sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation). Likewise, in Toposa all the different bodies of water are all called by one term as well: nya-name̥ (source: Schröder 2026, p. 101).

In Malagasy culture, the sea is perceived as sacred because it was a path taken by the ancestors. That is why the Malagasy word for the “sea” is ranomasina, which literally means “the sacred water.” The word masina actually has two different meanings: “salted” and “sacred/holy.” Salt is used for the conservation of some foods, such as meat or fish, that are to be set aside for later use. In this sense, the Malagasy phrase for “Holy Spirit” has the literal meaning of “Salted Spirit.” (Source: Brigitte Rabarijaona in The Bible Translator 2022, p. 103ff.)

“Sea” (or: “ocean”) is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “water land” and in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac as “very big lake.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

complete verse (Deuteronomy 1:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 1:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “So, get up and continue with the journey. Go to the hills of the Amorites and all the areas of Canaan including the valley of Jordan, the ridges, the Negev to the shore of the ocean. Go until you pass by Lebanon and reach to that big river which is called Euphrates.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Therefore leave this place and begin your journey. Go to the mountains of the Amorites and to all the neighboring nations — to the Arabah, to the mountains. to the foothills of the west, to the Negev, and to the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites, to Lebanon, and as far as the great Euphrates river.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “therefore [you (plur.) pl] go now. [You (plur.)] go to the hills of the Amornon and to its surrounding places — in the Valley of Jordan, in the mountain, in the hills to the west, in the Negev, and in the places beside the seashore. [You (plur.)] go to the land of the Canaanhon and Lebanon, as-far-as the great/big river which is the Eufrates.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So now continue traveling. Go to the hilly area where the Amor people-group lives and to the nearby areas—to the Jordan River Valley, to the hilly region, to the western foothills/hills at the bottom of the mountains, to the desert area to the south, to the Mediterranean Seacoast, to all of Canaan land, to the Lebanon Mountains, and northeast to the great Euphrates River.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 1:7

This verse describes the extent of the territory that God tells the Israelites they are to conquer and possess. It includes practically all of modern day Israel, Lebanon, and Syria (see God’s promise to Abraham in Gen 15.18).

Turn and take your journey, and go: New Revised Standard Version is clearer in English, with “Resume your journey, and go” (see also Good News Translation); New International Version has “Break camp, and advance into.” It is not necessary to have three verbs, as though every verb carries a distinct, separate meaning. The first two verbs “turn and start out” go together: “start marching again,” “resume your journey.”

The hill country of the Amorites: here the phrase may have the broader meaning of all the land of Canaan (as in verse 19), and not just a particular region, even though in verse 4 “the Amorites” are people living on the east side of the Jordan. (See also that verse for a comment on Amorites.)

Instead of following Revised Standard Version all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country…, it is better to imitate Good News Translation, “and to all the surrounding regions—to the…” (also New Revised Standard Version “as well as into the neighboring regions—the Arabah…”). Another possible model for the first part of this verse is “Break camp [or, Pack up your tents] and resume your journey. Go into the land that belongs to the Amorites and their neighbors. This includes:….”

The Arabah: see verse 1.

The hill country and … the lowland: or “the hill country and the Shephelah” (New Revised Standard Version; also Revised English Bible). The Shefelah was the low hill country between the mountains of Judah and the plain of Philistia. Another way to express hill country is “an area with many hills.”

The Negeb was the wilderness between the southern hill country and the desert to the south. For a comment on the translation of wilderness, see verse 1.

And by the seacoast: New Revised Standard Version is more natural in English, “and the seacoast”; also Good News Translation, “the Mediterranean coast.” This was the plain along the coast. So we may express by the seacoast as “the flat area along the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.”

The land of the Canaanites: or in more natural English, “the land of Canaan.” This phrase may mean the whole country, in which case this is a summary statement, as Revised English Bible translates: “… and on the coast; in short, all Canaan and the Lebanon….” But the phrase may also be used in a more restricted sense to mean Phoenicia, on the coast (as in the New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh footnote). It seems better, however, to take it to mean the whole land of Canaan.

Lebanon: or “the Lebanon Mountains,” since at that time there was no country known as Lebanon.

The great river, the river Euphrates: the Euphrates is sometimes called simply “the River” (Josh 24.3, 14-15). Great here means “large” or “wide.” In some languages this phrase will be expressed as “the great [or, wide] river named Euphrates.”

It may help to give the directions for the Lebanon Mountains and the Euphrates, as follows: “as far north as the Lebanon Mountains, and as far east as the great Euphrates River” (see Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje).

The whole verse may be translated as follows:

• Get moving again, and advance into the land of the Amorites and all the nearby regions: the Jordan Valley, the hill country and the lowlands, the Negeb [or, the southern wilderness], and the Mediterranean coast. That is, move into the whole land of Canaan and the Lebanon Mountains, and advance as far as the mighty Euphrates River.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .