Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth…? continues the questions regarding Job’s control over the heavenly bodies. Mazzaroth is the transliteration of a Hebrew word which is much disputed. The word is similar to a word used in 2 Kings 23.5 translated as “constellations” (Revised Standard Version) and “planets” (Good News Translation), but in the form used here it is found nowhere else. Dhorme translates it as “Corona,” by which he means Corona Borealis, the Latin name of the constellation “Northern Crown.” Others take it to be the signs of the Zodiac, or the circle of the Zodiac. Good News Translation avoids any reference to a specific constellation and translates “stars.” Bible en français courant translates in the text “signs of the Zodiac,” and in a footnote says “Other possible translations of a unique Hebrew word of uncertain meaning: the planets, or Venus, or the constellation Corona Borealis.” In their season refers to the right time for the stars to appear in their positions in the sky; that is, “to appear on time” or “to appear at the proper time.” Translators are advised that it is better to err by being too general, due to the uncertainty involved if one attempts to be specific. Therefore Good News Translation supplies a good model to follow. This line may also be rendered, for example, as “Can you tell the stars when they should appear?” or “Can you guide the stars so they will appear at the right time?”

Or can you guide the Bear with its children: the Bear, according to Dhorme, refers to the same constellation called by that name in 9.9, although there is a slight difference in the vowels. The Bear translates what is most probably the “Great Bear,” known also by its Latin name Ursa Major, or in English “The Big Dipper.” Its children are then the group of stars known as Ursa Minor, “Little Bear,” also called “The Little Dipper,” which contains Polaris, the North Star. Both of these are northern hemisphere constellations. (Note the description and the star map in the Appendix, page 781.) Good News Translation is no doubt correct calling them “the Big and the Little Dipper.” Translators in the northern hemisphere should be able to identify these stars easily, as they are visible throughout the year, weather conditions permitting. Translators in the southern hemisphere who are unacquainted with these constellations may find it best to speak of “stars in the northern skies” or, more specifically, “stars in the north called Big Bear and Little Bear.”

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 .