complete verse (Job 36:25)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 36:25:

  • Kupsabiny: “All people have seen the things God has done,
    a person looks at those things from afar.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Everyone has seen this.
    People will see this from a great distance.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “All men have-seen his deeds, but from a some-distance/[lit. a-little-far].” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Everyone has seen what he has done,
    but sometimes we can see it only from far away.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 36:25

All men have looked on it: it refers to the work of God in verse 24a. The subject in both lines of verse 25 is “mankind,” and the verb in each line means “see.” Line a may be rendered “Everyone sees God’s work.” The second line man beholds it from afar is better expressed in the Good News Translation text than in the margin, “but we can only watch from a distance.” If “everyone” is used in line a, “they” may be appropriate in line b. The idea is that human beings see God’s works, but only imperfectly. Verse 25 may also be expressed “Everyone has seen the things God has made, but they have only seen them from a great distance.”

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 .