In Gbaya, the notion of setting off early at dawn in Job 24:5 is emphasized with sút, an ideophone that refers to early morning. Note that the Gbaya translators interpreted along the lines of the FrenchTraduction œcuménique de la Bible which has “set off for their work at dawn” (ils partent au travail dès l’aube) where most English versions don’t emphasize the time of day.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
In the context of being in the wilderness, the Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “wild ass” in English is translated in Chitonga as cibize or “zebra,” because “from the Tonga perspective, no ‘donkey of the bush’ [the literal correspondent of ‘wild ass’] could be expected to live very long, due to predators like lions, etc.” (Source: Wendland 1987, p. 130)
Two species of wild ass were known by the Israelites, the Nubian Wild Ass Equus asinus africanus, which lived on the African side of the Red Sea, and the Persian Wild Ass or Onager Equus hemionus, which was common in the land of Israel, Syria, and Mesopotamia. It seems likely that the Hebrew ‘arod and the Aramaic ‘arad refer to the Nubian wild ass, and the Hebrew pere’ to the onager.
Both species of wild ass were hunted for their meat.
The Nubian wild ass is probably the ancestor of virtually all domestic donkeys. It is a smallish, light brown donkey with a characteristic dark stripe down its spine and across its shoulders. It originally had stripes on the lower part of its forelegs. It has long ears and a tufted tail. It is still found in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia.
The onager, or Persian wild ass, is a larger animal, classified scientifically as a species of horse. It looks something like a mule. The scientific name hemionus means “half-ass”. It has smaller ears than a typical donkey. It is a fawn color but has a whitish chest and belly. It was evidently never fully domesticated, although one ancient Sumerian illustration shows onagers harnessed to a chariot. Onagers are still found in very small numbers in parts of Syria and Iraq and have been reintroduced into Israel.
The onager was a symbol of untameable wildness, and thus the metaphor “wild ass” was used to describe anyone with wild uncontrolled behavior.
In Africa the closest equivalent to the wild ass is the zebra, which is about the same size and belongs to the same animal family. Like the onager, the zebra has never been widely domesticated. Where the phrase “wild donkeys” would refer to domestic donkeys that have returned to living in a wild state (“feral donkeys”), a phrase meaning “wild horse” is a better choice, since feral donkeys are easily captured and domesticated, whereas feral horses are harder to domesticate. Languages that use the same word for horse and zebra may still have a problem.
The same word or expression can be used for both Hebrew words and for the Aramaic ‘arad, since no distinction between the wild ass species is intended in the biblical text, except in Job 39:5. In this verse, the Hebrew pere’ and ‘arod are both used:
The parallelism can be preserved either by using a pronoun in the second line (Who untied its ropes?) or by using “zebra” or “wild horse” for pere’ and “wild ass” for ‘arod.
Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “steppe”
Yakan: “the lonely place” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a land where no people lived” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “the place with no inhabitants” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Matumbi uses various term: lubele (desert, sandy place without water) — used in John 11:54, lupu’ngu’ti (a place where no people live, can be a scrub land, a forest, or a savanna) — used in Mark 1:3 et al.), and mwitu (a forest, a place where wild animals live) — used in Mark 1:13 et al.) (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Chichewa Contemporary translation (2002/2016): chipululu: a place uninhabited by people with thick forest and bush (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Note that in Luke 15:4, usually a term is used that denotes pastoral land, such as “eating/grazing-place,” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 24:5:
Kupsabiny: “So, that makes those people wander around looking for something their children may eat, like the donkeys in the wild are doing.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, wandering in search of fodder, the poor go roaming in search of food. The wilderness gives their sons and daughters food to eat.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “They look for their food in a desolate-place like the wild donkeys. Almost there is no other place that they can look-for food for their children.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The result is that poor people have to search for food in the desert
like wild donkeys do.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
In the following verses the oppressed poor are compared to wild asses (donkeys) exposed to merciless conditions. Behold, like wild asses in the desert they go forth to their toil: for Behold see 4.18; 12.14; 13.15. For wild asses see comments on 11.12. Desert translates the Hebrew midbar, the most common term for desert in the Old Testament. At least in biblical times such areas, although uninhabited and not used for farming, had enough rain and grass to support certain wild animals, including the wild ass. To their toil translates the Hebrew “in their work” or “when they work.” Dhorme places this expression after seeking prey in the next line. He also changes in the desert to get “in the evening.” Good News Translation has taken to their toil, with seeking prey of the next line, to mean “search for food,” so “The poor, like wild asses, search for food in the dry wilderness.” Because of the parallelism translators may find it best to follow Good News Translation. This may also be expressed “Like wild donkeys these poor people look for food in the desert” or “These poor people live in the desert and are forced to search for something to eat, as wild donkeys do.”
Seeking prey in the wilderness: seeking prey is not suitable for this kind of animal, and means “looking for food,” which is parallel with go forth to their toil. As food for their children is literally “food to him for young.” Revised Standard Version changes “food to him” to read as food. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends taking “to him” in a distributive sense: “for each one of them” or “for him (the poor person) the wilderness is bread (food) for the young.” Translators will notice a bewildering variety of translations of this textually confused verse. However, Good News Translation has translated it in a clear way that reflects the idea, and with a minimum of textual adjustments. The poet is saying that the poor are no better off in their search for food than are the wild donkeys. This line may also be rendered, for example, “this is the only way they get food for their children” or “this is the way they feed their children.”
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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