cardinal directions

The cardinal directions “east” and “west” are easy to translate into Maan here since the language uses “where the sun comes up” and “where the sun goes down.” For “north” the translator had “facing toward the sun rising to the left,” and for “south” she had “facing toward the sun rising to the right.” So the listener had to think hard before knowing what direction was in view when translating “to the north and south, to the east and west.” So, in case all four directions are mentioned, it was shortened by saying simply “all directions.” (Source: Don Slager) Likewise, Yakan has “from the four corners of the earth” (source: Yakan back-translation) or Western Bukidnon Manobo “from the four directions here on the earth” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo back-translation).

Kankanaey is “from the coming-out and the going-away of the sun and the north and the south” (source: Kankanaey back-translation), Northern Emberá “from where the sun comes up, from where it falls, from the looking [left] hand, from the real [right] hand” (source: Charles Mortensen), Amele “from the direction of the sun going up, from the direction of the sun going down, from the north and from the south” (source: John Roberts), Ejamat “look up to see the side where the sun comes from, and the side where it sets, and look on your right side, and on your left” (source: David Frank in this blog post ).

In Lamba, only umutulesuŵa, “where the sun rises” and imbonsi, “where the sun sets” were available as cardinal directions that were not tied to the local area of language speakers (“north” is kumausi — “to the Aushi country” — and “south” kumalenje — “to the Lenje country”). So “north” and “south” were introduced as loanwords, nofu and saufu respectively. The whole phrase is kunofu nakusaufu nakumutulesuŵa nakumbonsi. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )

“West” is translated in Tzeltal as “where the sun pours-out” and in Kele as “down-river” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel).

In Morelos Nahuatl, “north” is translated as “from above” and “south” as “from below.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

In Matumbi cardinal directions are defined as in relation to another place. “East” for instance typically is “toward the beach” since the coast is in the eastern direction in Matumbi-speaking areas. “North” and “south” can be defined as above or below another place. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

The Hebrew text that gives instructions where to place items in the tabernacle with the help of cardinal directions (north and south) had to be approached in the Bambam translation specific to spacial concepts of that culture.

Phil Campbell explains: “There are no words in Bambam for north and south. In Exodus 26:35, God instructs that the table is to be placed on the north side and the lamp on the south side inside the tabernacle. The team wants to use right and left to tell where the lamp and table are located. In many languages we would say that the table is on the right and the lampstand is on the left based on the view of someone entering the tabernacle. However, that is not how Bambam people view it. They view the placement of things and rooms in a building according to the orientation of someone standing inside the building facing the front of the building. So that means the table is on the left side and the lampstand is on the right side.”

See also cardinal directions / left and right.

Levite

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is transliterated “Levites” in English (only the Contemporary English Version translates it as “temple helpers”) is translated in Ojitlán Chinantec as “temple caretakers,” Yatzachi Zapotec as “people born in the family line of Levi, people whose responsibility it was to do the work in the important church of the Israelites,” in Alekano as “servants in the sacrifice house from Jerusalem place,” and in Tenango Otomi as “helpers of priests.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)

In American Sign Language with a sign that combines “temple” + “servant.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Levite” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

For the sign in Spanish Sign Language, see Levi.

More information about Levites .

king

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Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
  • Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))

Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:

“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on 1 Chronicles 9:18

Revised Standard Version continues here the sentence begun in the previous verse, but Good News Translation begins a new sentence. Other versions that have made a sentence break at this point include New Century Version, Revised English Bible, and New American Bible.

Stationed hitherto in the king’s gate on the east side is literally “and hitherto in the king’s gate to the east.” There is no verb here in the Hebrew text. But some kind of verb must be supplied in most languages. Revised Standard Version supplies stationed, King James Version adds “waited,” and New Living Translation inserts “were responsible for.” It is not clear in the Hebrew whether the entire clan had been stationed at the King’s Gate (so Good News Translation, Revised English Bible) or whether it was only Shallum (so New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Osty-Trinquet). The decision on this question will affect how the rest of the verse is understood and translated.

Hitherto refers to the time of their ordination under King David until the time of the writing of 1 Chronicles. Contemporary English Version says “for a long time,” but this rendering fails to convey the full meaning. Better models are “Previously” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, New American Bible), “Until then” (Revised English Bible, English Standard Version), “Up to this time,” and “Prior to this time” (New Living Translation). As indicated in the Good News Translation footnote, the king’s gate was the gate on the eastern side of the Temple most often used by the king when he went into the Temple area (see Ezek 46.1). For the first half of this verse Bible en français courant has “It is their descendants who are still today in function at the eastern gate, the gate of the king.”

These were the gatekeepers of the camp of the Levites: The meaning of this sentence is not clear. It seems to speak of the kind of work done by these gatekeepers and their predecessors before they began guarding the Temple gates. It is possible that the demonstrative pronoun These refers not to the present generation, but rather to those from whom they descended. Following this interpretation, Bible en français courant says “Their ancestors had been the gatekeepers of the camp of the Levites” (similarly Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Contemporary English Version is similar with “Before that, their ancestors guarded the entrance to the Levite camp.” In this interpretation the camp of the Levites refers to their camp in the wilderness at the time of Moses.

But it is also possible to understand this verse to mean that the gatekeepers named in verse 17 had previously been stationed at the King’s Gate but now were stationed in the camp of the Levites. Following this interpretation, New American Bible says “Previously they had stood guard at the king’s gate on the east side; now they became gatekeepers for the encampments of the Levites.” In this interpretation the camp of the Levites refers to the place where the Levites lived on the Temple mount.

Bayard presents yet another way of understanding the Hebrew by beginning a new sentence with the second half of this verse and continuing through verse 19: “18 … And such were the guards of the gates in the camps of the Levites: 19 Shallum, son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph….”

As noted above, the camp of the Levites may refer to the place where the Levites lived on the Temple mount or to the Levites’ wilderness camp at the time of Moses. The relationship of the king’s gate on the east side and the camp of the Levites is not clear. Most interpreters understand these two phrases as referring to two different locations, and perhaps to two different time periods. But it is possible to understand the two references as one place. Revised English Bible, for example, renders the whole verse as “Until then they had all been door-keepers in the quarters of the Levites at the King’s Gate, on the east.”

There are so many difficulties in translating this verse that it is hard to know what to recommend to translators. The important thing is to follow one interpretation that makes sense. Translators should not mix different understandings of the verse. If they do so, the translation will make no sense.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .