Imagery of Job

The Darlong Bible is nearing completion. Begun over fifteen years ago, the earliest translation work was handwritten in notebooks. This last month, April 6-19, 2011, Kim Hibbard worked with Pastor Hruisanga and his nephew, Jacob, in Pailapool, India. They finished checking the entire book of Job.

Miss Hibbard said, “Job is a very difficult book. It has lots of rare vocabulary and some very difficult verses. It’s one of the last books to be translated for a very good reason! I was pleasantly surprised, though. This book was a lot of fun to check. In some ways, I felt like the strongly visual language of the poetry was easier to work with than prose sometimes is.”

Having comfortable working conditions in the translation center was nice, especially when the weather became hot and rainy. Occasionally, they lost electrical power, but were grateful for reliable generators.

A large white board was filled with drawings as the translators and the consultant attempted to understand the imagery of the book of Job–tree roots intertwining rocks, crevices in the sea, bundles of grain, palm branches, etc. Who would have thought that the Darlong people fish by draining a pond instead of using hooks or spears, or that they still make lye from pouring water through ashes?

Occasionally, a translator finds a word that is simpler and more descriptive than its English counterpart. Job 37:2 says, “Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.” The Hebrew word for “noise” means “growling” or “rumbling” like the sound of thunder. In the Darlong language, it is translated rum rum.

Sometimes, other translations cause us to see spiritual things from a different perspective. Inzakna can mean both shame and honor. Miss Hibbard wondered how that could be possible. Jacob explained, “When you come before a person whom you honor, you feel shy or ashamed because of your respect for them.” That is an interesting thought, but they had to choose their words carefully.

The Darlong people have different words for “forever until the end of the earth” and “forever on into eternity.” The choice between these two phrases came up in Job 4:20, which says, “They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.” In this verse, it is very important that the translators use the correct form. There is a big difference in being punished until the end of the time of the earth or for eternity.

Praise God! Ezekiel is the last book remaining to be checked! Another workshop is planned for July of 2011. After that they will begin quality checks on the entire Bible. They have already begun a read-through of the New Testament.

Kim Hibbard said, “Pastor Hruisanga has done a very nice job with the translation; he and Jacob are good at explaining their own language and culture. They also don’t mind all my questions and have a real desire to produce a fine translation.”