complete verse (Job 41:26)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 41:26:

  • Kupsabiny: “Even if one tries to kill it with a spear,
    or any metal, it does nothing to (it).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Though a sword or a javelin, knife or iron rod pierce him,
    it has no effect.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “No sword, spear, bow-and-arrow or javelin that can-harm him.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 41:26

In verse 26 and the following three verses the poet tells how useless it is to try to kill Leviathan.

Though the sword reaches him …: reaches is literally “touches,” but the sense is “is used to attack him.” What is said of sword in the first line is true of the other three weapons mentioned. New English Bible combines them all in line a as “Sword, or spear, dagger or javelin, if they touch him, they have no effect.” These weapons do not penetrate his hide. Instead they bounce off. The words translated as dart and javelin are found only here. Each of the weapons mentioned appears to be a handheld weapon but may also be used by throwing. The exact nature of the weapons mentioned here is not the point. What is important is that, no matter how many weapons are used against him, they have no effect. In some languages there may not be terms for each of these different instruments. In such cases it may be necessary to say, for example, “Even if they attack him with a spear, or arrows, or any other weapon, none of these will wound him.”

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 .