wild ass

In the context of being in the wilderness, the Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “wild ass” in English is translated in Chitonga as cibize or “zebra,” because “from the Tonga perspective, no ‘donkey of the bush’ [the literal correspondent of ‘wild ass’] could be expected to live very long, due to predators like lions, etc.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 130)

 

Two species of wild ass were known by the Israelites, the Nubian Wild Ass Equus asinus africanus, which lived on the African side of the Red Sea, and the Persian Wild Ass or Onager Equus hemionus, which was common in the land of Israel, Syria, and Mesopotamia. It seems likely that the Hebrew ‘arod and the Aramaic ‘arad refer to the Nubian wild ass, and the Hebrew pere’ to the onager.

Both species of wild ass were hunted for their meat.

The Nubian wild ass is probably the ancestor of virtually all domestic donkeys. It is a smallish, light brown donkey with a characteristic dark stripe down its spine and across its shoulders. It originally had stripes on the lower part of its forelegs. It has long ears and a tufted tail. It is still found in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia.

The onager, or Persian wild ass, is a larger animal, classified scientifically as a species of horse. It looks something like a mule. The scientific name hemionus means “half-ass”. It has smaller ears than a typical donkey. It is a fawn color but has a whitish chest and belly. It was evidently never fully domesticated, although one ancient Sumerian illustration shows onagers harnessed to a chariot. Onagers are still found in very small numbers in parts of Syria and Iraq and have been reintroduced into Israel.

The onager was a symbol of untameable wildness, and thus the metaphor “wild ass” was used to describe anyone with wild uncontrolled behavior.

In Africa the closest equivalent to the wild ass is the zebra, which is about the same size and belongs to the same animal family. Like the onager, the zebra has never been widely domesticated. Where the phrase “wild donkeys” would refer to domestic donkeys that have returned to living in a wild state (“feral donkeys”), a phrase meaning “wild horse” is a better choice, since feral donkeys are easily captured and domesticated, whereas feral horses are harder to domesticate. Languages that use the same word for horse and zebra may still have a problem.

The same word or expression can be used for both Hebrew words and for the Aramaic ‘arad, since no distinction between the wild ass species is intended in the biblical text, except in Job 39:5. In this verse, the Hebrew pere’ and ‘arod are both used:

The parallelism can be preserved either by using a pronoun in the second line (Who untied its ropes?) or by using “zebra” or “wild horse” for pere’ and “wild ass” for ‘arod.

Nubian Wild Ass, Wikimedia Commons

Persian Wild Ass / Onager, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

See also wild ass of a man / wild donkey and donkey.

complete verse (Job 11:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 11:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “But it is hard for a stupid person to realize/comprehend (something)
    like an ox will never produce a calf.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Just as the child of a wild donkey cannot be born as a human,
    in the same way [lit.: just like that] a foolish person cannot become wise.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “It seemed impossible already for a foolish-one to become-wise, as it seemed impossible for a donkey to give-birth to a person.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 11:12

But a stupid man will get understanding, when a wild ass’s colt is born a man: this verse has been understood in various ways:

(1) As two parallel lines: “And so an empty man gets understanding, and a wild ass’s colt is born a man.” That is, the stupid man becomes clever, and the ass becomes a man. The two parts are separate statements.

(2) As a sarcastic comparison: “The stupid man will have understanding only when an ass gives birth to a man.” In this sense the stupid person will never understand.

(3) A suggestion made by Pope and followed by Good News Translation is that the word translated colt, which is here the offspring of the donkey, really means “male domestic donkey” rather than offspring. The other Hebrew word means a wild donkey as in 6.5. The Hebrew word ʾadam, translated man, should be read ʾadamah “open country” and modifies wild donkey. This permits the translation to read “A stupid man will get understanding just as easily as a wild donkey of the open country will be born tame,” or, as Good News Translation translates, “Stupid men will start being wise when wild donkeys are born tame.” This rendering is more natural as a proverbial saying than Revised Standard Version and is recommended to translators.

This saying is made up of a comparison in which the unlikeliness or impossibility of the first clause is matched by the impossibility of the second. In some languages the comparison will not be evident; for example, where wild and domestic donkeys are unknown. In other languages the comparison may be too obscure to be understood. In the first case it may be possible to substitute other animals; for example, “Stupid men will become wise men when snakes are tame as dogs.” Another solution is to substitute a general word such as “animal”; for example, “… when wild animals give birth to tame animals.” In some cases it may be necessary to make the comparison within each clause more redundant; for example, “Stupid people will stop being stupid and act like wise men when wild donkeys stop giving birth to wild young and give birth to tame young” or “It is as impossible for stupid people to be wise as it is for wild animals to give birth to domestic animals.” Some languages may have local expressions that convey these comparisons more clearly, and in such cases these may be used.

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 .