God forbid

The now commonly-used English idiom “God forbid” was first coined in 1560 in the Geneva Bible. (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 273)

For other idioms in English that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

complete verse (Job 27:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 27:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “I shall never say that you (plur.) are right in what you are saying.
    I shall defend myself till the day I die that I am innocent.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I will never say that your words are true.
    Until I die I will never stop saying I am a blameless man.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will- never -admit that you (plur.) are right. I will- surely -insist that I am innocent until I die.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I will never admit that what you three have said is true;
    until the day that I die, I will insist that I have not done things that are wrong.” (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 27:5

Far be it from me to say that you are right: Job appears to address the friends directly, and insists again on his innocence. The opening phrase is an emphatic denial. Job cannot accept the thought of the friends that he is guilty of wrongdoing. Far be it from me is translated by New English Bible as “God forbid…,” and by Moffatt as “When I maintain (by God!) that you….” This phrase may require an idiomatic translation to express the equivalent idea. Good News Translation translates the idea but lacks the force of the original: “I will never say that…,” and New International Version “I will never admit….” To say that you are right translates the Hebrew “that I should justify you,” where “justify” represents the causative form of the verb tsadaq “to be right.” It is used in 9.15; 11.2; 13.18. The meaning is “admit that you (plural) are right.” Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation make till I die part of line b, and this is correct. To place that phrase in line a, as some translators do, is to destroy the balance of the two lines. This line may also be expressed, for example, “I will never admit that you (plural) are right” or “As God sees me, you are certainly in the wrong!”

Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me: till I die is not intended to suggest that Job will be willing to renounce his integrity after he dies, but rather that he will never renounce it, or as Bible en français courant says, “Never, even till my death.” Put away translates a verb whose meaning is “set aside, remove” but in this context means “renounce, deny.” Integrity is the term God used to refer to the character of Job in 2.3 when speaking to Satan, “He still holds fast his integrity.” Job is not claiming perfection or blamelessness, but innocence of wrongdoing, and so Good News Translation and others translate positively, “I will insist on my innocence.” Negatively this may be rendered “I will not say that I am guilty of wrongdoing.”

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 .