The shades below tremble: shades, meaning the spirits of the departed dead, translates the Hebrew rephaʾim. The last references in 25.5-6 were to the moon and stars in the heavens and to people on earth. The thought continues its downward direction and now speaks of the lower regions and Sheol. Although the rephaʾim are also giants in Genesis 14.5; 15.20; Deuteronomy 2.11, 20, their association in verse 6 with Sheol gives the sense of the “spirits of the dead.” This term is found in Psalm 88.10, “Do the shades rise up to praise thee?” and Isaiah 14.9, “The ghosts of those who were powerful on earth are stirring about” (Good News Translation). In Hebrew the word translated below belongs to line b, and so some translate “beneath the waters.” Revised Standard Version and others transfer below to the first line. New English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible make the same shift (or divide the verse) as does Revised Standard Version, but supply a verb for line b where there is none in Hebrew. Good News Translation does not place below with line a: “The spirits of the dead tremble.” Below is to be understood as “below the earth.”

For many languages there are basic differences from the Hebrew thought of the departed spirits of the dead being in a deep place below the earth. In many societies the spirits of the ancestors inhabit local springs, caves, groves, or rocks. Since readers must understand the Hebrew view in order to comprehend the poem as a whole, translators may find it best to say “The spirits of the dead (ancestors) tremble in Sheol” or “The spirits of the ancestors tremble in the place of the dead.” In some languages it may be necessary to make clear the reason for the trembling of these departed dead. The reason goes back to 25.1-6. It is the awe which God’s power and presence inspires that causes the trembling. Accordingly it may be necessary to render the line “The spirits of the dead ancestors tremble with fear at God’s power” or “God’s greatness makes the spirits of the dead in Sheol tremble with fear.”

The waters and their inhabitants: it is unlikely that in the context of Sheol the author is speaking here of sea life, as Revised Standard Version seems to imply. He is most likely thinking of the same spirits as in line a, who are thought to occupy a vast pit beneath the waters of the underworld. Tremble in line a is to be understood as the verb also in line b. Dhorme believes that, in the process of copying, the similarity between the Hebrew for below and “terrify” caused the verb to drop out, and so he restores it to give “the waters and their inhabitants became terrified.” New English Bible follows this: “The waters and all that live in them are struck with terror.” It seems more likely that line b is the location of the place of the shades in line a, as in Good News Translation. In some languages it will be more natural to place line b before line a and translate, for example, “In Sheol, in the water under the earth, the spirits of the dead tremble with fear.” For an artists view of the ancient concept of the universe, see the illustration on page 181.

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 .