complete verse (Job 21:28)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 21:28:

  • Kupsabiny: “You (plur.) are saying,
    ‘Where is now the house of that leader?
    What became of that house of the sinner?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “You will ask me, "Where is the house of that great man now?
    And what has happened to the house of the wicked?"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) will-tell me of the rich people that their houses were-destroyed because of their wickedness.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living?
    The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on Job 21:28

For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?: here Job is anticipating a question which the friends might well ask. See the questions in 14.10; 20.7. In 8.14-15; 15.34; 18.14-21; 20.26, 28, Job’s friends claim that the houses of the wicked fall into ruin and vanish. Prince translates a word which Gordis renders “nobleman” and New Jerusalem Bible “great lord.” The parallel in line b is the wicked, and so prince in line a refers to an evil ruler; Bible en français courant has “tyrants,” and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “evil tyrant.” Good News Translation “great man” lacks any sense of evil, but this is supplied in line b.

Where is the tent in which the wicked dwelt?: house in line a and tent in line b provide the subject for the repetition of the thought. There is no attempt by the poet to heighten the intensity in the second line. Verse 28 may need to be expressed as a single line in some languages; for example, “You ask ‘Where is the house of that wicked ruler?’ ”

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 .