steadfast love

The Hebrew that is translated as “steadfast love,” “lovingkindness” (Goldingay 2018: “commitment”) or similar in English is translated in a number of ways:

  • Vidunda: “love of enduring” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Bura-Pabir: “love which cannot be-changed” (hyirkur na a palidzi wa)
  • Hausa Common Language Bible “his love without changing” (kaunarsa marar canjawa) (source for this and above: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Elhomwe: “love that does not finish” (echikondi yoohisintheya) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Nyamwezi: chelu, combining “love,” “faithfulness,” “loyalty,” and “kindness” (source: James Lundeen)
  • Newari: dayāmāyā (दयामाया), a compound word made from two Sanskrit-derived terms: dayā (दया) or “compassion, mercy, kindness” and māyā (माया) or “love, affection” (source: Newari Back Translation)

In Pijin tinghevi long or “think heavy about” is used. “The Pijin expression ‘think heavy about’ is very much within the domain of committed relationships. The relationship between father and child, husband and wife, God and His people. There is a very strong element of ‘loyalty’ in this expression.” (Source: Bob Carter)

See also mercy and pain-love.

mercy

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin terms that are typically translated as “mercy” (or “compassion” or “kindness”) in English are translated in various ways. Bratcher / Nida classify them in (1) those based on the quality of heart, or other psychological center, (2) those which introduce the concept of weeping or extreme sorrow, (3) those which involve willingness to look upon and recognize the condition of others, or (4) those which involve a variety of intense feelings.

While the English mercy originates from the Latin merces, originally “price paid,” Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, Corsican, Catalan, Friulian) and other Germanic languages (German, Swedish, Danish — Barmherzigkeit, barmhärtighet and barmhjertighed, respectively) tend to follow the Latin misericordia, lit. “misery-heart.”

Here are some other (back-) translations:

See also steadfast love.

complete verse (Job 6:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 6:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “The one who has no pity/mercy for his friend in trouble,
    that person does not honor the God of power.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Even if [he] abandons the fear of The Almighty [lit.: the strongest of all],
    a broken-hearted person [still] needs to have the love of friends.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘As friends wish you (plur.) would-join me in my suffering, even-if in your (plur.) sight I rejected the Almighty God.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 6:14

He who withholds kindness from a friend: the first line of this verse is difficult to interpret. Nearly every translation consulted is different. Since the next line is clear, it sometimes helps to start from there; and most interpreters look for something that will match forsakes the fear of the Almighty. Dhorme makes a change in the first word in line a to get “despise or scorn,” and the subject of this action is a friend. By his account line a would be “His friend has scorned compassion” or “His friend has refused to be compassionate.” Forsakes is thus matched by “scorn.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project considers the word rendered “scorn” to mean “the one who collapsed” and rates the reading “B,” which means that there is some doubt about the word translated withholds in Revised Standard Version. Kindness and Good News Translation “loyal” translate the Hebrew chesed, meaning pity, mercy, compassion, which are the result of a relationship of loyalty. If line a is taken to mean “His friend has failed to show mercy,” it matches extensively with the whole of line b.

In nearly all translations line a is in the third person singular. Only Good News Translation shifts to “I,” Job speaking of himself. New Jerusalem Bible keeps it general but shifts to second person. Translators are free to follow Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, or another translation, but may need to provide a note saying the Hebrew is unclear in line a. Some other renderings which may be used are: Bible en français courant “The downtrodden man has a right to a bit of goodness from a friend”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “He who is down and out needs a true friend”; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “The man who has collapsed has the right to the mercy of his neighbor”; New Jerusalem Bible “Refuse faithful love to your neighbor (and you forsake the fear of Shaddai)”; New International Version “A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends.” Many of these translations are followed in line b by a concessive clause such as “even though he forsakes the fear of God.”

The difficulties in verse 14a are such that a clear translation decision is not possible. The Handbook, however, prefers to interpret Job as saying that failure to be compassionate to another person is the same as turning away from the fear of God; that is, it is the same as having no reverence for God. In this view it is the person who shows no love for a friend who also shows no respect for God. Translators may find that the use of the third person is unclear. (Note that in verse 21 Job switches to the second person.) In that case it is possible to speak here in the second person so that Job is addressing the friends: “When you (plural) fail to show kindness to me, you (plural) also show no respect for God.” If the third person is used, we may say, for example, “People who do not show love for their friends likewise do not show reverence for God Almighty.”

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 .