Verse 1 takes the form of a rhetorical question. Job speaks of man in a universal sense, which would include himself. Has not man a hard service upon earth: the term translated man is general and inclusive, referring to all people, everyone. Hard service translates a word meaning “army” and is extended to refer to the term of military service, as it does in Numbers 1.3, where all males were counted for military service. Life in a military camp suggested continuous hard labor. Good News Translation‘s “forced army service” expresses the idea well. Instead of rhetorical questions Good News Translation has used two statements employing similes, “Human life is like….” In some languages man can be shifted to the more general idea of life, as in Good News Translation, or as in Bible en français courant “Life is hard….” It may also be necessary to say “People have to work hard,” or “Everyone is forced to do hard labor…,” or using a simile, “The life of people is like doing hard army duty….” Upon earth, which is not translated as such by Good News Translation, does not refer to the earth in contrast to another place, but serves to draw attention to man’s physical existence in the sense of “as long as he is alive” or “in this life.” Upon earth may be rendered, for example, “As long as people are alive,” “During life,” or “While they live.” In some languages, if the rhetorical question form is used, a reply may be required; for example, “They certainly do!”

Are not his days like the days of a hireling?: this line does not parallel the first one in structure but in word association, in which hireling is associated with hard service. A hireling is a person who is hired to work for daily wages. The term is also used of a mercenary or soldier who serves for money, as in 2 Samuel 10.6, where the Ammonites hired Syrians and others to fight Joab. The hireling or day wage earner was to be paid daily (Deut 24.15; Matt 20.8), and his wages were not to be kept from him until the following morning (Lev 19.13). Every day consisted of hard labor, with the uncertainty of being paid at the end of the day. Days of a hireling may refer to the working days, or more generally, to the life or way of life of the worker. In situations where people are not familiar with the idea of day labor, it may be necessary to say, for example, “a person who works each day for someone else” or “a person who gets money by working for an employer.” His days refers to the suffering struggle of the person in line a of the verse, and to make this clear it may be necessary to say “Isn’t what he does like the things a day laborer does?” In some languages it will be best to shift his days to something like “Is not his suffering like the suffering of the day laborer?” or “Does he not endure the same pain as the day laborer?” Good News Translation shifts from his days in line b again to “like a life,” which gives balance to the two lines.

Verse 2 continues the chain of similes begun in verse 1b. The two lines of this verse are parallel in structure; and there is a shift of images from military service and daily wage earner in verse 1 to slave in this verse.

Like a slave who longs for the shadow: shadow is taken in the sense of “cool shade,” as in Good News Translation. Like a hireling who looks for his wages: the word hireling is the same as in verse 1b and can refer to the mercenary soldier or to the day laborer. He looks for his wages in the sense that he anticipates, is anxious for, is expecting his daily pay. In the thought of the author, to exist is to be enslaved, and only the end of life brings freedom. It is important in continuing the simile that the subject man from verse 1 be clearly indicated; for example, “People’s (or, Human) life is like a slave longing for the shade.” Or “Our lives on earth are….”

In languages in which the word slave is unknown, it may be necessary to use a descriptive phrase; for example, “a poor person who has been sold to someone” or “a person whom an owner has bought (or, captured).” The reason the slave longs for the shade is that his labor is in the hot sun. This may not be clear, and that information may need to be given, as in Bible en français courant “A slave in the sun who would like some shade.” It may be necessary to say, for example, “As a slave who works in the hot sun wants to rest in the cool shade.”

Looks for his wages does not mean that the worker has lost them and is searching for them, but rather as in Good News Translation “waiting for his pay.” In some languages it will be necessary to shift to a verb, “waiting for the boss to pay him” or “… to give him what he has earned.”

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 .