family / clan / house

The Hebrew terms that are translated as “family” or “clan” or “house” or similar in English are all translated in Kwere as ng’holo or “clan.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as “kin-group.”

See also tribe.

complete verse (Job 31:34)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 31:34:

  • Kupsabiny: “I was not afraid of what people would say,
    I did not keep quiet or lock myself in the house
    so that I would not be mocked.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I have never been afraid of what people might say or of being humiliated by the kin,
    I never been silent and stayed at home [for that reason].” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I did- not just -keep-silent or sat-still because of the fear of what the people will-say.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 31:34

Verse 34 has three lines in Hebrew, but it is not clear how they relate to verse 33, or even to the previous verses. Revised Standard Version and others translate the opening of verse 34 with because and thus make it an explanation for Job’s refusal to be a hypocrite in verse 33. Good News Translation, on the other hand, renders lines a and c as denials, and makes line b the explanation for line c, which is placed ahead of line b.

Because I stood in great fear of the multitude: in Hebrew the word translated great accompanies multitude. However, great is here in the feminine form in Hebrew and therefore cannot modify multitude, which is masculine. Revised Standard Version therefore translates great fear. Dhorme and others make a change in a single vowel to get “the noise of the city,” which is supposed to refer to the idle talk that takes place there, and which may be the basis for Good News Translation “… what people would say.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “Have I ever stood in fear of common gossip?” “Stand in fear” in English does not mean to rise to the feet but attempts to reflect the Hebrew imperfect form of the verb, “to be (always) afraid.” It is clear that fear of the multitude is fear of what the people generally will “say, talk about, gossip.”

And the contempt of families terrified me: in this line the movement is from the generalized multitude or crowd to the more specific families, which refers to the same people. Line b explains line a, in that it is the “ridicule” or “scorn” that these people would express for such a hypocrite, which Good News Translation translates as line c, “because I feared their scorn.”

So that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors: Revised Standard Version gives the impression that, because of what is referred to in the earlier part of the verse, Job kept silence and did not go outside. However, it is because he did not fear what people said that he was not afraid to go outside and face them; he had nothing to hide. If this verse is treated as a question, as many translations prefer, we may translate, for example, “Have I ever been so afraid of people’s gossip or terrified by their ridicule that it caused me to stay at home and keep silent?”

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 .