complete verse (Job 32:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 32:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “Yes, I was persevering a lot while you were speaking,
    I listened to the words of wisdom that were wanted to say.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I sat quietly listening to your words.
    When you searched for words of insight,
    I was listening, giving attention to your opinions.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I waited while you (sing.) think what you (sing.) should say. I listened to your (plur.) reasons.” (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 32:11

Verses 11 and 12 each have three lines in Hebrew. The three lines of verse 11 in Revised Standard Version reflect their order in Hebrew. Good News Translation has rearranged the verb order as “listen, waited, searched.” There does not appear to be any advantage in doing this.

Behold, I waited for your words: Behold translates a Hebrew introductory word that has the effect of picking up again the subject of a previous verse, in this case verse 6. There Elihu said he was afraid to speak out. The sense of Behold is “As I was saying…,” but this may be expressed adequately in English as “Well” or “Well then.” In some languages it need not be translated. For your words means “to hear what you (plural) were going to say” or “to hear the advice you (plural) would give Job.”

I listened for your wise sayings: Elihu is saying that he listened intently to catch their “understanding, insight, or reasoning.” The implication is that there was none, as he will make clear in verse 12. This line may be rendered, for example, “I listened carefully to see how you would argue.”

While you searched out what to say is literally “while you searched words.” The word translated searched is used throughout Job with various meanings: “study” (29.16), “explore or investigate” (28.3), “scrutinize” (5.27; 13.9). Words in this context means “good words,” “wise words,” or “a good reply.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “I waited intently for your (plural) words; I hoped for a wise discourse while you (plural) struggled to find the right answer.” We may also recast words and sayings as events and translate, for example, “Well, I waited to hear what you (plural) were going to say to Job. I listened to catch the way you (plural) understood things while you looked for ways to say it.”

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 .