They send forth their little ones like a flock: each pair of lines in verses 11 and 12 is closely parallel in meaning; for this reason Good News Translation reduces each verse to one line. Job depicts the children of the wicked running and playing like lambs in a pasture. A similar picture is found in Zechariah 8.5. Send forth is used to portray the children going out from their homes like sheep leaving the enclosure and going to the pasture. Their little ones means young children old enough to run and play. Lambs are known for their playful behavior. This line may be rendered, for example, “Their children run like lambs as they play” or “Their children play like lambs in a flock.” In languages in which sheep are not known, it may be possible to substitute another domestic animal or, more often, “Their children run about in happy play.”

And their children dance: children is parallel with little ones in line a and refers to the same children. Bible de Jérusalem and New Jerusalem Bible translate “Their children dance like deer.” This addition is inspired by Psalm 114.4-6 but not recommended by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. Good News Translation has transferred dance to verse 12, “and dance to the music,” which makes a smoother translation.

They sing to the tambourine and the lyre: in Hebrew there are three musical instruments named in verse 12. The first is a percussion instrument translated tambourine, the second a stringed instrument most often translated “harp” but sometimes lyre, and the third, which is in line b, is a wind instrument translated pipe or more commonly “flute.” For more detailed descriptions and use of these instruments, translators should consult a Bible dictionary. Good News Translation translates only “harps and flutes.” The sense is that the children sing to the accompaniment of these instruments, that is, while the instruments are playing. Good News Translation has shifted dance from verse 11 to verse 12 and omits sing, but the text portrays the children doing both. For the stringed instrument which accompanied the tambourine, Bible en français courant has “guitar” and Bible de Jérusalem has “zither,” which seems to be the instrument used in 1 Samuel 10.5. This line may also be expressed “The children sing as people play the tambourine and the lyre.” In some languages these instruments will be a local drum and a stringed instrument; the latter may be a guitar.

And rejoice to the sound of the pipe: translators differ somewhat as to the activity of the children in this line. The general sense is “to make merry,” which does not specify any particular kind of action, but for children it implies jumping, skipping, or dancing about. They do this in response to the sounds made by the pipe or “flute,” the wind instrument. If there is no wind instrument available to translate pipe, a different kind of instrument may be used. If no musical instrument is available, it may be necessary to borrow a word and say, for example, “a musical instrument called the flute.” If this is not possible, the translator may have to express verse 12 differently; for example, “The children dance and sing and make joyful sounds.”

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 .