complete verse (Job 33:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 33:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “The words that I am going to say show that my stomach is white (merciful)
    and I am going to say a thing that it true.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I argue my case with a good heart,
    [I] say this clearly.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I will-speak from my righteous heart. I will-say sincerely what I have-learned.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When we hear what other people like you say,
    we think carefully about what they say to determine what is good and what is bad,
    like we taste food to determine what is good.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 33:3

My words declare the uprightness of my heart is literally “Uprightness of heart are my words.” Declare is supplied by Revised Standard Version, since there is no verb in this line in Hebrew. According to Revised Standard Version Elihu is trying to establish his honesty by what he says. Scholars differ considerably in their handling of this verse. This is mainly because the two lines are not balanced. Therefore it is necessary to look at the second line: and what my lips know they speak sincerely. Some feel that lips know is not a suitable combination, since lips speak but do not know. (But we can understand that this figure is a part [lips] representing the whole person [Elihu], and he is again attempting to state that he has knowledge.) By transferring the word know, which is the first word in line b in the Hebrew text, to line a, and changing the noun meaning uprightness to a similar verb meaning “confirm,” New English Bible translates “My heart assures me that I speak with knowledge.” This then allows New English Bible to render the second line “and that my lips speak with sincerity.” Habel, on the other hand, keeps the two lines parallel, and without making any change in the text he translates “With uprightness my heart states my case; with knowledge my lips argue clearly.” In this case the verb in line a is supplied from line b. This is preferable to Good News Translation, which has not shifted knowledge to line a nor translated it in line b. The verse may also be expressed, for example, “I argue my case with a good heart and say it clearly.”

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 .