See the paragraph introducing verse 29 for comments on the relationship of these verses to those before and after it.

If the men of my tent have not said: Revised Standard Version continues to translate with an “if” clause, while Dhorme continues to use the question form, and here Good News Translation uses a strong positive statement. The “if” clause is the least satisfactory for English, since there is no consequence to follow, either immediately or later in the chapter. The question form assumes a positive answer, which makes the positive statement a more direct and satisfactory form to use, at least for English. The men of my tent is understood by Good News Translation as “all the men who work for me.” However, the reference is more to Job’s own “household.” The Hebrew word for tent is nearly the same as the Arabic word for “family.” Tent may be taken in a wide sense to include one’s relatives, and so New Jerusalem Bible translates “my clan.” The idea of the kin group expressed as “household” is followed by New English Bible, New International Version, Moffatt, Pope, Habel. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “those who lived with me.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “guests,” and Bible en français courant “those whom I lodged.”

Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?: this line, which is a quotation in Revised Standard Version, has three principal interpretations. The least likely, proposed by Tur-Sinai and supported by Pope, takes filled with his meat to mean “to abuse him sexually,” which Pope renders “If males of my household ever said, ‘O that we might sate ourselves with his flesh,’ ” that is, “have homosexual relations with him,” as in the case of the men of Sodom in Genesis 19. Another view is related to the expression “eat my flesh,” which occurs in Psalm 27.2 and which Revised Standard Version renders “uttering slanders against me”; New English Bible takes this view and translates here “speak ill of.” The weakness of appealing to Psalm 27.2 is that the idiom used there refers to death and destruction of the psalmist, and not just to slander. Certainly the most widely accepted meaning is that no one would say that Job has not satisfied their appetites and filled their stomachs with his food. New Jerusalem Bible translates “Will anyone name a person whom he has not filled with meat?” Good News Translation avoids misunderstandings that can arise from being too specific in this verse, by saying “I have always welcomed strangers.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar but more detailed with “Whoever was my guest will testify for me that everyone was richly and well entertained.”

Translators are faced with several ways to formulate the relation of the lines of verse 31. As a question we may translate “Have not the men who live in my house asked, ‘Who is there who has not eaten well at Job’s table?’ ” As a statement we may translate, for example, “Everyone in my family knows that anyone who came to me was well satisfied with the food he got.”

The sojourner has not lodged in the street: for the use of parentheses in Revised Standard Version, see verses 5 and 18. Sojourner translates the word used in 19.14-15, where it is rendered “alien.” It refers to the outsider who comes seeking refuge and help. In English the usual terms are “stranger, foreigner, alien.” New English Bible and Good News Translation attempt to show that the person has come from elsewhere and is staying temporarily, and so they have “travelers.” Lodged translates a verb meaning “to spend the night.” In the street, which may mean “outside, without shelter,” would leave the stranger exposed, not only to the weather, but more seriously to abuse.

I have opened my doors to the wayfarer: the Hebrew has “to the way,” which is changed by nearly all to get wayfarer. The change is supported by the parallel sojourner in line a. Wayfarer refers to a person who is “traveling, passing through.” Because the two terms mean about the same, Good News Translation says “I invited travelers into my home and never let them sleep in the streets.” If the two-line parallelism is being maintained, we can translate “I never let the stranger spend the night outdoors, and my doors were always open to receive travelers.”

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 .