Eliphaz does not refer directly to Job’s tragedy, yet the poetic language permits Job to interpret Eliphaz’s words as alluding to the loss of all he owned (1.13-19). In verse 4 lines a and b are parallel. Line a is general in far from safety, while line b is more specific, naming the place where the lack of safety will be felt. Some interpreters take verses 4-5 to be curse petitions; for example, New Jerusalem Bible says “May his children be far from success, may they be oppressed in the gate.”

His sons are far from safety: when the father is destroyed, the offspring are in danger. Line a may sometimes be rendered, for example, “Their sons are always in danger” or “Their sons are never safe.” They are crushed in the gate: justice was to be guaranteed at the entrance to the town, where social, economic, and legal matters were handled (Deut 21.19-21; Ruth 4.1-11; Prov 22.22). Proverbs 22.22 says “Do not rob the poor because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate,” where the same verb “crush” is used as in verse 4. The meaning is to exploit, take advantage of, take away their rights. Line b crushed in the gate may be translated in a legal sense; for example, “they lose their case in court,” or as Bible en français courant says, “condemned without recourse before the court.”

And there is no one to deliver them: this statement is used frequently as a set phrase to underline the finality of an act of punishment, destruction, or disaster. See Psalm 7.2; 50.22; Isaiah 5.29. Good News Translation has condensed lines b and c into one. If this third line is not condensed into line b, it may sometimes be rendered, for example, “there is no one to save them” or “there is no one to defend them.”

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 .