fear of God.”
The difficulties in verse 14a are such that a clear translation decision is not possible. The Handbook, however, prefers to interpret Job as saying that failure to be compassionate to another person is the same as turning away from the fear of God; that is, it is the same as having no reverence for God. In this view it is the person who shows no love for a friend who also shows no respect for God. Translators may find that the use of the third person is unclear. (Note that in verse 21 Job switches to the second person.) In that case it is possible to speak here in the second person so that Job is addressing the friends: “When you (plural) fail to show kindness to me, you (plural) also show no respect for God.” If the third person is used, we may say, for example, “People who do not show love for their friends likewise do not show reverence for God Almighty.”
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 .