silent / quiet / keep peace

The Hebrew that is translated “silent,” “quiet,” or “keep peace” or similar in English is emphasized in the interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) with the ideophone phee. (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 105)

Philip Noss (in The Bible Translator 1976, p. 100ff. ) explains the function of an ideophone: “The ideophone may be identified with onomatopoeia and other sound words frequently seen in French and English comic strips, but in [many] African languages it comprises a class of words with a very wide range of meaning and usage. They may function verbally, substantively, or in a modifying role similar to adverbs and adjectives. They describe anything that may be experienced: action, sound, color, quality, smell, or emotion. In oral literature they are used not only with great frequency but also with great creativity.”

complete verse (Job 32:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 32:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “As they have stood speechless,
    should I also be quiet because these people are silent?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Shall I wait for you now that you do not speak?
    For you keep standing there yet give no answer.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Do I need to wait, now that you (plur.) kept-silent and nothing to answer?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 32:16

And shall I wait, because they do not speak…?: the rhetorical question in this verse expects the answer “No,” which is given in verse 17. Elihu is emphasizing how patient he has been. If it is necessary in the receptor language to reduce the two lines, we may say, for example, “Because they stand there in silence, should I wait to speak to you?” or “… wait before I speak to you?” Another approach is to translate as a negative statement: “Just because they have nothing more to say to you, and stand there silently, I am not going to wait to speak to you.”

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 .