My words declare the uprightness of my heart is literally “Uprightness of heart are my words.” Declare is supplied by Revised Standard Version, since there is no verb in this line in Hebrew. According to Revised Standard Version Elihu is trying to establish his honesty by what he says. Scholars differ considerably in their handling of this verse. This is mainly because the two lines are not balanced. Therefore it is necessary to look at the second line: and what my lips know they speak sincerely. Some feel that lips know is not a suitable combination, since lips speak but do not know. (But we can understand that this figure is a part [lips] representing the whole person [Elihu], and he is again attempting to state that he has knowledge.) By transferring the word know, which is the first word in line b in the Hebrew text, to line a, and changing the noun meaning uprightness to a similar verb meaning “confirm,” New English Bible translates “My heart assures me that I speak with knowledge.” This then allows New English Bible to render the second line “and that my lips speak with sincerity.” Habel, on the other hand, keeps the two lines parallel, and without making any change in the text he translates “With uprightness my heart states my case; with knowledge my lips argue clearly.” In this case the verb in line a is supplied from line b. This is preferable to Good News Translation, which has not shifted knowledge to line a nor translated it in line b. The verse may also be expressed, for example, “I argue my case with a good heart and say it clearly.”

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 .

In spite of my right I am counted a liar: a comparison of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation will show how differently this verse can be translated. A literal translation of line a in the Hebrew can be “Upon (or, With regard to, In spite of) my right I lie.” The problem in line a is I am counted a liar, which translates the Hebrew “I lie,” occurring in the intensive form of the verb. The Septuagint has “he lies.” Scholars suggest that the Hebrew “I lie” is a scribal change to avoid calling God a liar. Dhorme therefore changes it to “he speaks falsely,” and this is followed by New English Bible, “he has falsified my case,” to which Hebrew Old Testament Text Project agrees.

It should be remembered that Elihu is here quoting Job, and that in the previous line God is the subject. It is logical and fits the context to assume that God is the subject of this line also. Accordingly the preferred rendering of this line is something like “He (God) does not speak the truth about my case,” “What God says about my case is not correct,” “God lies about my right to be heard.” Bible en français courant says in its text “He (God) does not judge me according to the truth,” and in its footnote “He lies concerning my case.”

However, many modern translations keep “I lie” in the sense of Revised Standard Version I am counted (by God) a liar. Some translations take “I lie” in a hypothetical sense; for example, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “It would be a lie to admit that I am guilty.” Good News Translation keeps “I lie” and makes it into a rhetorical question. Translators are advised to translate as in the previous paragraph.

My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression: my wound translates “my arrow,” which is generally understood to be the poetic use of the instrument for wounding in place of the result. In 6.4 Job says “The arrows of the Almighty are in me.” His wound is incurable and so leads to death. Accordingly Good News Translation translates “I am fatally wounded.” Without transgression means “I am innocent.” So the whole line says “In spite of being innocent, I am dying from my wound.” In some languages the cause of the wound may have to be stated, expressing this line as, for example, “although I am innocent, I am dying from the wounds God has given me” or “I have done no wrong, yet God has wounded me and I am dying.” This line ends the quotation, as understood in Revised Standard Version and others, and should be marked as such.

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 .

Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out probably refers again to Job’s observations in 24.12, in which the oppressed cry out, but God does not hear them. Elihu will offer an explanation why God does not answer. Multitude of oppressions renders what in Hebrew probably means “excess of oppressions,” which can be better translated as “being greatly oppressed.” Good News Translation translates this expression as a subordinate clause, “When men are oppressed….” The reason people cry out is that they are severely oppressed.

They call for help because of the arm of the mighty: arm of the mighty refers to someone who is powerful, and is similar to the use of “arm of the man” in the Hebrew of 22.8. For help is not in the Hebrew, but Revised Standard Version makes it explicit, as does Good News Translation with “for someone to save them.” Because … mighty may be omitted in translation if it results in bad style or is confusing; otherwise it should be retained as in the model examples. This line may also be expressed, for example, “and they call for someone to save them from the powerful” or “they call out for someone to defend them against those in power.”

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 .

Dhorme, New American Bible, New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Pope, and Moffatt place verse 31 after verse 28, where it fits much better. This Handbook recommends that translators move verse 31 to this position, so that the order of verses will be: 28, 31, 29, 30, 32. It may be advisable to number this group of verses “28-32.” If the traditional order of verses is retained, an alternative suggestion is given in the discussion of verse 31. The Hebrew text of verse 29a begins with “also,” since Elihu is posing an additional rhetorical question.

Can any one understand the spreading of the clouds…? assumes a negative answer. Spreading translates a verb meaning “stretch out” and is used in 26.9, where God is said to spread clouds over the face of the moon. In this context it refers to the drifting motion of the clouds. Good News Translation expresses this line as a negative statement: “No one knows how the clouds move.” Verse 29 may be rendered as a question: “Can anyone understand how God makes the clouds move across the sky, or how the thunder roars across the heavens where God lives? No one!”

The thunderings of his pavilion translates the Hebrew literally, but most readers will get little of its significance. Thunderings here refers to the noise made by lightning in a storm. The word for pavilion is used in 27.18, where it refers to the hut of a watchman. Here the reference is to God’s abode in heaven, as in Psalm 18.11, “his canopy thick clouds dark with water.” In order to make this line clear, Good News Translation has used two lines to translate what in Hebrew is two words. Good News Translation has expressed thunderings as a verb phrase, and pavilion as “the sky, where God dwells.”

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 .

Who determined its measurements is a question concerning the work of the designer or architect. The question in the next line concerns the surveyor and in verse 6 the engineer. This line asks “Who decided what its dimensions would be?” or, as Good News Translation says, “Who decided how large it would be?” Surely you know! would follow naturally as a conclusion if Job had been present at creation, but since he obviously was not, Revised Standard Version makes this comment particularly ironical. As sarcasm it has the meaning “You don’t know at all.” New English Bible translates “surely you should know.” Some translations play down the irony; for example, New Jerusalem Bible says “… do you know?” Revised Standard Version is to be preferred. Good News Translation‘s translation is a good model to follow. We may also say, for example, “Who decided what its measurements would be?” Good News Translation rightly transfers surely you know to the end of verse 5 so that it applies to both lines, and this is recommended to translators.

Or who stretched the line upon it? gives a picture of calculated measurements being made to assure the exactness of the construction. For the use of the measuring line see also Jeremiah 31.39; Zechariah 1.16. Stretched is the same verb used in 9.8, where Job says of God, “who alone stretched out the heavens.” Stretching a line or cord between fixed points is the preliminary task in construction, equivalent to surveying to get the angles square and the sides straight. Upon it refers to the earth in verse 4. In many language areas no careful measurements are made when preparing to build a house. No angles are square nor are lines straight. However, it is often possible to say, for example, “Who walked across it to fix its direction?” or “Who laid a bamboo pole down to get it straight?”

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 .

Can you number the months that they fulfil…? asks if Job can tell how many months these animals carry their young; that is, how long they are pregnant before giving birth. The question in verse 2b repeats the question of verse 1a and most probably refers to goats and deer. Verse 2 may also be expressed, for example, “Do you know how many months they carry their offspring?” or “… they are pregnant?” Line b may be joined to line a; for example, “Do you know how many months these animals carry their young (inside them) and the time when they give birth?”

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 .

I have spoken once … twice … shows how Hebrew parallelism almost always has a smaller number in the first line than in the second. For a similar example with the numbers six and seven, see 5.19. In line b the increase is plus one, and so twice. This does not mean that Job has spoken two or three times, but “again and again,” “over and over,” or perhaps in this context “I have already said too much.” If the parallel lines are being retained, it is not necessary to keep the numerical device if that is not a natural figure in the translator’s language. For example, “I have spoken out, and so I will not say any more” or “I have said it too often, and now will say no more.” If the translator is not retaining the parallel lines, Good News Translation may be followed.

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 .