refuge / shelter

The Hebrew that is translated as “shelter” or “refuge” or similar in English is translated in Vidunda as “place to run to.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Job 24:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 24:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “The rain of the forest have hit them
    until they just lean at the stones/cliffs looking for shelter.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The heavy rainfall in the mountains will drench them,
    they gather before a big rock because they have no place to take shelter.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When it rains on the mountains, the poor people become very wet,
    so they huddle under the rock ledges to be protected from the rain.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 24:8

They are wet with the rain of the mountains: rain translates a word which refers to the heavy winter storms. These rains drench the miserable people who have no clothes to protect themselves. Rain of the mountains does not refer to rain produced by the mountains but, as Good News Translation says, “rain that falls on the mountains.” The coldness of such rain may not be recognized in tropical areas, and so it may be better to say “The cold rain in the mountains soaks their bodies” or “The cold mountain rains pour down on them.”

And cling to the rock for want of shelter: cling is literally “embrace” and is used in Genesis 29.13 of Laban embracing Jacob and kissing him. The poet draws a picture of wet, miserable creatures hugging the rocks in search of warmth: “they huddle beside the rocks for shelter” (Good News Translation). The line may also be expressed, for example, “they hug the rocks to warm themselves because they have no houses” or “because they have no shelter, they embrace the rocks to get warm.”

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 .