Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 41:10:
Kupsabiny: “Is there maybe a person who is able to rouse this animal? When/If (people) are scared of (an) animal, who then can oppose me?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Since no one has the courage to disturb it, who will be able to stand before me?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “If there is no one who dares to disturb him, so who will- ever -dare to fight against me?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “No one dares/tries to arouse them/cause them to be angry.
So, since I am much more powerful than they are, who would dare to cause me to be angry?/no one would dare to cause me to be angry!” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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.
No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up: fierce translates a word that usually means “cruel,” but most take it here to refer to Leviathan, where fierce is more suitable. Revised Standard Version makes it apply to Leviathan’s opponent, which is less likely. The Hebrew of this line implies a negative question, “Is he not fierce…?” Good News Translation has switched to a statement: “When he is aroused….” New English Bible expresses the line as an exclamation: “How fierce he is when he is roused!” Stir him up translates the same verb used in 3.8, where there is another reference to stirring up Leviathan.
The question Who … can stand before me? is taken by some to mean “before God” and by others to mean “before Leviathan.” Most Hebrew manuscripts have “before me,” as in Revised Standard Version, but a number of manuscripts have “before him,” as in Good News Translation. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project favors the reading followed by Revised Standard Version. In general it may be said that translations which agree with Revised Standard Version‘s rendering interpret the adjective in the first line as referring to Leviathan’s opponents, the meaning of the whole verse being “No one is daring enough to challenge Leviathan, so how can anyone dare to challenge God?” On the other hand, those who read the same Hebrew text as does Good News Translation understand the adjective in the first line as referring to Leviathan: “He is so fierce when he is aroused that nobody would dare to face up to him.” Since there is good manuscript evidence for both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, either may be recommended. Some translators may prefer to follow a widely-used translation in the language area.
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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