When he raises himself up the mighty are afraid: mighty, as both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation notes indicate, may be rendered “gods,” which translates the plural of ʾEl. According to Pope the cowering of the gods is a common mythological theme and is evidence that Leviathan is a mythological monster and not a Nile crocodile. This verse is difficult to interpret and has caused much discussion. The basic decision that must be made to translate this verse is whether the translator is to follow the Hebrew text or one of the many changes in the Hebrew recommended by scholars. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation follow the Hebrew but interpret the Hebrew ʾelim to mean the mighty and “the strongest.” The Hebrew word is translated “a mighty one” in Ezekiel 31.11 and “the mighty chiefs” in Ezekiel 32.21. Most of the ancient versions translate as in Revised Standard Version except the Vulgate, which says “angels.” Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation refer to mighty human beings. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, on the other hand, takes ʾelim to be “gods,” some kind of supernatural beings, and so is closer to the Vulgate rendering “angels.” The use of “gods” within the context of the increasing awesomeness of this creature is fully natural. Therefore the Hebrew may be interpreted to mean “gods,” and this is followed by Biblia Dios Habla Hoy and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible. New Jerusalem Bible has “divine beings.” We may translate the first line as “When he (Leviathan) rises up, even the gods are frightened.”

At the crashing they are beside themselves:Crashing translates “breakings,” which may also be rendered as “sea breakers,” that is, ocean waves that break near the coastline. However, the Hebrew word rendered crashing has other meanings. In Isaiah 65.14 the word is translated “anguish (of spirit).” In Proverbs 15.4 the verb form is translated “it breaks (the spirit).” They are beside themselves translates a form of the verb that gives the sense of withdraw, fall back, retire. The reason the gods withdraw is that the fear of Leviathan is too great for them to withstand. Accepting the recommendation of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project we may then translate verse 25 as “When Leviathan rises up, even the gods are frightened; they draw back through fear” or “When he rises up … they are filled with fear and flee.”

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 .