Translation commentary on Job 35:10

Elihu says the oppressed only call for relief from their oppressors. The point he wishes to make in verses 10 and 11 is that the cries of the oppressed are not heard because they do not call out to God. Verses 10 and 11 contain long rhetorical questions which may need to be recast as statements, as in Good News Translation.

But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker…?’: God my Maker is translated by Good News Translation as “God, their Creator” and by Bible en français courant as “God, who made me.” Revised Standard Version and others begin the quotation here and continue it through verse 11. Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew form closely. Good News Translation translates the singular none as “they,” which is more natural in English. If the translator follows the pattern of Revised Standard Version, this line may be rendered, for example, “But no one asks, ‘Where is my creator?’ ” or “But no one calls on God his creator to save him.”

Who gives songs in the night is generally understood in the sense that God enables people to sing even when they are surrounded by darkness. Nevertheless the word translated songs has been adjusted or interpreted in many different ways. Dhorme thinks it refers to “thunder,” as in Psalm 29.3. Others take it to mean “lights,” “star constellations,” and Pope says the Hebrew root should be associated with a similar Arabic root meaning “violent, courageous, mighty,” and so should be translated “strength or protection.” Rowley observes wisely “It is a pity to rob Elihu of a poetic line when he creates one.” However, similar lines are seen in Psalm 42.8; 77.6. Good News Translation has “hope in their darkest hours.” If songs in the night is not sufficiently meaningful, “songs that bring hope in their darkest hours” may be better. Or we may translate, for example, “who enables people to sing in times of great trouble.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Job 36:30

Behold, he scatters his lightning about him: scatters is the same verb translated “spreading” in verse 29. The word translated lightning usually means “light.” Dhorme adjusts it to get “mist,” but in the context lightning is more appropriate. About him probably implies “the place where he dwells,” and so Good News Translation has “through all the sky.” The line may also be translated “He makes the lightning strike all around him” or “He sends bolts of lightning flashing across the skies.”

And covers the roots of the sea is a line that is translated in countless ways. The expression roots of the sea is found nowhere else in the Old Testament. Roots are associated with mountains in 28.9. Since the expression makes little sense, particularly in relation to the first line, many changes have been proposed. For example, New Jerusalem Bible follows one change that gives “covers the tops of the mountains.” Dhorme, who shows contrast between the two lines, adequately translates the Hebrew text without change, “and has veiled the depths of the sea,” with which Good News Translation agrees: “but the depths of the sea remain dark.” This line may be rendered, for example, “he covers the sea with darkness” or “he covers the sea and leaves it dark.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Job 38:6 - 38:7

These two verses are closely related in subject and structure and will be considered together. On what were its bases sunk translates the Hebrew literally. The earth was thought of as a building set on foundations, as in verse 4a, and also in Psalm 24.2; 89.11; 102.25; 104.5; Proverbs 3.19; Isaiah 48.13; 51.13, 16; Zechariah 12.1. In 9.6 Job reflects the traditional wisdom that the earth rests on pillars. These pillars in turn rest on bases. The reference in this line is not to the pillars, as in Good News Translation, but to the bases or “footings” upon which the pillars rest. New English Bible translates it clearly as “On what do its supporting pillars rest?” This view of the earth is different from that expressed by Bildad in 26.7, who said that God “hung the earth in empty space,” which sounds more like the view of the earth as confirmed by modern science. In Psalm 24.2 the earth rests upon the seas. This line may require more information to make it clear. For example, “On what do the bases rest that hold up the pillars of the earth?” or “What is beneath the footings that support the pillars holding up the earth?” It is likely that a detailed note will be required at 9.6, and a cross reference to that note may be placed here.

Or who laid its cornerstone: cornerstone translates a word which may refer either to the stone placed at the main corner in the foundation, or at the top as the final stone laid. The latter is referred to in English as the “capstone.” Most modern translations have cornerstone, which refers to the final stage of laying the foundation, not to the completion of the construction. In languages in which cornerstones are unknown, it may be possible to say, for example, “or who finished the work of setting it in place?” or “who completed the place where it would rest?”

When the morning stars sang together makes the whole of verse 7 subordinate to something which may not be clear. The thought could go back to verse 4a, “Where were you,” but this separates it very far. More likely it is to be understood in relation to verse 6, so that the singing of the morning stars takes place at the time of, or upon completion of, the laying of the cornerstone. From Ezra 3.10-11 it is known, for example, that the laying of the foundation of the Second Temple was accompanied by celebrations and music. The same is referred to in Zechariah 4.7 on the occasion of the laying of the capstone. So here the laying of the foundation of the earth is accompanied by singing. Good News Translation translates “In the dawn of that day,” but the reference of “that day” in Good News Translation‘s own context is somewhat ambiguous. New Jerusalem Bible relates verse 7a to verse 6b by translating “to the joyful concert of the morning stars.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has “while the morning stars sang in chorus,” and New International Version ends verse 6b with a dash: “… cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together.” Translators should not rely on punctuation alone to show that verse 7a occurs simultaneously with or follows verse 6. For example, “Who laid the cornerstone as the morning stars began to sing?” Before the creation of man it is the stars which witness the creation of the earth, and are said to sing together, that is, in chorus. In 3.9 Job mentions the “stars of dawn.” See the discussion there. The reference here is the same. Sang together implies singing as a chorus, uniting their voices.

Sons of God, which matches morning stars, refers to the angels, or more generally “heavenly beings” as in Good News Translation. The expression sons of God occurs in 1.6 and refers to God’s heavenly court. See comments on 1.6 and the Good News Translation note there. In some languages “the singing of stars” may be meaningless. However, it may be possible to express this phrase as a simile and say, for example, “Who laid the cornerstone while the morning stars sang like people singing together?”

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 .

Translation commentary on Job 39:3

When they crouch repeats the thought of verse 2b by making the question somewhat more vivid. Crouch translates a verb used of women in childbirth in 1 Samuel 4.19, where it is translated as “bowed.” In regard to the deer it depicts the animal bending the hind legs to lower the body to the ground so that the young one is close to the ground as it comes out. Bring forth translates a different verb than the one used in verses 1a and 2b. Here the word means “to cleave, divide in two,” but with offspring as the subject that meaning is inappropriate. Therefore many scholars make a slight change in the Hebrew to get “drop.” However, Driver defends the usage as idiomatic, and so New English Bible translates “to open their wombs.” The sense is “to give birth” and is probably best left as a general statement, as in Revised Standard Version.

And are delivered of their young renders what is literally “they send out their labor pains.” However, in the context the reference is not to labor pains but to what causes the pains, namely, the offspring. Bible en français courant gives a clear translation of verse 3: “The females crouch down in order to put their young on the ground.” This verse may also be rendered “The females lower themselves so their young do not fall to the ground in birth.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Job 40:6 - 40:7

These two verses are almost identical to 38.1-3. See there for comments. These verses introduce the second divine speech, which continues without interruption to 41.34, to which Job makes a final response (42.1-6).

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 .

Translation commentary on Job 41:15

His back is made of rows of shields follows the ancient versions, as the Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation notes indicate. The Hebrew text has “pride” instead of back. Rows of shields translates the literal Hebrew and refers to the hard scales or plates that cover the animal’s back. The line may also be rendered, for example, “His back is covered with rows of thick scales” or “… rows of heavy scales that protect him.”

The shields are said to be shut up closely as with a seal. In the second line Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew text, which may mean that the series of shields or scales are identical and tightly arranged, so they are like a row of impressions made by a single seal or stamp. On the other hand the sense may be that each scale is closed tightly as if sealed shut. Good News Translation follows the Septuagint, which changed the vowel of the Hebrew word rendered closely to get “stone.” In this understanding the scales are compared to the rock-hardness of the seal, and so Good News Translation has “fastened together and hard as stone.” Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation are recommended.

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 .

Translation commentary on Job 42:16

As the text stands, And after this refers to Job arranging for his daughters to inherit along with the brothers. However, after this may also refer to the end of Job’s troubles, and that Job lived 140 years after his restoration. The Septuagint has “Job lived after the affliction 170 years, and all the years he lived were 240 years.” This makes Job 70 years old at the time of his misfortune, the end of one normal life span according to Psalm 90.10. A hundred and forty years may represent another example of doubling, so that Job lived 70 years before and 2 x 70 years after. The concluding paragraph gives Job’s life an ending similar to that of the patriarchs in Genesis.

It is not known how the author counts generations when he says four generations. Job lived to see his sons and his son’s sons, which would be his grandsons. If Job saw four generations of his descendants, as the Hebrew says, he probably would have seen his great grandsons. By contrast Joseph, who lived 110 years, saw his grandchildren to the third generation (Gen 50.23). According to Psalm 128.6, to see your children’s children is a supreme blessing and the crown of old age (Prov 17.6). Good News Translation is no doubt correct with “to see his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren.” In some languages verse 16 may be translated as “After these matters were tied up, Job lived a hundred and forty years more. So he lived long enough to see his sons and the children of his sons and all others that were born, up to the fourth generation from Job.” Or “After all this had taken place, Job lived another hundred and forty years. Thus he lived long enough to see four generations of descendants.”

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 .