These two verses, like verses 7 and 8, consist of conditions in verse 9 followed by consequences in verse 10. These verses move directly into the specific sins.

If my heart has been enticed to a woman: enticed translates the Hebrew for “seduced,” which recurs in verse 27. It is the heart that is seduced. In verse 7 the heart follows after the eyes. The eye is the means by which the temptation reaches the center of desire and turns it into action. Woman here refers to a married woman, in contrast to the unmarried girl in verse 1. Good News Translation says “neighbor’s wife,” which it takes from the next line. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar, with “If I become passionate for my neighbor’s wife.”

And I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door: the thought here is of the male adulterer who watches for the opportunity to sin with his neighbor’s wife. Lain in wait is the same expression used in Proverbs 7.12, where, however, it is the woman waiting for the man. This is a military expression and is used in reference to setting up an ambush; that is, hiding to take someone by surprise. In 24.15 “the eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight.” Here too the man lurking outside is probably thought of as being in the dark or, as Good News Translation says, “hidden.” Neighbor translates the same word used in Exodus 20.17, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.” Neighbor’s door does not mean that the adulterer is to be pictured as lying close to the door, but at a distance where he can keep his eye on the door to see when the woman’s husband leaves the house. By placing “neighbor’s wife” in line a, Good News Translation has changed the poetic intensification between the two lines. However, translators may also find that this provides a clearer translation, since woman in line a may not be associated with neighbor’s door in line b. In some languages it may be necessary to make clear the implication of lain in wait at my neighbor’s door by saying, for example, “and I have waited for my neighbor to leave his house,” or the two lines may need to be transposed to say, for example, “If I have waited for my neighbor to leave his wife alone, because my heart has become passionate for her.”

Then let my wife grind for another: in Exodus 11.5; Isaiah 47.2, grinding is the work of the slave. According to Gordis the thought expressed here through the use of grind is sexual. This is a rabbinical interpretation followed by the Targums and the Vulgate. The following line makes this clear. If grind is not to be taken as having sexual relations, the sense is that his wife should become the servant and concubine of another man, and so sexual relations are implied. On one level grind is to be understood as being humiliated or placed in the relation of servant to another man. On another level the thought is that of being used sexually.

Translators must decide whether to use an expression which focuses upon grinding for another as a servant or as suggesting sexual relations. In some languages to cook for another has clear implications of having sexual relations. Because line a is more indirect than line b, it is better to reserve the direct expression of sexual relations for line b.

Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have substituted “cook,” which is more general. Bible en français courant says “work for another” in its text and gives the literal translation in a note. Moffatt gives a stronger sense to grind with “may my own wife be a slave to strangers,” and New English Bible is similar but has a note in some editions: “lit. grind corn for another.” This line may also be expressed, for example, “Then let my wife become another man’s servant,” “… my wife obey another man’s orders,” or “… my wife do what another man wants.”

And let others bow down upon her: in the view of the Old Testament, adultery was an offense against the husband of the adulteress. Adultery always involved a married woman; the marital status of the man was not considered. The punishment which Job calls down on himself really falls on his wife. However, according to Leviticus 20.10, both the adulterer and the adulteress were to be killed. (See Good News Translation verse 11.) Bow down translates a verb meaning “to bend or crouch down.” It is used in 39.3 of mountain goats squatting down to deliver their young. Here the term is used as a way of saying “let others have sexual relations with her.” Good News Translation “sleep in another man’s bed” is likewise the use of a mild figure which avoids a bolder expression such as “have sex with.” In many languages it will be necessary to avoid an expression that cannot be read in public. This may require the use of an indirect expression such as “sleep with,” “lie down with,” “go to bed with.”

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 .