complete verse (Job 8:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 8:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “Let the elders teach you,
    so that you will know about what they are telling you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “What! Will they not teach you or tell you?
    And will [they] not express the insights of their hearts?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Listen to them, for they will-teach you (sing.) of what they have-learned.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So, why do you not allow your ancestors to teach you and tell you something?
    Allow them to tell you from what they learned!” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 8:10

This verse is in the form of a question and has two verbs: Will they not teach you, and tell you. They refers to the fathers in verse 8. Utter words out of their understanding: utter words translates “bring forth words.” This line parallels teach … and tell in the first line. The words which they bring forth are from “their heart” in Hebrew, which means from the depths of their understanding. The heart in Hebrew stands for the intelligence. The force of the negative question is to make a positive statement: “Indeed, they will teach you.” In translation it may be better to reduce the three verbs to two as in Good News Translation and others. In some languages it will be necessary to make explicit what they teach; for example, “They will teach you their wisdom” or “… what they have learned.”

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 .