He swallows down riches and vomits them up again: in verses 12-14 it was wickedness that lay behind the image of sweetness in the mouth. In verse 15 it is riches, which may be taken as the ill-gotten gain in verse 10. Swallows down riches is a figure for getting wealth through dishonesty, corrupt dealings or, as Good News Translation says, “The wealth he stole.” He is forced to vomit it; that is, he cannot keep it and enjoy it, but it is forced abruptly from him. In many languages the figure of swallowing riches and vomiting them conveys clearly the poetic intention. In other languages some adjustments may be required; for example, “He is dishonest and steals people’s wealth, but he has to give it up” or “Being corrupt he steals money from people, but he cannot hold on to it.”

God casts them out of his belly: here it is God himself who is said to be the cause for him to vomit up his riches. This recalls Jeremiah 51.44 “And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed.” Good News Translation makes more definite the way in which God acts in this line: “God takes it (the riches) back, even out of his stomach.” This may also be rendered, for example, “it is God who makes him vomit them up” or “God is the one who takes riches away from him.”

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 .