complete verse (Job 21:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 21:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “Press down your stomachs and allow me to also speak,
    and then, you can continue to insult me.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Please listen when I talk.
    After I have finished speaking it will be OK if you scoff at me.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (plur.)] listen while I speak, and if I am- already -finished, you (plur.) still mock me if you (plur.) want.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Be patient with me, and allow me to speak.
    Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 21:3

Bear with me, and I will speak: Bear with me translates a verb meaning “tolerate, endure, have patience.” In 7.21 it was used to translate “pardon.” Moffatt translates it “pray let me…,” New Jerusalem Bible “Permit me.” The element of politeness is somewhat lowered in Good News Translation, “Give me a chance.” In Hebrew Job addresses the friends in the plural. This line may also be expressed, for example, “Have patience and I will tell you something,” or idiomatically sometimes, “Let your hearts rest cool and I will talk to you.”

And after I have spoken, mock on: mock is the same root used in 9.23; 11.3; 22.19. Here Job switches to the singular as if addressing Zophar, who was the last to speak. However, many scholars understand him to be speaking to all three, as in the previous line, and so translate in the plural. English does not make an obligatory distinction between singular and plural in the pronoun and verb. Mock on or “go ahead and mock me,” “… and make fun of me,” “… and laugh at me,” or “… and ridicule me.”

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 .