# General Information: Elihu continues speaking to Job. # then God opens the ears of men This speaks of God making people aware of things as if he were opening their ears so that they could hear. AT: "then God reveals things to people" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]]) # in order to pull man back from This speaks of God keeping someone from doing something as if he were physically pulling him away from harm. AT: "in order to keep him from" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]]) # God keeps man's life back from the pit ... his life from crossing over to death Both of these statements mean the same thing. AT: "God saves people from the grave and from death" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]]) # the pit The place where people go when they die is referred to here as "the pit." AT: "the place where dead people are" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]]) # man's life back ... his life This is an idiom. AT: "man from dying and ... he keeps him" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom]]) # from crossing over to death Here "death" represents the place where people go when they die, that is, sheol. AT: "from going to sheol" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]]) # translationWords * [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin]] * [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/proud]] * [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/life]] * [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/pit]] * [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/death]]