Job 20:10

His sons must recompense ¹  the poor; his own hands ²  must return his wealth.

His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth.

"His sons favor the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.

His children will beg from the poor, for he must give back his ill–gotten wealth.

Their children will go begging on skid row, and they'll have to give back their ill-gotten gain.

His children are hoping that the poor will be kind to them, and his hands give back his wealth.

Their children will seek the favor of the poor, and their hands will give back their wealth.

His children will seek the favor of the poor, And his hands will restore his wealth.

His sons must recompense ¹  the poor; his own hands ²  must return his wealth.

¹ tn The early versions confused the root of this verb, taking it from רָצַץ (ratsats, “mistreat”) and not from רָצָה (ratsah, “be please with”). So it was taken to mean, “Let inferiors destroy his children.” But the verb is רָצָה (ratsah). This has been taken to mean “his sons will seek the favor of the poor.” This would mean that they would be reduced to poverty and need help from even the poor. Some commentators see this as another root רָצָה (ratsah) meaning “to compensate; to restore” wealth their father had gained by impoverishing others. This fits the parallelism well, but not the whole context that well.

² tn Some commentators are surprised to see “his hands” here, thinking the passage talks about his death. Budde changed it to “his children,” by altering one letter. R. Gordis argued that “hand” can mean offspring, and so translated it that way without changing anything in the text (“A note on YAD,” JBL 62 [1943]: 343).