Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 11:10:
Kupsabiny: “When God catches/takes hold of a person and judges (him) who is then able to argue with him?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “If He comes and puts you in prison, and if He calls the council of justice, who will be able to stop Him? ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘For-example, God will-catch/capture you (sing.) and bring to the court and then (you)-will-be-put-in-prison, who can-hold/stop him?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
If he passes through, and imprisons: in this verse Zophar shifts from the greatness of God’s wisdom to his power and authority. There are two major variations in the translation of this verse. One group, Dhorme, New English Bible, and others, understands the word translated imprisons to mean “keep something secret,” and in this case it would refer to keeping his passing by a secret. More commonly the meaning is taken as in Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and others to mean “arrest, capture, put in jail.” Good News Translation and some others consider passes through to express a casual appearance related to the main event, as in the English expression “he comes and (does so-and-so).” Therefore they do not translate it but begin with the “if” clause: “If God arrests you.” If passes through is to be translated, it can be rendered “If God happens to arrest you” or “If God should decide to arrest you.” Revised Standard Version, unlike Good News Translation, does not specify an object for the verb imprisons. In Good News Translation it is “you.” In English this can refer to Job in the context of Zophar’s talk, but it is also general and slightly more direct than saying “arrests somebody.” The line may be expressed “If God should come along and arrest you” or “If God should put you in jail.”
Verse 10 must be understood in part in the light of verse 11, as has been done in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. The verb translated calls to judgment means “summon an assembly, call people to a meeting,” but in the context of verse 11 it refers more specifically to a court case or hearing, and therefore Good News Translation “brings you to trial” is a good model; other possibilities are “and brings you before the judge” or “puts you in a law court.” Who can hinder him translates the Hebrew for “who can turn him back.” Hinder means to be an obstacle in someone’s progress. Good News Translation “stop” is more forceful. If a general object is used as the object of imprisons in line a, then this line may sometimes be rendered, for example, “and sends a person to trial, what can he do about it?” “… there is nothing he can do to prevent it,” or “… that person will have to go ahead and suffer.”
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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