Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 23:2:
Kupsabiny: “I am complaining again very bitterly. I am unable to hold back my lamenting.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Now I am still complaining. Even though I complain, groaning in suffering, God’s hand [is] heavy. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘Until now my complaint is too much. God still is-causing- me -to-suffer severely in spite of my groaning.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘Today I am again complaining bitterly/strongly to God; I continue groaning, but he continues to punish me/cause me to suffer.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains in the following way: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
Today also my complaint is bitter: Today is the only apparent reference in Job to the time of an action, and it has been interpreted by some as indicating that the poet is calling attention to the passing of days during which the speeches took place, or that chapter 23 takes place a day or more following chapter 22. It seems more probable that Today also signals that Job is renewing his old complaint even after having heard all his friends have to say. Therefore it may be better to translate “In spite of what has been said” or “Just the same.” Good News Translation “I still…” gives the expression this sense. For complaint see 7.13; the term is also used in 9.27; 10.1; 21.4. As the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates, bitter follows a textual change made by the ancient versions. The Hebrew has “rebellious,” so New Jerusalem Bible translates “My lament is still rebellious.” Job’s complaint is against God, and Good News Translation makes this clear with two clauses: “I still rebel and complain against God.” God is not mentioned by name in verses 1-15 but is represented by pronouns. In translation it will often be necessary to replace some pronouns by the noun “God.” This line may also be expressed “In spite of what you have said, my complaint is as strong as before,” “I’ll tell you again, my complaints are bitter,” or “Once more I object and complain against God.”
His hand is heavy in spite of my groaning is literally “My hand is heavy on my groaning.” Revised Standard Version and others follow the change made by the Septuagint, his hand, which New Jerusalem Bible renders more clearly than Revised Standard Version as “despite my groans his hand is just as heavy”; that is, God goes on causing Job to suffer in spite of Job’s groans. Dhorme and others keep the Hebrew “my hand,” with the sense that Job tries to suppress his groans by laying his hand over his mouth. Bible en français courant translates “I have really wanted to suppress my groans,” and it transposes lines a and b so that a follows b with the sense “In spite of wanting to suppress my groans, still my complaint is stronger than ever.” Good News Translation translates “I cannot keep from groaning,” which follows the Hebrew text rather than the Septuagint. Good News Translation‘s rendering would be more accurate by including an expression to cover the sense of “my hand”: “in spite of trying to suppress them, I can’t hold back my groans.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project retains the Hebrew and recommends a literal translation, which it explains as “My silence is an enforced one.” Revised Standard Version translates the Hebrew preposition in line b as “in spite of.” In other words, God pays no attention to Job’s groans but goes on punishing him. Taken as a whole it seems best to recommend the change followed by Revised Standard Version, his hand. Line b is taken as the reason for the complaint or rebellion in line a. Revised Standard Version can be expressed differently to say, for example, “because God keeps on punishing me in spite of my groaning” or “… in spite of my painful cries.”
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 .
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