Translation commentary on Job 31:22

In verse 22 Job calls for a suitable punishment which is expressed in terms of damage to his shoulder and arm, presumably so he could no longer use threatening gestures. Translators differ greatly in the wording of this verse. Then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder: in this line of the Hebrew, there are two words meaning shoulder. The first refers to the shoulder blade and the other to the back of the neck. Dhorme tries to represent these with an awkward rendering, “then let my shoulder fall from its nape of neck.” This makes little or no sense. It is clearer to say, for example, “Let my shoulder and shoulder blade be torn out.” Since, however, the arm is attached to the shoulder, when the shoulder is torn away, the arm also will go.

The second line deals with the arm separately. And let my arm be broken from its socket is literally “and let my arm from the socket be broken.” The word translated socket normally refers to a “reed” or “stalk,” which has a hollow center and may give rise to the idea of socket. Dhorme takes this word to refer to the humerus, the upper arm bone, and Pope agrees but takes the other word for arm to mean the lower arm. Accordingly he translates “let my arm be wrenched off above the elbow.” Bible en français courant follows this with “and my arm be broken at the elbow.” Good News Translation, which refers only to the arm, understands the second line to be the lesser of the two punishments, and so transposes the two lines to give an increasing punishment at the climax: “may my arms be broken; may they be torn from my shoulders.” Among the many conflicting translations of this verse, Good News Translation offers a clear model to follow. Verse 22 may have to be expressed as an active construction; for example, “let someone break my arms and tear them from my shoulders.”

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 .

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