Therefore snares are round about you: in verse 10 Eliphaz’s list of oppressive acts has built up to a conclusion marked by Therefore, meaning “it is for that reason.” Snares are round about you recalls the figurative language used by Bildad in chapter 18. In 18.11 Bildad said “terrors frighten him on every side.” The word translated snares is the same word translated “trap” in 18.9a (Revised Standard Version). See 18.8-10 for discussion. Good News Translation and New English Bible translate “pitfalls” and so have chosen a different kind of trap than that suggested by the Hebrew. In some languages where snares are not known, it may be necessary to say, for example, “And because of all this you are in danger” or “And now you are in trouble.”

And sudden terror overwhelms you: sudden is often used with fear, panic, terror, or death in the Old Testament (Lev 26.16; Job 9.23; Prov 3.25; Zeph 1.18), and once with “destruction” in the New Testament (1 Thes 5.3). The terror or “fear” comes unexpectedly, when a person is least prepared for it. The word translated overwhelms was seen in 4.5 and 21.6. Good News Translation renders it “suddenly you are full of fear,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “and sudden terrors make you afraid.” This line may also be expressed, for example, “and without knowing it terror takes hold of you” or “suddenly you are badly frightened.”

Your light is darkened, so that you cannot see: this line in Hebrew is literally “Or darkness that you cannot see.” Revised Standard Version and others follow the Septuagint in adjusting verse 11a by changing the word translated “or” to your light, and “darkness” to is darkened, and supplying so that before you cannot see. These changes, which are considerable, followed by many interpreters. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project admits that the Hebrew “or darkness” is very doubtful, giving it a “C” rating, but supplies “there is” to get “Or (there is) darkness.” Good News Translation has preferred to keep the Hebrew and thus avoid referring directly to light, by saying “It has grown so dark that you cannot see.” Bible en français courant has likewise avoided the Septuagint change by referring to the night: “The night darkens on you and you see nothing there.” Good News Translation and Bible en français courant are preferred. However, if light is retained, it may be necessary to say in some languages, for example, “your light goes out and you cannot see in the dark,” “everything becomes dark and you cannot see,” or “you cannot see because the night is without any light.”

And a flood of water covers you: the wording of verse 11b is the same as 38.34b, but in a different context. The thought of this line is expressed in greater detail in Psalm 69.1-2. Darkness and floods are common images for the threats of death. The line may also be expressed, for example, “and you are drowned by a flood” or “and you sink into the flood waters and drown.”

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 .