complete verse (Job 20:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 20:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “‘Job, I cannot be quiet any longer
    because of the words that are insulting/disturbing me.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The pain of my heart incites me to respond,
    for I have been deeply disturbed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘I must reply because I am not at-ease.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘I am very perturbed about what you have said,
    so I want to reply very quickly.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 20:2

Therefore my thoughts answer me: Therefore translates an expression at the opening of a speech, one which has the meaning “That is why….” It is equivalent to “In response to what you have said” or “What you have said is the reason why….” Dhorme translates “This is why…,” and Moffatt “Now this does….” Answer me does not suit the context. Accordingly some suggest a textual change to get “My thoughts disturb me.” Dhorme keeps the Hebrew with the meaning “My thoughts bring me back,” which is to say “cause me to speak to you again.” The form of answer is causative, and so New English Bible translates “forces me to reply,” which is better than Revised Standard Version. Bible en français courant has “My reflections urge (literally push) me to reply.” Good News Translation has transposed lines a and b: “Now I’m impatient to answer.” This line may also be rendered, for example, “What you have said makes me speak up,” “I have heard you and so I have to reply to you,” or “Because of this I want to say something to you.”

Because of my haste within me: the word translated haste is disputed by interpreters. Some take it to mean “feeling or emotion,” and so Dhorme “because of the sensation I feel.” Good News Translation, which places this line before line a, translates “Job, you upset me.” Others like New English Bible keep haste, as in Revised Standard Version, “And this is why I hasten to speak.” In some languages it is obligatory to place line b before line a, while in others considerations of style may make it preferred. This second line may be expressed, for example, “You have upset me so,” or idiomatically, “You have made my heart run wild” or “You have made my stomach twist.” The whole verse may be rendered, for example, “Because of the way I feel inside me, I have to reply to what you have said” or “My heart stirs within me, and because of what you have said I have to speak up now.”

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 .