These three verses may be taken together, since they use similar images to express Bildad’s belief that the wicked cannot escape the disaster that is about to fall on them. In verses 5-6 there was a four-fold parallelism relating to light; in verses 8-10 there is a six-fold repetition of a single theme using six different words for various kinds of traps. Good News Translation expresses verses 8 and 9 in one line each and uses three words for trap: “net, trap, snare.” Revised Standard Version uses five terms, and New English Bible six.

For he is cast into a net by his own feet: the word translated net refers to a large net capable of catching a person. It is used in Psalm 9.16; 25.15: “The wicked are snared in the work of their hands,” and “… he will pluck my feet out of the net.” By his own feet means that “his walk, his manner of living” leads him to the net. In languages which have a variety of traps for catching animals and birds, terms for these may be used, provided they are not too technical to be known by most readers. In languages in which no traps are known, considerable adjustments will be required. This line may also be rendered, for example, “His own feet cause him to fall into a net” or “His own feet carry him to a trap which catches him.” If no such net or trap is known, we may say, for example, “His way of living causes him to fall” or “The evil he does causes him to stumble.”

And he walks on a pitfall: the word translated pitfall suggests a covering of interwoven materials. Branches are woven lightly together and placed over a deep hole into which the victim falls when he walks over it. Good News Translation reduces the two lines of verse 8 to one, and translators may also find this line redundant. In languages in which pitfalls are known, it may be necessary to say, for example, “he steps on a pitfall and falls in” or “he is caught when he walks across a pitfall.”

A trap seizes him by the heel: trap translates a word which designates a bird snare in Hosea 9.8, where Revised Standard Version calls it “fowler’s snare.” The nature of this trap is not entirely clear, but it seems to have been operated by a spring mechanism that trapped the bird’s foot.

A snare lays hold of him: here again the translated word refers to some kind of woven material or mesh, but the nature of the snare and its use are not known. A general term for trap can be used, if there is such in the translator’s language. The poetic device used by the poet is the progressive use of the smaller trap, which has the effect of focusing on the details in verses 9 and 10. Heel is probably used as a part of the foot standing for the whole foot. Since it may not be clear how one is trapped by the heel, it may be better to reduce the two lines to one and say, for example, “A trap catches him by the foot” or “He steps on a trap and it takes hold of his foot.”

A rope is hid for him in the ground: rope here most likely refers to a hidden noose that is attached at the other end to a bent bough or small tree which springs upright and tightens the noose around the victim when the trap is sprung. For similar thoughts see Psalm 140.5; 142.3b.

A trap for him in the path: this line states that the noose would be placed in the path where he would walk and step on it. The word translated trap occurs only here in the Old Testament. It is derived from the verb meaning “to trap or catch animals” and so is a general term. Verse 10 may be rendered, for example, “The noose of a rope is hidden in his path.” If the picture is not clear, it will often be sufficient to say, for example, “In the path where he walks, a trap is set for him,” or in languages which avoid the passive, “Someone has set a trap for him on the path where he walks.”

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 .