complete verse (Job 32:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 32:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then, Elihu said,
    ‘Since I am a child among you,
    I was afraid to tell you what I was thinking in my head.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then Elihu son of Barakel, the Buzite, spoke like this,
    "I am still young in age,
    and you are already old.
    For that reason I was afraid.
    I was ashamed to give [lit.: tell] you my opinion.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore he said, ‘I am still young and you (plur.) are already old, so I am hesitant to speak. I did- not -dare to speak to you (plur.) of what I know.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Job 32:6

The first part of verse 6 is still in prose. The identification of Elihu is repeated as in verse 1, except his belonging to the “family of Ram.” Good News Translation does not repeat his kinship identification but shows that the following words are those of Elihu by placing “Elihu” in italics at the beginning of the speech. For answered see comments on 4.1.

Elihu is speaking to the three friends and does not address Job directly, not until 33.1. In many languages the plural form of you should be used.

I am younger in years translates the Hebrew for “I am younger in days,” similar to 30.1, where the expression is “I am smaller in days” and has the same meaning as the expression here. In translation in years will often be unnecessary. And you are aged: that is, “You (plural) are old men.” In 12.12 Job said “wisdom is with the aged.” Elihu, however, does not consider age as a proof of wisdom.

The reason Elihu has not expressed his thoughts is that I was timid and afraid. Timid translates a verb found only here in the Old Testament. The two terms timid and afraid have the same meaning, and so many translators, like Good News Translation, render them as a single expression such as “I was afraid” or “I was shy.” Declare my opinion is not a good rendering, nor is Good News Translation‘s “tell you what I think.” Elihu is not speaking so modestly as to refer to his opinion, but rather to his “knowledge,” and so the meaning of the Hebrew is really “in order to expose my knowledge to you,” “so as to tell you what I know.”

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 .