Job now speaks of God as if he were a wild animal tearing him apart. He has torn me in his wrath, and hated me: the picture in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is that of a wild animal that has caught its prey and is tearing it to pieces, or as Good News Translation says, “Tears me limb from limb.” In translation it may be necessary to make this line a simile; for example, “As a wild animal tears the flesh of its prey, he has torn me apart.” Translators may find it is better to shift and hated me to the beginning; for example, “He hated me and has torn me apart as a wild animal tears its victim.” Otherwise the translator may follow the model of Good News Translation. Good News Translation has taken and hated me from line a and made it a description of line c, “He glares at me with hate.”
He has gnashed his teeth at me means he shows his fury or anger. This line adds nothing to the meaning or intensity of line a, and Good News Translation does not translate it.
My adversary sharpens his eyes against me: the wording of Revised Standard Version is not idiomatic English. Sharpens his eyes is a figure meaning that the penetrating eyes of the animal (God) are fixed on Job as he tears Job’s flesh apart. Unlike Good News Translation, Bible en français courant keeps all the lines and with some adjustments renders verse 9 “In his anger, God chooses me as his prey, he pursues me, he gnashes his teeth at me; he, my enemy, pierces me with his look.” To gnash the teeth means to bare and strike the teeth together as a wild animal does when attacking its prey. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates lines b and c “He nails me with his eyes as if he were my enemy.” Here and hated me is translated “as if he were my enemy.” The whole verse may also be rendered, for example, “He has torn me like an angry animal; he has bared his teeth at me as though he hates me, and he fixes his angry eyes on me.”
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 .