locust

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated in English as “locust” is translated in Ayutla Mixtec as “insect like flying ants” because locusts are not known locally (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Shuar as “edible grasshoppers” (especially in connection with John the Baptist) (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Pa’o Karen as “grashopper” (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).

See also locust (different kinds in Joel 1:4 and 2:25).

Translation commentary on Job 39:20

Do you make him leap like the locust?: leap translates a verb meaning “to quiver or shake,” but that sense is inappropriate. In Joel 2.4 the locusts are compared to the running of the horse. See also Revelation 9.7. Here, however, the comparison is reversed, and so leap fits this context. Locust refers to the grasshopper-like insects that swarm in the air and make a whirring noise. They settle on crops and totally destroy them.

His majestic snorting is terrible: majestic translates a word meaning “glorious or proud,” which characterizes the noise made through the horse’s nostrils as he blows air. The sound the horse makes is awesome or terrifying. Good News Translation has arranged this line so that is terrible is the effect experienced by people: “and frighten men with their snorting.” This rendering can be improved by saying, for example, “and terrifying people with their fierce snorting.”

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 .