Scholars generally agree that in the Hebrew text verses 14-15 are unnatural in form, verse 14 being too short and verse 15 too long. Therefore the first two words of verse 15, translated the guests and in my house, are joined with the last word of verse 14, translated have forgotten me: verses 14 and 15a are thus one line in the Hebrew, and verse 15bc composes the next line. Revised Standard Version demonstrates the result of this shift.

My kinsfolk and my close friends have failed me: kinsfolk refers to “relatives,” as in Good News Translation, without specifying the degree of closeness of kinship. Close friends is “those knowing me,” similar to verse 13b. Job complains that these persons have failed me. The sense is that they have disappeared or “are gone” (Good News Translation). This line may also be expressed, for example, “My relatives and friends have abandoned me” or “My kinsmen and friends have left me.”

The guests in my house have forgotten me: these people have been visitors who have been guests in Job’s house, ones he has entertained. They have no need of Job now, and so they have forgotten him. These are former guests. In some languages guests must be rendered, for example, “people who have eaten my food” or “people who have slept in my house.”

My maidservants count me as a stranger: the Hebrew word translated maidservants also means “concubines.” Job begins with maidservants here and continues with “manservant” in verse 16a, a good reason for not taking maidservants to mean “concubines” here. Stranger translates a general word for foreigner, one who is not from the in-group or tribe; that is, an alien. This line may also be expressed “my (feminine) servants treat me as they would treat a stranger,” “my servants pay no more attention to me than they would pay to a stranger,” or “the women who work in my house treat me like a stranger.” If the treatment of strangers is ambiguous, it will be better to make it clear by saying, for example, “pay no attention to me” or “do not obey my orders.”

I have become an alien in their eyes: alien translates a word referring to a person from a strange land, or native from a different tribe. The words for stranger and alien overlap greatly in their meanings. In English “stranger” and “foreigner” are approximate equivalents. This line may be expressed “I am nothing more than a stranger to them.” According to chapters 1 and 2, Job’s servants have been killed, but nothing is gained by pressing this matter in a poetic story such as Job.

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 .