For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?: here Job is anticipating a question which the friends might well ask. See the questions in 14.10; 20.7. In 8.14-15; 15.34; 18.14-21; 20.26, 28, Job’s friends claim that the houses of the wicked fall into ruin and vanish. Prince translates a word which Gordis renders “nobleman” and New Jerusalem Bible “great lord.” The parallel in line b is the wicked, and so prince in line a refers to an evil ruler; Bible en français courant has “tyrants,” and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “evil tyrant.” Good News Translation “great man” lacks any sense of evil, but this is supplied in line b.

Where is the tent in which the wicked dwelt?: house in line a and tent in line b provide the subject for the repetition of the thought. There is no attempt by the poet to heighten the intensity in the second line. Verse 28 may need to be expressed as a single line in some languages; for example, “You ask ‘Where is the house of that wicked ruler?’ ”

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 .