Job 3:14

with kings and counselors of the earth who built for themselves places now desolate, ¹ 

with kings and counsellors of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,

With kings and with counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt ruins for themselves;

I would rest with the world’s kings and prime ministers, famous for their great construction projects.

In the company of kings and statesmen in their royal ruins,

With kings and the wise ones of the earth, who put up great houses for themselves;

with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuild ruins for themselves,

With kings and counselors of the earth, Who built ruins for themselves,

with kings and counselors of the earth who built for themselves places now desolate, ¹ 

¹ tn The difficult term חֳרָבוֹת (khoravot) is translated “desolate [places]”. The LXX confused the word and translated it “who gloried in their swords.” One would expect a word for monuments, or tombs (T. K. Cheyne emended it to “everlasting tombs” [“More Critical Gleanings in Job,” ExpTim 10 (1898/99): 380-83]). But this difficult word is of uncertain etymology and therefore cannot simply be made to mean “royal tombs.” The verb means “be desolate, solitary.” In Isa 48:21 there is the clear sense of a desert. That is the meaning of Assyrian huribtu. It may be that like the pyramids of Egypt these tombs would have been built in the desert regions. Or it may describe how they rebuilt ruins for themselves. He would be saying then that instead of lying here in pain and shame if he had died he would be with the great ones of the earth. Otherwise, the word could be interpreted as a metonymy of effect, indicating that the once glorious tomb now is desolate. But this does not fit the context – the verse is talking about the state of the great ones after their death.