Job 33:18

He spares a person’s life from corruption, ¹  his very life from crossing over ²  the river.

to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.

He keeps back his soul from the pit, And his life from passing over into Sheol.

He keeps them from the grave, from crossing over the river of death.

And keep them from an early grave, from the river of no return.

To keep back his soul from the underworld, and his life from destruction.

to spare their souls from the Pit, their lives from traversing the River.

He keeps back his soul from the Pit, And his life from perishing by the sword.

He spares a person’s life from corruption, ¹  his very life from crossing over ²  the river.

¹ tn A number of interpreters and translations take this as “the pit” (see Job 17:14; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

² tc Here is another difficult line. The verb normally means “to pass through; to pass over,” and so this word would normally mean “from passing through [or over].” The word שֶׁלַח (shelakh) does at times refer to a weapon, but most commentators look for a parallel with “the pit [or corruption].” One suggestion is שְׁאוֹלָה (shÿ’olah, “to Sheol”), proposed by Duhm. Dhorme thought it was שַׁלַח (shalakh) and referred to the passageway to the underworld (see M. Tsevat, VT 4 [1954]: 43; and Svi Rin, BZ 7 [1963]: 25). See discussion of options in HALOT 1517-18 s.v. IV שֶׁלַח. The idea of crossing the river of death fits the idea of the passage well, although the reading “to perish by the sword” makes sense and was followed by the NIV.