It is drawn forth and comes out of his body is literally “One draws it comes out of his back.” Many interpreters suggest changing the word translated drawn forth to get “arrow shaft” and translate “And a shaft (of an arrow) comes out of his back.” The picture is the arrow penetrating completely through his body. This is followed by Good News Translation “An arrow sticks through his body” and is preferred.

The glittering point comes out of his gall: glittering point translates the Hebrew for “lightning,” and in Deuteronomy 32.41 it is translated by Good News Translation as “flashing sword,” and in Habakkuk 3.11 “shining spear.” The word here is in parallel with “arrow shaft” in the previous line. In Assyrian the cognate term designated the bolts of lightning with which the storm god was armed. Good News Translation “shining point” refers to the bronze point of the arrow shaft. Comes out of his gall is the poet’s way of fixing the position where the arrow point sticks out of his body. Bible en français courant makes it a bit more general with “liver.” Moffatt is more general still with “entrails.” Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch are less specific but more graphic, with “drips with his blood.” This line may be rendered, for example, “the shining arrow point sticks out of his gall bladder.” If this picture is not clear, the translator may adjust it to say, for example, “the arrow point that pierced his body passes through his liver.”

Terrors come upon him: the result of seeing the bloodied arrow piercing his body brings terror as he begins to faint and die. This line may also be expressed, for example, “he is in terror,” “he is afraid,” or idiomatically in some languages, “fear has taken hold of him,” or “everywhere he smells fear.”

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 .