In verse 6 Job seems to reverse the image seen in verse 4 of the slowness of his life, and complains now, My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. The shuttle is the small device used by the weaver to carry the “woof” (or “weft”) thread from one side of the loom to the other. The shuttle darts quickly across the loom, between the “warp” threads, leaving the “woof” thread stretched behind. The “warp” threads then close over and under the “woof” thread, holding it in place. In this way another line of thread has been added to form the cloth. A skilled weaver causes this to happen quite rapidly, with the shuttle moving back and forth constantly, until a whole piece of cloth is formed. One day is here compared with one swift movement of the shuttle.

And come to their end without hope: the Hebrew word for hope here can also mean thread. It is used in the sense of thread in Joshua 2.18, where the scarlet thread or cord was displayed to show where Rahab the harlot lived. New English Bible translates “and come to an end as the thread runs out.” The meaning is that life speeds past faster than a weaver’s shuttle, and consequently the shuttle is unable to keep supplying thread for the cloth (life). This may be rendered, for example, “My days come to an end for lack of thread,” or “… when the thread runs out.” Many translations, however, follow Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, without hope. Bible en français courant brings out the double meaning of thread and hope by saying “My life will have passed faster than a weaver’s shuttle, it reaches its end when the thread of hope runs out.”

Translators must take into account familiarity with the loom in deciding which expression to follow. Since shuttle is a technical term, it is best to identify it in a note, as in Good News Translation. In languages where weaving and the loom are unknown, it may be necessary to avoid the expression swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and use a local alternative. If none is available it is possible to translate without the image by saying simply “My days pass by quickly” or “My life is very short.” And come to their end without hope may be restructured, particularly if the shuttle figure is avoided; for example, “my days pass by and I have nothing to look forward to” or “and my life ends without hope of being well again.”

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 .