When they crouch repeats the thought of verse 2b by making the question somewhat more vivid. Crouch translates a verb used of women in childbirth in 1 Samuel 4.19, where it is translated as “bowed.” In regard to the deer it depicts the animal bending the hind legs to lower the body to the ground so that the young one is close to the ground as it comes out. Bring forth translates a different verb than the one used in verses 1a and 2b. Here the word means “to cleave, divide in two,” but with offspring as the subject that meaning is inappropriate. Therefore many scholars make a slight change in the Hebrew to get “drop.” However, Driver defends the usage as idiomatic, and so New English Bible translates “to open their wombs.” The sense is “to give birth” and is probably best left as a general statement, as in Revised Standard Version.

And are delivered of their young renders what is literally “they send out their labor pains.” However, in the context the reference is not to labor pains but to what causes the pains, namely, the offspring. Bible en français courant gives a clear translation of verse 3: “The females crouch down in order to put their young on the ground.” This verse may also be rendered “The females lower themselves so their young do not fall to the ground in birth.”

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 .