The Hebrew and Greek that is translated into English as “the wrath of God” or “God’s anger” has to be referred to in Bengali as judgment, punishment or whatever fits the context. In Bengali culture, anger is by definition bad and can never be predicated of God. (Source: David Clark)
Translations in other languages:
Quetzaltepec Mixe: “translated with a term that not only expresses anger, but also punishment” (source: Robert Bascom)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “the coming punishment of God on mankind” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “God’s fearful/terrible future punishing of people” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “the coming anger/hatred of God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “the punishment which will come” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Bariai: “God’s action of anger comes forth in the open” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Mairasi: “His anger keeps increasing (until it will definitely arrive)” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御) is used as in mi-ikari (御怒り) or “wrath (of God)” in the referenced verses. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “anger” or similar in English in this verse is translated with a variety of solutions (Bratcher / Nida says: “Since anger has so many manifestations and seems to affect so many aspects of personality, it is not strange that expressions used to describe this emotional response are so varied”).
Chichewa: “have a burning heart” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) (see also anger burned in him)
Citak: two different terms, one meaning “angry” and one meaning “offended,” both are actually descriptions of facial expressions. The former can be represented by an angry stretching of the eyes or by an angry frown. The latter is similarly expressed by an offended type of frown with one’s head lowered. (Source: Graham Ogden)
In Akan, a number of metaphors are used, most importantly abufuo, lit. “weedy chest” (the chest is seen as a container that contains the heart but can also metaphorically be filled with other fluids etc.), but also abufuhyeε lit. “hot/burning weedy chest” and anibereε, lit. “reddened eyes.” (Source: Gladys Nyarko Ansah in Kövecses / Benczes / Szelid 2024, p. 21ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 40:11:
Kupsabiny: “Spit out your anger to the proud people, and pull down those who are stiff-necked.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Pour out your boiling anger, make the proud man humble.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Show your (sing.) great anger to the arrogant-ones by humbling them. And crush the wicked-ones where they stand.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Pour forth the overflowings of your anger invites Job to exercise his power. Since Job supposes that the moral governing of the world calls for swift punishment of the wicked, he is now given a chance to do it. Pour forth translates the word used in 37.11 referring to the scattering of lightning. Overflowings translates a noun form of a verb which means “to exceed” and refers to his excess of anger, which Good News Translation renders “pour out your anger.” New Jerusalem Bible has “Let the fury of your anger burst forth.” Good News Translation has transposed the two lines so that the object of Job’s anger is identified in the first line, which gives a more logical order than the Hebrew poetic style followed by Revised Standard Version. Verse 11 may also be expressed idiomatically sometimes; for example, “Let them know that you are angry, and lower the heads of everyone who has a swollen heart.”
And look on every one that is proud, and abase him: although God alone has the right to humble the exalted and to raise the lowly (5.11; 1 Samuel 2.7; Isaiah 13.11; 25.11), Job is invited to perform that function. Every one that is proud identifies the ones Job is to humble. Abase means “to humble, to cause someone to be made low.”
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 .
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