So in verse 7 marks the conclusion of the first scene. Satan’s departure serves as a transition which brings him back to Job on earth (without saying so). In some languages such time and place movements must be very explicit; for example, “So Satan left the place where the LORD was, and went to Job’s place; having arrived at Job’s home, Satan caused Job to break out with bad sores.”

So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD: as in 1.12, Satan leaves immediately to undertake his new task.

Afflicted Job with loathsome sores: unlike 1.13, which opened a new scene on earth at the banqueting of Job’s children, verse 7 has no defined setting. Sores translates a Hebrew term which is associated with skin disease in Leviticus 13.18-20. Interpreters have offered various medical identifications of Job’s disease: elephantiasis, biskra button, eczema, erythema, smallpox, leprosy, malignant ulcers, and many others. The same word is used for boils in Exodus 9.9-11. The author is not concerned to identify the disease but to show the degree of suffering.

These awful sores covered Job’s entire body from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Good News Translation “all over his body” is a generic way of expressing the extent of the sores. Most modern versions consulted retain the physical extent in terms of “from head to foot”; so Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, New English Bible, New American Bible. The translation of loathsome sores may sometimes be rendered as “painful boils,” “running ulcers,” or simply “a bad skin disease.”

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 .

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered: in Hebrew this formula is “Then answered (name of speaker) and said.” It is in prose form and its function is to mark the introduction of each new or next speaker. Answered does not mean literally that the speaker replied to a question that has been asked. In fact the new speaker may open a new line of thought that has little or nothing to do with what the previous speaker has said. Therefore the word answered may be inappropriate in this context. New English Bible has “Then Eliphaz the Temanite began:…,” Bible en français courant “Then Eliphaz of Teman spoke up (prit alors la parole) and said to Job….” New Jerusalem Bible says “Eliphaz of Teman spoke next. He said:….” Good News Translation and others reduce this formula to nothing more than speaker identification in italics, “Eliphaz.” Translators must consider carefully the most natural manner to signal the change of speaker and to introduce each following speaker. In some languages the use of speaker identification in the margin will be unfamiliar, and in others it may be more customary to identify the speaker by origin than by name. In some languages it may be better to place the speaker identification at the end or to repeat it at the end by saying, for example, “This is what Eliphaz from the city of Teman said when he spoke to Job,” or in direct address, “I am Eliphaz, and those are the words I spoke to Job.” See 2.11 for suggestions on the transliteration of proper nouns.

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 .

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 .

That you can reprove words: Job is driven to the conclusion that his visitors are deceitful, because they devise arguments to correct him and disregard what he says in his despair. Reprove words should be taken to mean “make up words of reproof,” “correct what I say,” “set me right.”

Speech of a despairing man is wind: as a dependent clause, line b in Revised Standard Version implies that what Job says is really wind, a position which Job obviously does not accept. Good News Translation avoids this by making line b a statement: “You think I am talking nothing but wind.” To do this Good News Translation has switched the order of the lines. It is not necessary, however, to switch the lines. New International Version, for example, says “Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?” Despairing man translates a word also found in Isaiah 57.10 and Jeremiah 2.25, where Revised Standard Version has “hopeless” in both places. New Jerusalem Bible translates line b “but count a hopeless man’s words as wind.” Wind translates “for the wind,” meaning without substance, not serious, foolish. In some languages this verse may be restructured to say, for example, “Do you think you can correct my ways when you look on me as hopeless and speaking foolish words?” or “… as a man who has lost hope and speaks foolishness?”

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 .

His confidence breaks in sunder: breaks in sunder translates a word (uncertain whether noun or verb) that occurs only here. Assuming that its meaning matches spider’s web in the next line, interpreters have deduced a wide range of meanings. It is impossible with the evidence available to say with any degree of certainty what the meaning is. The apparent reference is to something fragile, and modern translators use “thread, feather,” or “gossamer.” New International Version says “fragile,” and the use of such a general description may be better than the more specific objects that symbolize it. Note also that the occurrence of “hope” in verse 13, which in Hebrew sounds like “thread,” may mean the author is using a wordplay here, to show that hope is fragile as thread, or even as a spider’s web. For confidence see 4.6. In some languages this idea is expressed idiomatically; for example, “He places his heart on something that is easily broken.”

His trust is a spider’s web: Revised Standard Version has a note “Hebrew house.” In Hebrew, as in Arabic, a spider’s web is literally “spider’s house.” The word translated trust means “security” and occurs in 18.14, and also in 31.24, where the same parallelism is found again. This series of images highlights the inevitable failure of the godless, according to Bildad’s understanding. From a general statement in the first line, the thought moves to something much more specific with the use of spider’s web here. This line means that his security or safety is as fragile as a spider’s web, and it may be appropriate to translate with a simile making clear the fragile aspect: “His safety is as fragile as a spider’s web” or “He cannot be protected more than a spider’s web would protect him.”

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 .

He deprives of speech those who are trusted: deprives of speech translates the Hebrew idiom “removes the lip,” and this is rendered by Good News Translation “He silences….” Those who are trusted translates a word which has the meaning of “truthful, sincere” as well as “steadfast, faithful, trusted.” Dhorme translates “He deprives of speech the truthful,” but this sense does not fit the context as well as Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and others. The line may be rendered, for example, “He closes the mouths of those whom the people trust,” “He will not allow truthful people to speak,” “He causes the faithful to be silent,” or “He causes people whom others trust to be silent.”

And takes away the discernment of the elders: discernment translates the Hebrew “taste” and refers to the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong. It is rendered in English by such words as “judgment, insight, good sense.” In 12.12 wisdom is a quality of “the aged,” and Good News Translation, which translated there “old men have wisdom,” here says “wisdom of old men.” This line may also be expressed, for example, “and he takes away from the old people their good judgment” or “and he removes from old people their ability to know right from wrong.”

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 .