In verses 24-26 Job, still lamenting, summarizes his feelings and gives something of a reason for them, as he did at the conclusion of the series of curses in verse 10.

For my sighing comes as my bread: the word translated as (see Revised Standard Version footnote) may also be read “before” or “instead.” Interpreters have attempted various changes in the Hebrew vowels to get clearer readings, but these have not won much acceptance. A parallel example is Psalm 42.3, “Tears are my only food.” Good News Translation restructures this expression as two verb phrases, “instead of eating, I mourn.”

And my groanings are poured out like water: by this figure of speech Job says that he groans continually, or as Good News Translation says, “I can never stop groaning.” The word translated groanings normally refers to the roaring of a lion and is used poetically here to show the intensity of Job’s mourning. In fact, the two lines are parallel, with bread and water corresponding to each other. However, the stepping up of “sighing” to “roaring” in line b and comes in line a to are poured out in line b exhibits a clear development of heightening poetic effect. In translation it will often be necessary to avoid the noun “groanings” and use a verb phrase, as Good News Translation. If these figures are not in regular use in the language, the translator should be careful not to follow what appear in English to be perfectly logical ones. It is better to translate using an equivalent figure, or to render the meaning instead of the form.

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 .