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.” Manya uses a similar nomenclature for the cardinal 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 and people of the East.

complete verse (Deuteronomy 3:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 3:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “And on the West side, their land went up to the river Jordan, starting from the Lake of Galilee in the North and going down to the lake of Arabah, or that is the lake of Salt, until the escarpment of Pisgah in the East.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Their western border was the Jordan river from the Chinnereth sea in the north as far as the Salt sea in the south, which is under the slopes of Pisgah.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The boundary at the west is the Valleys/Plains of Jordan, as-well-as the River of Jordan, from the Sea of Galilea as far as the Dead Sea below the part of Pisga at the east.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “To the west their territory extended to the Jordan River Valley, from Galilee Lake in the north to the Dead Sea in the south and to the slopes of Pisgah Mountain to the east.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Jordan

The Hebrew, Greek and Ge’ez that is translated as “Jordan” means “descending (rapidly),” “flowing down.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the river bordering Jordan and Israel, along with the general sign for river. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Jordan river” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jordan River .

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)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 3:17

It is a good idea to make a break at the end of verse 16 and begin a new sentence here, as Good News Translation does. And it should be made clear that this verse is a summary statement of the territory assigned to all three tribes: Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. So this verse may start with “On the west the territory of the three tribes extended to….”

The Arabah: see 1.1.

Chinnereth: this is Lake Galilee (Good News Translation) or the Sea of Galilee (most English translations). In areas where lakes are unknown, we may express “Lake Galilee” as “a small fresh water sea named Galilee.”

The sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea: today it is known as the Dead Sea.

Under the slopes of Pisgah on the east: this is not easy to understand. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh makes “the slopes of Pisgah” the eastern boundary. Mount Pisgah is about 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of the northern end of the Dead Sea. Here the name may refer to the mountain itself, or more likely to the whole mountain range, of which Mount Nebo was the summit (32.49; 34.1). It is recommended that Good News Translation be followed here: “and to the foot of Mount Pisgah on the east.”

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 .