בֵּין־שׁוּרֹתָ֥ם יַצְהִ֑ירוּ יְקָבִ֥ים דָּ֝רְכ֗וּ וַיִּצְמָֽאוּ׃
11between their terraces they press out oil;
they tread the winepresses but suffer thirst.
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “thirst” or “thirsty” in English is translated in Kituba as “hungry for water” (source: Donald Deer in The Bible Translator 1973, p. 207ff. ) and in Mairasi as “water pain” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
See also thirst (figuratively).
The Swedish Bibel 2000 declared the 69 Old Testament verses referenced herein as “untranslatable.” Typically, other Bible translations translate those verses and mention in footnotes that the translation is uncertain or give alternate readings. Christer Åsberg, the Translation Secretary with the Swedish Bible Society at that time, explains why the Swedish Bible Society decided to not translate these verses at all (in The Bible Translator 2007, p. 1ff. ):
“In the new Swedish translation (SB) of 2000, [some verses are] not translated at all; [they are] indicated with three hyphens inside square brackets [- - -] [with a] reference to the appendix, where in the article ‘Text’ one will find a paragraph with roughly the following content:
In some cases the text is unintelligible and the variant readings differing to such an extent, that it is quite impossible to attain a reasonable certainty of what is meant, although some isolated word may occur, whose meaning it is possible to understand.
“If Bible translators find the Hebrew text untranslatable, what kind of text is it that they have produced in the translation into their own language? When a footnote says ‘The Hebrew is not understandable,’ what then is the printed text a translation of? And if the translators prefer to do without footnotes, are they then really released from the responsibility of informing their readers that the text they read is just mere guesswork?
“To leave a blank space in a Bible text seems to be an offensive act for many. (. . . ) To admit that a piece of Holy Scripture makes no sense at all may have been unimaginable in times past. In our enlightened era, an overprotective concern for the readers’ trust in the word of God is apparently a decisive factor when a translator tries to translate against all odds. The verdict ‘untranslatable’ is much more frequent in scholarly commentaries on different Bible books written by and for experts than in the translations or footnotes of the same books designed for common readers.
“Another reason (. . .) is a professional, and very human, reluctance to admit a failure. Also, many Bible translators lack translational experience of other literary genres and other classical texts where this kind of capitulation is a part of the daily run of things. They may have an innate or subconscious feeling that the Bible has unique qualities not only as a religious document but also as a linguistic and literary artifact. Completeness is felt to be proof of perfection. Some translators, and not so few of their clients, are unfamiliar with a scholarly approach to philological and exegetical matters. In some cases their background have made them immune to a kind of interpretative approximation common in older translations, confessional commentaries, and sermons. Therefore, their tolerance towards lexical, grammatical, and syntactical anomalies tends to be comparatively great.
“It is very hard to discern and to define the boundary between something that is extremely difficult and something that is quite impossible. I am convinced that all Bible translators in their heart of hearts will admit that there actually are some definitely untranslatable passages in the Bible, but are there a dozen of them or a score? Are there fifty or a hundred? Not even a group of recognized experts would probably pick out the same ten most obvious cases. (. . .)
“Conclusions:
With thanks to Mikael Winninge, Director of Translation, Swedish Bible Society
The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 24:11:
Among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil: as Revised Standard Version notes, the Hebrew is literally “between their rows they press out oil.” The Hebrew can also be understood as “between their walls,” which would refer to some kind of structure or enclosure where the olives are pressed. Among the olive rows suggests “between the rows of olive trees,” but this is a very unlikely place to put equipment for pressing olives. Dhorme makes a slight change to get “between two millstones.” Another proposed change gets “between their songs.” The verb translated they make oil is found only here, but it is derived from the common term for “oil” and most likely has the meaning as in Revised Standard Version. On the other hand, they make oil can be derived from the word for “noonday,” used in Syriac and Vulgate. The idea here would be that they are forced to work through the heat of the day. Good News Translation incorporates “and grapes for wine” from line b into line a and has “They press olives for oil and grapes for wine,” which provides a good rendering to follow. However, Good News Translation has not translated the location where this work is said to take place. In languages in which olives and grapes are unknown, it may be possible to substitute local fruits if a process of extracting oil and juice is used; for example, palm oil in many areas. Another possibility is to substitute some kind of generic expression; for example, “Near the trees belonging to the wicked, they squeeze out oil from the fruit.”
They tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst: here the picture is that of thirsty workers tramping their feet up and down on the grapes inside a vat to press out the juice, but they are not allowed to drink it. Tread translates the same verb rendered “trampled” in 9.8 and “trod” in 22.15. The word translated wine presses is found in Isaiah 16.10 “no treader treads out wine in the presses.” Wine press refers to a large wooden or stone vat or container which was connected to a lower container by a pipe or channel. As the grapes were mashed in the upper vat, the juice ran into the lower one. It may be necessary to make clear that these oppressed people are surrounded by juice and, although thirsty, they are not allowed to drink. In some languages the line may have to be expressed as, for example, “While they suffer from thirst, they mash the fruit into juice, but cannot drink.”
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 .
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