complete verse (Job 30:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 30:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “But I cry out to you, oh God, but you do not hear me
    I have prayed to you but you do not answer my prayer?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I have called you, but you have not answered,
    I have stood before you, but you have shown no concern. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘I call upon you (sing.), O God, but you (sing.) do not answer. I stand up in your (sing.) presence, but you (sing.) just look-at me.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “’I cry out to God, but he does not answer/help me;
    I stand up and pray, but he does not pay any attention.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

answer (Japanese honorifics)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, the Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “answer” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-kotae (お答え), combining “come” (kotae) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Japanese benefactives (tomete)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, tomete (留めて) or “put/keep” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Job 30:20

I cry to thee and thou dost not answer me: Good News Translation says, “I call to you, O God, but you never answer.” God is not mentioned in the Hebrew, but there is no one else Job cries out to.

I stand, and thou dost not heed me: the Hebrew has “I stood and you looked at me.” Stand is used here, as in Jeremiah 15.1, with the sense of “to pray,” and so Good News Translation “when I pray.” Thou dost not heed me lacks a negative in Hebrew, as Revised Standard Version indicates. Revised Standard Version follows the Vulgate and one Hebrew manuscript which has the negative. See the Revised Standard Version footnote. Some translate the line without adding the negative; for example, New English Bible “I stand up to plead, but thou sittest aloof.” New International Version is better: “I stand up, but you merely look at me.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project has “I stood up and you fixed (your gaze) on me,” with a second suggestion, “I halted (that is, ‘I became silent’) and you gazed at me.” This agrees in part with Gordis’ rendering, “If I remain silent, you pay me no heed.” Gordis argues that the negative in line a applies equally to line b. On the same basis Good News Translation translates “You pay no attention.” The line may also be expressed “I came before you, but you do not listen to me,” “I call to you for help, God, but you do not hear me,” or “I pray to you, God, but you pay no attention to me.”

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 .