grain

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “corn”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).

Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

complete verse (Job 24:24)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 24:24:

  • Kupsabiny: “Sinner may find/get a blessing for a few days
    but before long he pulls them down
    they get lost like the heads of millet after they have been harvested.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Wicked people will be great for a moment.
    After that they will no longer exist.
    They will be brought down and collected like the others.
    They will be cut off like little ears of grain.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “For a short time they prosper, but in not a-long-time they will-vanish like a flower that withers or like an ear-of-grain that was cut-off.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 24:24

This verse has three lines, with the parallelism being between lines b and c. The thought of this verse is that the wicked are fortunate for a while and then are cut off. Although the sense seems to be clear, numerous changes have been proposed; but these need not be considered.

They are exalted a little while, and then are gone: exalted is literally “be lifted up.” It is sometimes rendered “They became great,” “They had great glory,” or “They were made to be powerful people.” New English Bible says “They rise to the heights,” that is, of fame and glory. Their greatness lasts only for a little while. And then are gone translates the Hebrew “and is not,” which represents the typical shifting between singular and plural in this section. Good News Translation understands this phrase to be adequately expressed in the simile in the following line. Bible en français courant keeps it as “These people hold their heads high for a bit, and then nothing more.” This line may also be expressed, for example, “The wicked become great people for a little while, but then they are nothing” or “… but afterwards they are great no more.”

They wither and fade like the mallow: wither translates a verb meaning “to lower, bend, collapse,” and describes the drying of the flower that withers and droops. Fade translates a verb whose basic meaning is “close,” and may suggest the closing up of the petals of the flower. Mallow, as the Revised Standard Version footnote shows, is from the Septuagint, which Pope says is “saltwort” transcribed from Hebrew to Greek. However, the Hebrew has a word which can mean “like all,” and so King James Version “They are taken out of the way as all other,” and New International Version “They are brought low and gathered up like all others.” According to Hebrew Old Testament Text Project the same word can mean “like the umbel,” which refers to a botanical structure more than to a particular flower. In translation the point is sometimes lost by using a technical term or a term that is too specific. It is better to translate generally as “flower.” However, Good News Translation has sought to give the bad sense, which is missing in “flower,” and accordingly says “like a weed.” Bible en français courant says “They bend down their heads like a dying flower.” This may also be rendered “they droop and fade like a dried-up flower.”

They are cut off like the heads of grain: cut off translates a verb used in 14.2; 18.16, where it is translated “withers” by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, but this verb does not suit for stalks of grain. Therefore Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and others translate cut off. Bible en français courant does both: “They dry up like an ear of grain that has been cut.” Heads of grain refers to the top of the stalks where the grains form. In languages in which an active construction is required, we may say, for example, “they are like an ear of grain someone has cut from the stem” or “they are like the heads of grain the farmer cuts off.”

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 .