complete verse (Job 21:21)

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

  • Kupsabiny: “After a person/man has died,
    the life of their children no longer troubles his mind.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “What! If a man’s life is finished,
    will he be concerned for the happiness of his sons and daughters?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If they are already dead they no-longer have connection/[lit. earth/world] to what is-happening to their household.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “After wicked people are dead,
    they are not at all concerned about what happens to their families.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 21:21

For what do they care for their houses after them…?: here Job is asking “What interest, concern, does a dead man take in the affairs of his family?” Whether his children are happy or punished makes little difference because his life is over. In 14.21 Job said “His sons come to honor and he does not know it,” because he is dead. Houses is singular in Hebrew, “his house,” but stands for “his family,” or more specifically, “his children.” After them means “after they (the wicked) have died.” Good News Translation transposes lines a and b in order to give a more natural English style. This line may also be expressed, for example, “After they die can they care what happens to their children? Certainly not!” “Can a dead man think about the well-being of his family? Not at all!” or, as a statement, “A dead man does not think about what happens to his family.”

When the number of their months is cut off: their months is literally “his months.” The same expression is found in 14.5. Elsewhere “the number of his days” is the equivalent, both terms meaning “his life span, the length of his life.” The sense is not of the wicked man’s time to live being fixed in advance, but rather “when his life is over” (Good News Translation). Translators may need to transpose the two lines, as in Good News Translation. This line may be rendered “once he is dead,” “when his life is finished,” or “after he has died.”

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 .