merchant

The Hebrew in Job 41:6 that is translated as “merchants” (for Leviathan) in English had to be translated more specifically in Poqomchi’.

Ronald Ross explains: “In at least some Mayan languages the word for ‘vendor’ cannot be used without expressing what it is they sell. So here, in Poqomchi’ we have had to put ‘fish vendors,’ even though we are assuming that Leviathan is a crocodile. [See Leviathan] It seems that even in the Hebrew the context is that of a fish market, which is logical since Leviathan is considered to be a sea monster. This may be a case of Hebrew classification of anything that swims or lives in the water being a fish, like anything that flies is a bird (bats, for example).”

complete verse (Job 41:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 41:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “Can buyers even talk about wanting to buy (it)?
    Or do you think that traders can cut it in pieces and sell (it)?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “What! will merchants set a price for him?
    Or will they distribute him among merchants?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Will- merchants/businessmen -buy him and cut-(him)-up-into-pieces in-order to sell?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Therefore I am ashamed of/withdraw what I said,
    and I sit in dust and ashes to show that I am sorry for what I said.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Job 41:6

Just as in the previous verse Leviathan is too huge to be a plaything for anyone but God, so here he is no ordinary fish to be dealt with in the usual way in the fish market.

The Hebrew word translated as traders refers to a group of fishermen owning a boat between them, and then getting together to bargain over what they have caught, deciding how much each should be paid before the fish are handed over to the merchants. They will divide Leviathan up to sell him as food. He is too big to be sold in one piece, so he has to be cut up. For bargain over see 6.27. The meaning of this verse may be expressed as “Will fishermen argue over how much he will sell for? Will merchants cut him up and sell him?”

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 .