Translation commentary on Job 34:28

According to Pope verses 28-33 are full of difficulty: “The Septuagint originally omitted them entirely. Modern critics have suggested changes freely, with imagination and originality.”

So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him shows one of the ways in which sinners were disloyal to God. In their mistreatment of the poor, they cause the poor to cry out. “They treat the poor badly and so force them to cry out to God for help.”

And he heard the cry of the afflicted: the afflicted is the same as the poor in line a. God is not mentioned in either line in the Hebrew but is clearly implied.

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 36:15

He delivers the afflicted by their affliction describes Elihu’s view of the meaning of discipline. God uses the suffering of the one who suffers to rescue him. This verse leads up to the application of Elihu’s wisdom to Job’s own case. Delivers means “saves, rescues, spares.” Good News Translation focuses on the sense of being disciplined, with “God teaches men through suffering,” that is, “God teaches people by allowing them to suffer.” Dhorme translates afflicted as “poor,” and this is followed by Bible en français courant. New English Bible says “those who suffer, he rescues through suffering.”

Opens their ear is the same expression used in verse 10 and in 33.16, where the sense is “makes them listen,” and it has that sense here also. Adversity translates a word meaning also “oppression or suffering” and is close in meaning to affliction in the previous line. Good News Translation shifts from the ear to the eye with “he uses distress to open their eyes,” that is, to make them see the error of their ways. The shift to “eyes” should only be used if it is natural in the receptor language and has the meaning as in Good News Translation. Verse 15 may also be rendered “God uses suffering to save people who suffer; he uses pain to make them understand” or “God teaches people by allowing them to suffer, and he makes them listen to him by letting them have troubles.”

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 37:16

Do you know the balancings of the clouds…?: balancings translates a word that occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament. A verb root with the same consonants meaning “equalize, balance” suggests the rendering of Revised Standard Version. However, balancings of the clouds does not give a clear picture of cloud activity, and so Good News Translation “float in the sky” is probably the intended idea. Wondrous works differs from the same wording used in verse 14 by only one letter and is best taken as a variation without trying to change it to something else. The expression is sometimes rendered “miracle” and refers to the activity in line a, as Good News Translation makes clear: “the work of God’s amazing skill.” Perfect in knowledge is the way Elihu modestly describes himself in 36.4. Here the expression applies to God.

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 38:28

Has the rain a father…? asks a question as to the origin of the rain based on the human analogy. For Job the question has a clear answer: “No.” Who has begotten in the Hebrew may suggest either the mother’s or the father’s role in giving birth. However, the mother’s role will come up in the next verse, and so it is best to consider the second line as still referring to the father. Drops in drops of dew translates a word that occurs only here in the Old Testament, but in the context there is little uncertainty about the meaning. Good News Translation has reduced the two lines to one with “Does either the rain or the dew have a father?” However, this loses some of the poetic effect. In languages in which the suggestion of the rain having a father or being conceived must be restructured for clarity, we may be able to say, for example, “Is the rain a person that must have a father? No!” “Has a human father made the rain?” “Does the rain come from a human father? Of course not!” The second line may be translated “Were the dew drops conceived like children? No.”

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 39:21

He paws in the valley: He paws is singular and represents the ancient versions, as the Revised Standard Version note shows. The Hebrew has “they dig.” The first clause depicts the impatient and nervous war horse pawing the ground with its front hooves as it waits to attack the enemy line. In the valley translates a word which in Ugaritic can mean “force” or “valley,” and some scholars prefer the former sense, as it provides a parallel for strength in the next clause. The first clause is then sometimes rendered “He paws vigorously.” New English Bible has “He shows his mettle as he paws and prances.” The expression “shows his mettle” means “he shows that he is a spirited horse, one full of energy.” New International Version is similar with “He paws fiercely.” Armies were placed in battle formation in valleys in Genesis 14.8; Judges 7.1, and it is safe to retain the same expression here. In his strength is taken by some scholars as the beginning of line b. Good News Translation follows this interpretation and places the two verbs together in line a, translating exults as “eagerly.” New International Version divides the verse into three clauses: “He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray.” The first line may also be expressed “They dig up the ground with their hooves and show their strength.”

He goes out to meet the weapons describes the war horse (and rider) racing forward to charge the enemy battle line. Weapons refers to both weapons and armor. Good News Translation understands it as a figurative reference for the entire “battle.” The translator may wish to make both explicit, as in “He charges into battle against the enemies’ weapons.”

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 41:1

Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook…? asks Job if he can catch this animal the way someone catches a fish. Draw out translates a verb meaning “to extract,” in this case extract from the water, and the action is expressed in English as “catch.” In some languages this is commonly expressed as “Can you fish the crocodile with a fishhook?”

The question Can you … press down his tongue with a cord? sounds strange. Press down translates the causative form of a verb meaning “to sink,” but the word is used in Leviticus 8.13 in the sense of “bind,” and Dhorme takes that meaning to apply here. In order to prevent a crocodile from using its jaws, it is necessary to tie its jaws shut. If line b is to be taken as an action following line a, the captured animal would need to have its mouth tied shut. In this case tongue may be taken as representing the mouth, and the meaning can be “Can you tie his mouth shut with a rope?” The answer to both questions is then “No!” The questions in verses 1-7 as well as later in the chapter may require shifting to negative statements in some languages. In other languages it may be necessary to answer the question with a strong negative.

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 41:33 - 41:34

The final two verses of the chapter sum up the description of Leviathan as superior to all other animals. In verse 33 line a may be rendered “There is nothing like him on earth.” Line b is a second statement: a creature without fear. Creature translates “one made” and may be rendered “one made to be fearless” or “a fearless creature.”

He beholds everything that is high is often adjusted and combined with verse 33b to give “everything that is high fears him.” However, the Hebrew seems to make adequate sense without change. Everything that is high refers to proud or haughty animals, and so “He gazes at every proud animal” or, as Dhorme says, “every haughty creature.” Good News Translation has extended the meaning of beholds to “look down on,” which fits well with the context of the next line. Line b is rendered literally by Revised Standard Version as sons of pride. This expression is used in 28.8, “proud beasts,” where it refers generally to “wild animals.” See comments on 28.8. And so the description of Leviathan ends: “He is the king over all the wild animals” or “He considers every other animal to be less than he is. He is the ruler over all the wild animals.”

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 .