My glory fresh with me: in verse 20 there is no parallelism between the two lines, although some scholars suggest a change from glory to get “spear” in order to create a parallelism with bow in line b. However, there is no need to create parallel lines where they do not exist. Glory here refers to Job’s position of honor, his reputation as a man of respect, as seen in verses 7-10. Fresh translates an adjective meaning “new,” and glory is fresh in that it is constantly being “renewed within me.” In other words Job was constantly being reminded by the people of his honor and prestige, and Moffatt translates the line as “Fresh honors fall to me,” and Good News Translation “Everyone was always praising me.” The line may be rendered, for example, “The people were always telling me how much they respected me” or “People never ceased showing me great respect.”

And my bow ever new in my hand: the idea is not that Job was ready to fight, but that he had constant and unfailing strength. Bible en français courant keeps the metaphor: “and my strength to act like a well-strung bow.” Ever new translates the causative form of a verb meaning “renew.” The same verb is used in 14.7, which Good News Translation translates “come back to life.” Good News Translation “My strength never failed me” expresses the sense correctly, avoiding the figure of the bow. This line may also be expressed “I was always receiving new strength,” “new strength was always filling me,” “I was constantly being strengthened,” or “I never lacked for strength.”

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 .