complete verse (Job 33:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 33:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “(He) has come close to the world of the dead,
    and he is cloth to death.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “He is about to go to world of the dead,
    and those who destroy life await him."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He soon will-die and will-go to the place of the dead-ones.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “There is no gloom or darkness that is so dark
    that sinners can hide from him in that darkness.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 33:22

His soul draws near the Pit translates the Hebrew “his nefesh approaches the pit.” Pit translates the same word used in verse 18a and refers to the “grave” in the narrow sense, or to “the world of the dead” in the wider sense.

And his life to those who bring death: the verb in the first line serves also for this line, but the translation may require a verb to be used here. His life is parallel to His soul in line a. However, those who bring death is unclear. This expression is found nowhere else in the Old Testament. It appears to be a causative participle of the verb “to die” and so can be rendered “destroyers” or “killers,” possibly referring to spiritual or even mythological beings that cause death. However, the expression is rendered variously by scholars. Dhorme follows the Septuagint to get “abode of the dead” as a parallel with Pit. Good News Translation translates “world of the dead” to include both Pit and those who bring death, and therefore reduces the two lines to one. It is possible to keep both lines and translate, for example, “He is about to go to his grave, and those who destroy life await him.” It may be desirable to transpose the lines to give a more natural sequence; for example, “He is near death and approaches the grave” or “He is about to die and be buried.”

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 .