complete verse (Job 40:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 40:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “What I have already said is enough,
    so, there are no words that I am going to add.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I have said too much already.
    I have nothing else to say."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I have-said too much. I will- no-longer -continue to say.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 40:5

I have spoken once … twice … shows how Hebrew parallelism almost always has a smaller number in the first line than in the second. For a similar example with the numbers six and seven, see 5.19. In line b the increase is plus one, and so twice. This does not mean that Job has spoken two or three times, but “again and again,” “over and over,” or perhaps in this context “I have already said too much.” If the parallel lines are being retained, it is not necessary to keep the numerical device if that is not a natural figure in the translator’s language. For example, “I have spoken out, and so I will not say any more” or “I have said it too often, and now will say no more.” If the translator is not retaining the parallel lines, Good News Translation may be followed.

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 .