complete verse (Job 8:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 8:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “When water is lacking it withers quickly
    before it is ready to be pulled up and used.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “While they are coming up, before it is good to cut them,
    they wither up more quickly than grass” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “It will-die quickly while still growing and not yet to-be-cut-down.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “If they do not have enough water, while they are still blossoming,
    they wither more quickly than other plants wither.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 8:12

While yet in flower translates “while it is in its greenness” and refers most likely to the early or blossoming stage of the plant, a plant that is not yet ripe or mature for use. They wither before any other plant: this line is the main clause, and in some languages it must come before the line above. It is implied that these plants will wither more quickly than any other plant “if the water dries up,” as Good News Translation makes clear.

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 .