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.)

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.

poetry in 2 Kings 19:25-28

The Hebrew poetry in 2 Kings 19:25-28 is translated by the German Gute Nachricht Bibel (last rev. 2018) in poetic form:

So prahlst du. Hör zu jetzt und lass es dir sagen:
Ich hab’s so beschlossen seit uralten Tagen;
ich hab es geplant, was jetzt ist geschehen,
drum mussten die Städte zugrunde gehen.
Nichts ist davon übrig als Trümmer nur,
von ihren Bewohnern blieb keine Spur.
Der Mut, sich zu wehren, war ihnen entfallen,
verschwunden die Kraft, drum erging’s ihnen allen
wie Gras an einem trocknen Ort;
es sprießt – und schon ist es verdorrt.
Ich hab auch dich ganz fest in der Hand,
was immer du tust, ist mir vorher bekannt,
ob du stehst, liegst, kommst, gehst – alles sehe ich,
ich weiß genau, wie du tobst gegen mich.
Weil mir dein Geschwätz in die Ohren dringt,
schmück ich dir die Nase mit einem eisernen Ring,
ich lege dir meinen Zaum in das Maul
und zwing dich wie einen störrischen Gaul.
Den Weg, den du Prahlhans gekommen bist,
den bring ich zurück dich in kürzester Frist!

Literal translation:
“This is how you brag. Now listen and let me tell you:
I have decided this way since ancient times;
I planned for what happened now
therefore the cities had to perish.
Nothing is left of it but rubble,
no trace of its inhabitants remained.
They had lost the courage to defend themselves,
the strength disappeared, and that’s what happened to them all
like grass in a dry place;
it sprouts -– and then it withers.
I also have you firmly in my hand,
whatever you do is known to me beforehand,
whether you stand, lie, come, go — I see everything,
I know exactly how you rage against me.
Because your chatter gets into my ears,
I’ll decorate your nose with an iron ring,
I’ll put my bridle in your mouth
and force yourself like a stubborn horse.
The way you came as a braggard
is the way I’ll take you back as soon as possible!”

While the syllable count of the lines varies, the rhyming pattern is AA-BB-AA-BB (except for the first line).

Source: Zetzsche

Translation commentary on 2 Kings 19:26

Their inhabitants refers to the inhabitants of the fortified cities mentioned in verse 25.

Shorn of strength: New Jerusalem Bible provides an almost literal rendering of the Hebrew expression here by translating “feeble of hand.” But, as is often the case, the word “hand” refers to power. So Jewish Publication Version translates “were of small power.” Yet the most natural modern equivalent in English is probably “were powerless” as in Good News Translation. In other languages very different idioms may be used. Some may say “were deficient in power” or “were lacking in strength.” But others will translate the idea by saying simply “were very weak.”

Are dismayed and confounded: The verb tenses in this verse should be past as in the previous verse (so Good News Translation). The Hebrew verb translated dismayed comes from a root meaning to prostrate or to break down. The people in the fortified cities were broken in spirit, but the term also has connotations of being afraid. In addition to this, they are characterized as confounded, a term that has to do with feelings of shame and humiliation. A possible translation for the two terms might be “disheartened and put to shame” (Revised English Bible). Others may prefer “afraid and ashamed.”

The inhabitants of the cities destroyed by Sennacherib are said to have been like plants of the field and like tender grass. Revised Standard Version and most modern translations add the word like, changing the Hebrew metaphors into similes. Both of these images reinforce the statements already made about the weakness of those defeated by the Assyrian army. Another image with the same meaning is like grass on the housetops. The grass that grows on the flat roofs of houses in the Middle East has no significant root system and is therefore particularly weak and susceptible to dying from a lack of moisture or as a result of intense heat. See Ellington’s 1990 article entitled “Up on the Housetop.”

Blighted before it is grown: Textual evidence differs at this point. Some modern versions are similar to Good News Translation “when the hot east wind blasts them,” while others are more like Revised Standard Version.

The text at the end of this verse and the beginning of verse 27 is very difficult to establish. The Masoretic Text reads as follows: “Grass of the roofs and scorching before the standing grain. And your sitting down and your going out and your coming in I know.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh follows the Masoretic Text by saying:

Grass of the roofs that is blasted
Before the standing grain.
I know your stayings
And your goings and comings.

With the help of a manuscript of Isaiah from Qumran, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament reconstructs the original text as follows:

Grass of the roofs that is blasted
Before the east wind.
And your standing up and your sitting down
And your going out and your coming in I know.

This same reconstructed text is the basis for the American Bible translation (similarly Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible):

Like straw on rooftops, blasted by the east wind.
Your every action and your every pursuit I know.

The sense of “before the standing grain” in the Masoretic Text is not entirely clear. Revised Standard Version has rendered these words as before it is grown. The meaning of “before the standing grain” may in fact be that the grass on the roofs is blasted by the heat before it reaches maturity.

Since there is no direct manuscript evidence for what Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament considers to be the original text here in 2 Kings, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament follows the Septuagint in adding “your standing up” at the beginning of verse 27 but follows the Masoretic Text at the end of verse 26 in reading “before the standing grain,” rather than “before the east wind.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, however, gives only a {C} rating to this mixed text. This Handbook, however, recommends the reconstructed original text as follows:

Grass of the roofs that is blasted
Before the east wind.
And your standing up and your sitting down
And your going out and your coming in I know.

The question mark at the end of this verse in Revised Standard Version may be confusing and should be eliminated. It is there because of the question asked at the beginning of the previous verse. But the long, complicated question should not be carried through to this point in translation. It should rather be limited to the first part of verse 25.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .