complete verse (Job 31:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 31:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “When I saw a person without clothing,
    a poor/orphan who never bought clothing” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “[Having seen] anyone who had no house, who was without clothing,
    or having seen the poor, living without having clothes to wear,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Whenever I saw a man who suffers from cold because he lacks clothing,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 31:19

If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing: in Revised Standard Version verse 19 is an “if” clause, which is followed by a second “if” clause of a negative kind in verse 20. Like previous verses of this kind, translators may also render these “if” clauses as statements, as in Good News Translation, “When I found someone in need,” or as a question, as in New Jerusalem Bible, “Have I ever seen a wretch in need of clothing?” The two lines of verse 19 are parallel. Perish for lack of clothing suggests that people actually died because of no clothing.

Or a poor man without covering: covering, which is parallel with clothing in line a, occurs in 24.7, also paired with clothing. Dhorme translates covering as “coat,” but a parallel expression such as New Jerusalem Bible “with nothing to wear” is probably better. It is recommended to translators that they follow some such restructuring as in Good News Translation, so that verse 19 is the condition and verse 20 the consequence. Verse 19, as an introduction to the oath of verse 20, may be handled as an “if” clause, a “when” clause, or any of the other types of introductory clauses that express verse 19 as the circumstances under which verse 20 occurs; for example, “Every time I saw a poor person dying from lack of clothing…” or “Whenever I found needy people who did not have clothes to keep them 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 .