complete verse (Job 2:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 2:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “When they had seen Job in the distance, they did not easily/at first recognize (him). But when they had recognized (him), they shouted loudly/in pain and cried. (They) tore their coats and threw dust up/in the air and onto their heads to show that it pained (them).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They saw him from a great distance, but it was difficult for them to recognize him. They wept bitterly, tore their garments and threw dust on their heads.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When they were still far (away), they now saw Job, and (it) seems that they could hardly recognize him. They cried aloud and they tore their clothes and sprinkled dust on their heads to show their sadness.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When they saw Job from a distance, they almost did not recognize him. They wailed loudly, they tore their robes, and they threw dust over their heads to show how sorry they were because of what had happened to Job.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 2:12

And when they saw him from afar, they did not recognize him: Job’s disease and sufferings had disfigured him so badly his friends did not know him, at least not until they were near.

When they do finally recognize him, they express their sympathy by three acts of mourning. First, they raised their voices and wept, which means they wailed, or as Good News Translation says, “they began to weep and wail.”

In their second mourning action they rent their robes, just as Job did in 1.20, after hearing the news of his losses.

The third action is sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven, which is confusing, as it involves two upward positions. The Septuagint omits “toward heaven.” The Hebrew Old Testament Text Project committee (Hebrew Old Testament Text Project) suggests that one of the two adverbial expressions is a later addition to the Masoretic text; but which of the two cannot be decided. The sprinkling of dust on the head is found in Joshua 7.6; 1 Samuel 4.12; 2 Samuel 13.19; Lamentations 2.10; Ezekiel 27.30. Habel suggests that the act of throwing dust “into the heavens” recalls the symbolic act of Moses, who did this on orders from Yahweh so that boils would break out on the Egyptians and their animals (Exo 9.10). Habel suggests that Job’s three friends, in solidarity with him, would in this way produce on themselves the same disease. It seems more reasonable to consider the act as throwing the dust “into the air” and therefore on their heads. Good News Translation and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy say “throwing dust into the air and on their heads.” New American Bible follows the Septuagint; New English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible have “into the air over their heads,” but this would require an unusual meaning for the Hebrew preposition.

In view of the difficulty in interpreting this expression, translators may have to make a choice between: (a) putting dust on their heads, and (b) throwing dust into the air above their heads. If the former is chosen we may say, for example, “they covered their heads with dust” or “they threw dust on top of their heads.” If the latter is followed we may say, for example, “they threw dust into the air above them.” In either case it is advisable to include a cross reference.

In translating these acts of mourning, it may be necessary to make clear that they were expressions of grief. Accordingly we may translate the three ritual actions and then say, for example, “to show how they mourned for Job.”

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 .