bag (Job 14:17)

The Hebrew in Job 14:17 that typically is translated as “bag” in English is translated in the English translation by E.L. Greenstein (2019) as “pouch.” Greenstein explains (p. 62): “If the evidencer aggawqinst Job is kept in aw pouch — asw was the ancient practive preceding a trial — Job cannot be convicted. For the image, compare Job 7:1 that typically is translated as “hard service” or similar in English is translated in the English[/tip_languaghttps://tips.translation.bible/tip_verse/hos-1312/”>Hosea 13:12.

complete verse (Job 14:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 14:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “You shall forgive me for my sins
    and sweep away from me every wrong I have.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Like a man hides things in a bag,
    you will seal all my sin in a bag,
    You will cover my sin.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “(I will be) As-if like you (sing.) will-put it/this in a bag so-that (it)-would-be-covered and you (sing.) no-longer see-(it).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “It is as though the record of my sins would be sealed in a small bag,
    and you would cover them up.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Japanese benefactives (ootte)

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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, ootte (おおって) or “cover” 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 14:17

My transgression would be sealed up in a bag: according to Pope this may refer to an ancient system of keeping inventory on animals. Small stones were dropped into a container or removed from it as the number and kind of animals a person owned changed. The translation of verse 17 will depend on the way verse 16 has been understood. Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and others translate verse 17 as a continuation of the thought of verse 16, so that God would seal up Job’s sins in a bag, that is, keep them out of sight. New English Bible and others take the other view that Job’s sins are put in safe keeping where they can be brought out and used in evidence against him later. The view of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is recommended to translators. In verse 16 God would cease “to notice, pay attention, see” Job’s sins. This line may also be translated, for example, “You will forgive and hide my sins,” “You will take away the wrong I have done,” or, keeping the figurative language, “You will hide my sins like a person hides things in a bag.”

And thou wouldest cover over my iniquity: cover over translates the same verb used in 13.4 and translated “whitewash” (Revised Standard Version). See comments on 13.4. Iniquity has the same meaning as transgression in the previous line. This line may also be expressed, for example, “You will cover up my sins the way a person paints whitewash on a wall” or “You will cover over and hide my sins.”

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 .