complete verse (Job 33:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 33:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “So, you should not be afraid of me
    because I will not put pressure on you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Look, please! There is no need for you to be afraid of me,
    My hands will not be heavy [on] you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore you (sing.) do- not -be-afraid of me or would-think that I will-oppress you (sing.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Is there any person like Job, who insults others as easily as people accept a drink of water?/There is no person like Job, who insults others as easily as people accept a drink of water.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 33:7

Behold, no fear of me need terrify you: This is the third time in seven verses that Elihu opens his sentence with Behold, calling attention to what he is saying, since the content itself is apparently insufficient to do this. In 9.34 Job asked God to “keep your terrors away,” and 13.21 “don’t crush me with terror” (Good News Translation). Although Elihu calls on Job to stand before him, Job need not think he is standing before God, who causes him such terror. Elihu promises not to overwhelm him with his authority. “You need not fear me,” he assures Job. But at the same time he does not invite Job to relax too much. Verse 7 is a consequence of verse 6 and so may be translated, for example, “And so (Consequently, Therefore) you don’t have to be afraid of me.”

My pressure will not be heavy upon you: pressure translates a noun found only here in the Old Testament, but the verb form occurs in Proverbs 16.26. The Septuagint either makes a change in the text to “my hand” or translates the Hebrew word in that way as a dynamic equivalent. New Jerusalem Bible says “my hand will not lie heavy over you.” Bible en français courant translates “You have no reason to tremble before me or to think that I want to crush you.” Verse 7 may also be rendered, for example, “So, you don’t have to be afraid of me or think I will oppress 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 .