complete verse (Job 13:21)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 13:21:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do no longer punish me,
    and do no longer scare me.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Take your heavy hand far away from me.
    May your terror not threaten me.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “stop now your causing- me -to-suffer, and do not frighten me anymore with your terrifying-thing that you are-doing to me.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They constantly hear sounds that terrify them;
    while they are prospering, bandits attack them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Japanese benefactives (-naide)

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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 choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, -naide (ないで) or “do not (for their sake)” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

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

Japanese benefactives (tōzakete)

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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 choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, tōzakete (遠ざけて) or “distance” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Job 13:21

The first request is withdraw thy hand far from me. In 9.34a Job expressed this plea with the words “Let him take his rod away from me,” where the sense is “Let him stop punishing me.” Withdraw thy hand refers to the hand that is causing Job to suffer. Line b and let not dread of thee terrify me repeats 9.34b with only a pronominal difference. Verse 21 contains Job’s two requests and should be brief in translation; for example, “First stop punishing me, and second stop making me afraid” or “Stop hurting me and stop terrorizing me.”

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 .