complete verse (Job 41:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 41:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “Fire spews out from its mouth
    and sparks/particles burst out.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Out of his mouth come flaring fire and a torch.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He spits-out fire,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 41:19

In the next three verses the imagery builds up so that the description goes well beyond that of a natural animal. It is more like that of a legendary dragon.

Flaming torches translates a word used in Genesis 15.17; Zechariah 12.6; Daniel 10.6. Here the focus is on the flame, not on the torch that contains the flame, and so Good News Translation “flames blaze from his mouth.” In the second line sparks in the phrase sparks of fire is found only here, but is clear as translated in Revised Standard Version from its usage in Arabic. The expression suggests not only that flames come out of his mouth, but that the flames give rise to sparks that fly out from the flames, or as Good News Translation says, “streams of sparks fly out.” Verse 19 may also be expressed as “Fire flashes out of his mouth and sparks shoot outward.”

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 .