Can one take him with hooks is literally “shall take him with (or, in) his eyes.” One is supplied as the subject by Revised Standard Version. With hooks follows a proposed change in the Hebrew. Other changes suggested are “by his teeth,” “in his lair,” and “by blinding his eyes,” which is the choice of New English Bible and is also followed by Good News Translation.

Pierce his nose with a snare: pierce does not describe the action of a snare or trap. Therefore Dhorme changes snare to get “thorns.” If snare is to be retained, it is necessary to make some suitable adjustment in translation, which Good News Translation does with “catch his snout in a trap,” and New English Bible “or pierce his nose with the teeth of a trap.” In some languages it may be best to translate verse 24 as a statement; for example, “Nobody can catch him with a hook nor pierce his snout with the teeth of a trap.” This verse may also be rendered in the second person; for example, “Can you capture him and blind his eyes? Can you trap him and pierce his snout?”

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 .