Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power: this verse can be interpreted in various ways. Revised Standard Version depicts God as being gracious to the mighty but destroying them in verse 24. Another view is that the person who seizes the mighty rises up in his place. The Hebrew has “he draws the mighty one.” Although the subject appears to be the same as in the preceding verses, most interpreters take the subject here to be God. The mighty, which is plural, cannot be the grammatical subject, because the verbs are singular. Revised Standard Version understands the first verb to mean prolong, and supplies the life of as the object. The verb used here normally has an unfavorable connotation, so New English Bible “Yet God in his strength carries off even the mighty.” Good News Translation “God destroys the mighty” is correct but less specific. Bible en français courant translates “But God has the strength to expel the tyrants.” These renderings are to be preferred over Revised Standard Version.

They rise up when they despair of life: the Hebrew has “he rises up.” Revised Standard Version has now changed to the plural and assumes the subject is the men, not God. But it is more likely that the subject is still God, as in New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, and others. When they despair of life translates the Hebrew “and he does not establish them in life.” The same idiomatic phrase is found in Deuteronomy 28.66, translated by Revised Standard Version “and have no assurance of life.” This is taken to be the consequence of God rising up against a person, or as Good News Translation says, “God acts….” Bible en français courant translates “God rises up and these (the mighty) are no longer sure of living.” New Jerusalem Bible says “to take away a life that seemed secure.” Good News Translation identifies the subject as “the wicked man” and says more directly than New Jerusalem Bible “and the wicked man dies.” The line may also be rendered, for example, “God lifts his hand and the wicked person dies,” “God takes action and so the evil person dies,” or “when God decides the matter, the evil person’s life is finished.”

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 .