complete verse (Job 38:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 38:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “Where were you when I created the world?
    Tell me please if you think that you are wise.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
    Tell me if you know! ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Where were you (sing.) when I laid/created/built the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you (sing.) know something.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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 choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Job 38:4

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? is similar to a sarcastic question Eliphaz put to Job in 15.7, “Are you the first man that was born?” God does not ask in order to know where Job was at the time of creation, but this is an ironic way of saying “you were not there.” Both God and Job know that Job was not present at the creation. The implication is that to know the design of the universe would require having participated in the act of creation.

The foundation is the lower part of a structure upon which the structure rests. The usage of building terms is figurative, and Good News Translation shifts to “made the world,” which is more general but is also more appropriate when speaking of the earth. In language areas in which buildings lack a foundation, it may be necessary to say, for example, “Where were you when I set the earth on its resting place?” or “… when I set the earth down?”

Tell me, if you have understanding is literally “Tell if you know understanding.” Understanding translates a Hebrew word meaning “discernment, insight” and is sometimes paired with “wisdom.” According to Dhorme “to know discernment” is to know the inner truth of a matter, as in Proverbs 4.1, and seems to have the same meaning as “gaining wisdom” in Proverbs 4.5. According to Habel God appears to ask Job if he has acquired the wisdom to enable him to discern the mysteries of the design of the earth. Bible en français courant transposes the two lines of verse 4 and translates “Explain to me, if you know the truth: where were you when I founded the earth?” This line is not parallel with line a but is a command that is added to line a. In some languages it will be more natural to place line b first; for example, “Tell me if you know so much, where were you when I set the earth on its resting place?”

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 .