complete verse (Job 13:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 13:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “Is there any person who will take me to court?
    And if it is found that I am wrong, I shall keep quiet and die.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Is anyone able to accuse me?
    If so, I will remain silent and die.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Who can accuse me that I have-sinned? If indeed there is anyone, I will- now -be-silent and die.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “God gave this land to those ancestors, who were truly wise;
    no one from another country caused them to think wrongly.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 13:19

Who is there that will contend with me?: Job believes his case is so sure that no one would dare go against him. There are two problems in the translation of this verse. First, line a is a question that may imply the answer “God,” as in Good News Translation, or may refer to whoever might challenge Job, as in Revised Standard Version. The Hebrew does not mention God, but Job’s dispute is with God, and so Good News Translation is probably correct: “Are you coming to accuse me, God?” Contend translates the same verb used in 9.3 meaning “dispute, argue, plead” in a lawsuit. If the translator takes God to be the one implied, it is also possible to render the line, for example, “God, are you going to argue against me?” or “Is it you, God, who will oppose me in court?” If the one contending with Job is taken as someone else, then the rendering may be, for example, “Is there someone who is going to oppose me?” “Who is going to argue against me?” or “Who is going to dispute my case with me?”

For then I would be silent and die: the second problem is the relation between the two lines. If Job is willing to take his flesh in his teeth, that is, to risk his life, it seems contradictory that he is now ready to be silent and die if God or someone else should challenge him. However, if God is willing to argue against Job, he would then know why God has caused him to suffer, and he would be willing to be silent and to die. To make this clear Bible en français courant translates “Consequently, who will dare contest my legal right? I am ready, if I am in the wrong, to silence myself and die.” Although not in the Hebrew, the phrase “if I am in the wrong” is understood as being the implied consequence in line b. Bible en français courant offers a good translation model, and its approach may also be expressed, for example, “If I am in the wrong, I am ready to become silent and even to die” or “If God proves me to be guilty, I am ready to stop arguing and to die.”

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 .