Job

The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Job” in English means “the persecuted,” “hated,” “one ever returning to God,” “he that weeps,” “a desert.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign for “patience,” referring to James 5:11 and many other passages within the book of Job. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Job” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “suffering.”


“Job” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign that refers to the ulcers (sores) covering his body (see Job 2:7). (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Job” in Hungarian Sign Language — note that only the first part refers to “Job,” the second part refers to “book” (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Job .

complete verse (Job 2:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 2:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “And/But when three friends of Job heard how Job was suffering, they called one another to go and visit him. These friends were: Eliphaz from the town of Teman, Bildad from Shua and Zophar from Naama, They all went to visit Job.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Job’s three friends, Elipaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about the trouble that had happened to Job. So they went together from their homes to his place to give him consolation.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Job has three friends who were Elifas who comes-from-Teman, Bildad who comes-from-Shua, and Zofar who comes-from-Naama. When they heard all the difficulties that came upon Job, they agreed-with-each-other to go to him in-order to-take-participation/to-be-united with his sorrow and comfort-(him).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Among Job’s friends were Eliphaz from Teman town, Bildad from Shuah land and Zophar from Naamah land. When they heard about all the terrible things that had happened to Job, they left their home areas and went together to Job to console/comfort him.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 2:11

The names of these friends and their places of origin have been the subject of much speculation. However, little can be said about them that is certain. Eliphaz is an Edomite name (Gen 36.4), and “Teman” occurs in Genesis 36.11 as an Edomite personal name. In Jeremiah 49.7; Ezekiel 25.13; Amos 1.12 “Teman” is represented as one of the main localities of Edom. Good News Translation identifies “Teman” as a city and “Shuah” and “Naamah” as “the land of….” The names Bildad and Zophar are not found elsewhere in the Bible. The place name “Naamah” is found in Joshua 15.41 but may have no connection. Translators will want to transliterate these names from Hebrew or, in certain cases, borrow the form from a major language. The sentence order in Hebrew is not in accordance with the natural way of expressing this introduction in English, as the names of Job’s friends are not mentioned until the end of the first half of verse 11. For this reason Good News Translation opens with “Three of Job’s friends were…” and names them. Good News Translation clearly implies that these three were three among others. Some translations, like Revised Standard Version, imply that Job had only three friends; others leave the question of exclusion open.

Heard of all this evil: evil refers to Job’s losses and consequent sufferings, or as Good News Translation says, “heard how much Job had been suffering.”

They made an appointment together sounds somewhat businesslike. It is the storyteller’s way of saying “they decided to meet,” or as Good News Translation says, “they decided to go.”

To come to condole with him and comfort him: come in English suggests movement as seen from the place where Job is. As the three friends decide to leave the place where they are, it is more appropriate in English to say “go,” as in Good News Translation. Translators will have to determine what is appropriate in their own language. Condole translates a verb which had the meaning of “move to and fro,” that is, rocking back and forth with the body in the ritual of mourning. In 42.11 it is used as a synonym with the word translated “to comfort.” Accordingly Good News Translation translates the two verbs as one, “they decided to go and comfort him.” In some languages idiomatic expressions are used to render the verb “to comfort”; for example, “to make his heart strong” or “to make solid his innermost.”

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 .