complete verse (Job 33:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 33:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “Job, I am telling you that the words you are saying are not true.
    God is greater than a man.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “But I tell you Job, "You have made a mistake.
    God is greater than man.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘But Job, you (sing.) are truly wrong for what you (sing.) said. Is-it not so that God is greater than man?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Truly, Almighty God never does what is wicked;
    he always does what is fair/just.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 33:12

Behold, in this you are not right: for Behold see verses 7 and 10. This refers to all that Job is quoted as saying in verses 9-11. You are not right is Elihu’s legal pronouncement “you are not in the right,” “the right is not on your side,” or “you are in the wrong.”

I will answer you refers to Elihu’s reacting to what Job said, by telling Job that he is wrong; it does not mean that Elihu is answering a question. Therefore Good News Translation rightly shifts this expression to the beginning and translates it “But I tell you, Job.” Job is addressed in Good News Translation, not in the Hebrew, in order to make clear that a transition from quoting Job to speaking to Job has been made. Bible en français courant says clearly “You are wrong on this point, Job, and I must tell you so.” This line may also be rendered, for example, “Job, you are wrong to say all that, and that is why I am telling you” or “I am telling you, Job, that you are wrong to say those things.”

God is greater than man may mean that God is too great to be held accountable before people, as Job wants him to be, or it may mean that God is above the faults Job has attributed to him. Bible en français courant takes it in the former sense, with “God is too great to discuss matters with a man.” This is better than Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, which translate this line literally. Man here does not refer exclusively to a male person but to anyone, male or female.

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 .