complete verse (Job 9:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 9:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “He makes the earth quake
    and shakes the pillars that support the world/land.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “He shakes the earth in its place.
    Its pillars shiver/tremble.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He causes-to-earthquake the land from its foundation.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “He sends earthquakes that shake the ground;
    he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("make them tremble")

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, furuwase-rare-ru (震わせられる) or “make them tremble” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Job 9:6

Who shakes the earth out of its place: Job continues to describe God as one who creates chaos in the universe, just as he has brought fear and chaos into Job’s own life. In connection with God’s judgment, out of its place refers to the foundation upon which the earth rests, and this is spelled out in the next line.

And its pillars tremble: the supports on which the earth is thought to rest are mentioned in Psalm 75.3, “when the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars” (Revised Standard Version). In 26.11 the heavens are said to be supported on pillars. In this verse the shaking of the pillars causes the earthquake. In some translations it may be necessary to provide a note as well as cross references to explain the ancient biblical picture of the world resting on pillars over the water. In some languages it may be necessary to translate, for example, “God shakes the earth on its foundations, and makes the stones it rests on to tremble.”

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 .