formed from a piece of clay (Job 33:6)

The Hebrew in Job 33:6 that typically is translated as “formed from a piece of clay” or similar in English is translated in the English translation by E.L. Greenstein (2019) as “pinched from clay,” “a figure for creating a human in the ancient Semitic world.”

complete verse (Job 33:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 33:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “We are both the same/alike in front of God,
    because we were created from clay.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Look, please! In God’s eyes I am just like you.
    I am also made from clay.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I am just like you (sing.) before/[lit. in front of] God. I was- also -formed from clay.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Even though I have always done what is right,
    he is lying about me.
    Even though I have not done what is wrong,
    he has caused me to suffer, and I will certainly die.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“create”)

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tsuku-rare-ru (造られる) or “create” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Job 33:6

Behold, I am toward God as you are: for Behold see comments on verse 2. Toward God as you are makes poor sense in English. A more natural translation is “I am the same as you are in God’s sight” or “In God’s eyes I am a man just like you.” As you are is literally “like your mouth,” in which a part is used for the whole, and so the expression means “like you.”

I too was formed from a piece of clay: by saying I too Elihu includes them both. The rest of the line alludes to the creation in Genesis 2.7, although there the word “dust” is used for the material the LORD God used to form man, not clay. Formed translates a verb meaning “pinched off or broken off,” as a potter breaks off a piece of clay from the mass to produce his object. Good News Translation‘s rendering of both lines is clear and appropriate. This verse may also be expressed “Look, I am a man the same as you in God’s eyes; I also was formed from a piece of clay” or “… and God made me too from a piece of clay.”

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 .