Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 19:12:
Kupsabiny: “He sent his soldiers to raid me they came to surround my home wanting to fight me.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “He sends an army to attack me. They have built up mounds to surround me. They have set up camp all around my tent.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “(It is) as-if just like he sent-to me soldiers to attack me. They seiged me around my tent.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “It is as though he sends his army to attack me; they surround my tent, preparing to attack me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 the latter two 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. ).
With the introduction of “enemy” in verse 11, verse 12 develops the image of the military.
His troops come on together: troops translates a word meaning “companies,” which are here God’s companies of soldiers. For similar military images see 10.17; 16.14; 30.12. The same expression occurs in 25.3. Come on together means these troops are advancing in the attack or, as Good News Translation says, “He sends his army to attack me.” Because these troops have not been mentioned before, it will often help stylistically to keep God as the subject, as in Good News Translation, “God sends his army to attack me,” or “God attacks me with companies of soldiers.”
They have cast up siegeworks against me translates the Hebrew “And they heap up against me in their way.” This may refer to attacking forces digging under or piling up dirt against a wall in order to overrun it, which is the meaning of siegeworks. This line has been given many different interpretations, and many scholars consider Revised Standard Version‘s rendering largely guesswork. Some interpreters take this line to be an explanation of 30.12b added by copyists, and so delete it. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rates this line in the Hebrew text as an “A” reading, and accordingly it should not be deleted. Bible en français courant avoids the idea of siegeworks by translating “They lay down a road in order to reach me.” Translators may follow this, or the models of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, since nothing better has been convincingly presented. Translators may adapt Revised Standard Version‘s rendering to say, for example, “They are preparing to overrun me,” “They tunnel through to reach me,” or “They are getting ready to attack my position.”
And encamp round about my tent: the figure of siegeworks in line b is not appropriate for line c, since an attack on a tent would hardly use such methods. However, regardless of the military tactics in line b, in line c the enemy troops are camped around his tent. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy places this line at the beginning of line b and says “They camp around my house and prepare the attack.” Translators may find this a suitable way to relate line c to line b.
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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