complete verse (Job 36:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 36:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “The words that I speak are true
    you are with a person of wisdom who knows many things.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Be assured, my words will not be false.
    A man who is perfect in knowledge is with you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I assure you (sing.) that I do not lie, for I whom you (sing.) face is very wise.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I am not saying anything to you that is false;
    I, who am standing in front of you, am someone who understands things very well/perfectly.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("is/be present")

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, o-rare-ru (おられる) or “is/be present” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Job 36:4

For truly my words are not false serves to certify that Elihu’s words are to be accepted as true. Elihu is no stranger to immodest assurances about himself. Bible en français courant translates the line as a positive statement: “What I have to say is the pure truth.” It is because Elihu’s words are not false that he is qualified to speak for God, or to represent God in Job’s legal dispute with God. In some languages the line may be rendered idiomatically; for example, “I assure you my mouth speaks with one tongue” or “It is so that my words are all straight.”

One who is perfect in knowledge is with you refers to Elihu himself, the same as in the previous line. Perfect in knowledge is used in 37.16, where it refers to God. Perfect translates a word meaning “complete” and is used in 1.1, and also in 1.8 and 2.3, where God uses the word to characterize Job. There it is translated “blameless” (Revised Standard Version) and “faithful” (Good News Translation). Used in relation to knowledge the meaning has to do with the degree of knowledge Elihu claims. Good News Translation says “a truly wise man,” Bible en français courant “a man certain in his subject,” Habel “perfect in reasoning,” New English Bible “one whose conclusions are sound.” We may also translate, for example, “a man whose knowledge is the highest” or “who has the best knowledge.”

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 .