complete verse (Job 10:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 10:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “Is it not the case that few days are left in my life?
    Leave those for me to have a little rest/relaxation,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “What! Isn’t my short life finished?
    Turn away from me, even for a little,
    [that] I might have respite,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Only now a little time (has-been) left for me, therefore just leave me alone so-that for even just a short time I could-be- happy” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I think that there are only a few days for me to remain alive;
    so allow me to be alone/stop attacking me, in order that I may be a little cheerful ” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Japanese benefactives (-naide)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, -naide (ないで) or “do not (for their sake)” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Japanese benefactives (yamete)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, yamete (やめて) or “stop/cease” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Job 10:20

Job now begins to close his discourse and asks rhetorically Are not the days of my life few? The words of my life are not in the Hebrew text. The Septuagint and Syriac have “the days of my life,” which is followed by Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and others. The Hebrew text adds a word which may be rendered “let him cease,” as in the Revised Standard Version note. Gordis understands this word to have contrasted meanings, both “cease” and “continue.” He translates “but little will my days continue.” King James Version translates this verb as an imperative, “cease then,” a request Job addresses to God. This verb may also be read as indicative, and that is a suggestion of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project: “Will not the fewness of my days soon cease?” The line may also be rendered, for example, “Isn’t my life almost finished?” or as a statement, “I have only a short time left to live.”

Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort: Psalm 39.13 says “Look away from me, that I may know gladness” (Revised Standard Version). In 7.19 Job asked God “How long wilt thou not look away from me?” In 14.6 Job, speaking about mankind in general, asks God to “look away from him … that he may enjoy….” Many scholars propose changing the Hebrew text to get “look away from,” as in the Septuagint. The Hebrew of the first clause says “put from me,” and this may expect the reader to understand “thy hand” or “thy attention,” according to Rowley. In any event Job is pleading with God to leave him in peace. A little comfort translates the same term used in 9.27, “be of good cheer.” The line may be rendered, for example, “Stop your attacks; let me rest a little” or “Leave me alone to enjoy myself awhile.”

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 .