complete verse (Job 35:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 35:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “If there are some of these people who pray, God does not hear,
    because they are proud and love sin.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When people beg for help, He will not answer,
    because of pride of the wicked.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And if ever they call, God does- not -answer them because they are arrogant and wicked people.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “People cry out for help,
    but God does not answer them,
    because those who cry out are proud and evil people.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 35:12

There they cry out, but he does not answer: There seems to connect this line back to verse 9 by referring to the situation described in that verse. The word translated There normally has this meaning, but not as a connective. Dhorme suggests “Consequently,” and Gordis “Then.” Good News Translation omits it with no loss of meaning. He refers to God.

Because of the pride of evil men is not entirely clear, because in Job’s speech in chapter 24 it is the wicked ones who cause the oppressed to suffer. However, it appears to be Elihu’s choice to call the oppressed evil men, because he is giving a theological reason for their failure to call on God’s help. Therefore Good News Translation “for they are proud and evil men” refers to the oppressed people in verse 9a. Verse 12 should be translated so that they refers to the people crying out in verse 9, and not to the animals or birds in verse 11. Revised Standard Version the pride of evil men refers to those people who finally cry out to God for help, and may be expressed, for example, “because they are proud and evil people” or “because of their pride and evil.”

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 .