complete verse (Job 30:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 30:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “They block my way in all places wanting to finish me,
    without wanting any person to come to aid me.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They dismantle my path,
    without anyone to help, they succeed in destroying me.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They block my way to destroy me. They became-successful even though no one was helping them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They prevent me from escaping,
    and they do not need anyone to help them (OR, there is no one to help me).” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 30:13

The division of this verse is abnormal, and so translators divide it in various ways. Most translators reduce the three Hebrew lines to two. Verses 13 and 14 continue the military figure of verse 12. Job is depicted as being cut off and unable to escape, and without anyone to come to his rescue.

They break up my path: the verb in this line is used only here, but may be an irregular spelling or another form of a similar verb used in 19.10, which Revised Standard Version translates “he breaks me down.” Job’s enemies break up his path in order to prevent him from escaping; as New Jerusalem Bible says, “They cut off all means of escape.” Good News Translation combines this line with the following as “They cut off my escape and try to destroy me.” In translation a literal rendering will leave the reader wondering how breaking up the ground on the path can prevent someone from escaping. Accordingly it is better to give the meaning as in New Jerusalem Bible or Good News Translation, or to say, for example, “They have cut off my path so I cannot escape,” “They cut me off so that I can’t escape,” or “They guard the road and I can’t get away from them.”

They promote my calamity is literally “from my ruin they profit”; New International Version translates this as “They succeed in destroying me,” which is preferable to Good News Translation “try to destroy me.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project translates “they contribute usefully to (meaning ‘promote’) my calamity.” We may also render this line as “they bring about my downfall” or “they cause me to fail.” It appears best to join this with the previous line, as in Good News Translation.

No one restrains them: footnotes in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation indicate that the Hebrew verb translated restrains has been changed from the Hebrew for “help.” The Hebrew verbs meaning “restrain” and “help” differ by only one letter. Dhorme and Pope suggest a change from “help” to get “prevent.” New English Bible has “unhindered.” The Hebrew term “no helper” can mean, as Traduction œcuménique de la Bible says, “without needing any help,” which is one of the recommendations of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, and since good sense can be made without changing the text, translators are encouraged to follow this; for example, “and no one needs to help them” or “they can do this without any help.”

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 .