OET interlinear JOB 12:11

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

הֲ⁠לֹא־אֹ֭זֶן מִלִּ֣ין תִּבְחָ֑ן וְ֝⁠חֵ֗ךְ אֹ֣כֶל יִטְעַם־לֽ⁠וֹ

?,not ear words test and,palate food tastes to=him/it

In this instance, Job is using the word and to say that the phrase it introduces is just as true as the previous phrase. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate this in your translation. Alternate translation: “Does not the ear test words, just as the palate tastes its food?”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

הֲ⁠לֹא־אֹ֭זֶן מִלִּ֣ין תִּבְחָ֑ן וְ֝⁠חֵ֗ךְ אֹ֣כֶל יִטְעַם־לֽ⁠וֹ

?,not ear words test and,palate food tastes to=him/it

Job is using the question form for emphasis. If you would not use the question form for that purpose in your language, you could translate this as a statement or as an exclamation. Alternate translation: “Certainly the ear tests words just as the palate tastes its food!”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

הֲ⁠לֹא־אֹ֭זֶן מִלִּ֣ין תִּבְחָ֑ן וְ֝⁠חֵ֗ךְ אֹ֣כֶל יִטְעַם־לֽ⁠וֹ

?,not ear words test and,palate food tastes to=him/it

Job is speaking of the ear as if it could test words by itself. He is using the ear to represent hearing, and he means that people themselves test or consider the words of others when they hear them. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “Do people not consider others’ words when they hear them, just as people discern with their mouths the taste of their food”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

מִלִּ֣ין

words

Job is using the term words to mean what people say by using words. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “what people say”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

הֲ⁠לֹא־אֹ֭זֶן מִלִּ֣ין תִּבְחָ֑ן וְ֝⁠חֵ֗ךְ אֹ֣כֶל יִטְעַם־לֽ⁠וֹ

?,not ear words test and,palate food tastes to=him/it

Though Job is making a general statement, he is referring implicitly to what his friends have said to him and what he has decided about it. You could indicate that in your translation if it would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: “I have heard what you have said and I have considered it and decided that it is not true, just as people discern with their mouths the taste of their food”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

וְ֝⁠חֵ֗ךְ אֹ֣כֶל יִטְעַם־לֽ⁠וֹ

and,palate food tastes to=him/it

Job is speaking of the palate or mouth as if it could taste by itself. He means that with their mouths, people discern the taste of the food that they eat. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “just as people discern with their mouths the taste of their food”