hate

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “hate” or a form thereof is translated in Tabasco Chontal as “don’t want to see [the person who is hated].” (Source: John Beekman & Harwood Hess in Notes on Translation, March 1963, p. 1ff.)

See also hate.

come to an end / no more

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as some form of “come to an end” or “no more” in these verses in English is translated in the widely-used Mandarin Chinese Union Version with a historical Chinese idiom: guīyú wú yǒu (歸於無有 / 归于无有), literally “return to nothingness.”

complete verse (Job 8:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 8:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “The people who hate you shall feel ashamed,
    and sinners shall be lost completely.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Your enemies will be shamed,
    and the tent of the wicked will cease to exist.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He will-put-to-shame your (sing.) wicked enemies, and destroy their household.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But those who hate you will be very ashamed,
    and the homes of wicked people will disappear.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 8:22

Those who hate you will be clothed with shame: who hate you is the common expression in the Psalms for the enemies of the righteous, and this is matched in the next line by the wicked. The metaphor clothed with shame is used in Psalm 35.26 as a plea: “Let them be….” Shame is pictured as a garment that clothes the enemies of good people in Psalm 109.29; 132.18. In languages in which the passive cannot be used, it will be necessary to say, for example, “God will clothe with shame those who hate you,” or if the metaphor must be replaced by a nonmetaphor, “God will bring shame on the people who hate you,” or idiomatically, “God will cause those who hate you to have hot faces.”

The tent of the wicked will be no more: tent of the wicked is a common image from the Psalms, where the “tents of wickedness” are contrasted with the “tents of the righteous”; for examples see Psalm 84.10; 118.15. The reference is to their dwelling or home. Will be no more means “vanish, disappear, be destroyed.” This line may sometimes be rendered “and God will destroy the houses where wicked people live.”

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 .