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OET (OET-RV) ⇔ Why is light given to those who’re miserable?
⇔ ≈And why’s life given to those who’re bitter inside?
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
לָ֤מָּה יִתֵּ֣ן לְעָמֵ֣ל א֑וֹר וְ֝חַיִּ֗ים לְמָ֣רֵי נָֽפֶשׁ
to/for=what he/it_gave to,one_in_misery light and,life to,bitter soul
This is the beginning of a long question that Job asks, using the question form for emphasis, in verses 20–23. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate these verses as a series of statements or exclamations. Alternate translation: “Light should not be given to the miserable! Life should not be given to the bitter in soul!”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
לָ֤מָּה יִתֵּ֣ן & א֑וֹר
to/for=what he/it_gave & light
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who does the action, the context suggests that it is God. Alternate translation: “Why does God give light”
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
א֑וֹר
light
Job is referring to life by association with the light that people who are alive are able to see. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “life”
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
לְעָמֵ֣ל & לְמָ֣רֵי נָֽפֶשׁ
to,one_in_misery & to,bitter soul
Job is using the adjectives miserable and bitter as nouns to mean certain kinds of people. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you can translate these words with equivalent phrases. Alternate translation: “to people who are miserable … to people who are bitter in soul”
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
וְ֝חַיִּ֗ים
and,life
Job is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You can supply these words from the context if that would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “and why is life given” or “and why does God give life”
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
לְמָ֣רֵי נָֽפֶשׁ
to,bitter soul
This expression describes people who are bitter or unhappy in the depths of their beings. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “to people who are deeply unhappy”
3:20 Job equated light with life (33:30; see John 1:4; 8:12).
• Bitter might mean “short-tempered” (Judg 18:25), “enraged” (2 Sam 17:8), “anguish” (Job 7:11), “distress” (Prov 31:6), or “discontented” (1 Sam 1:10; 22:2).
OET (OET-RV) ⇔ Why is light given to those who’re miserable?
⇔ ≈And why’s life given to those who’re bitter inside?
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.