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.

complete verse (Ecclesiastes 11:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ecclesiastes 11:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “When the clouds have gathered water, it will rain. A tree might fall to any side, but when it has fallen, it lies where it fell.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If a cloud is full of water,
    rain will come on the field.
    If a tree falls to the south or if it falls to the north,
    where it falls, there it will lie.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If the dark-cloud is already thick, (it) rains. And wherever a tree falls, it remains/stays there.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Ecclesiastes 11:3

This verse contains two parallel statements, each consisting of two clauses and drawing an illustration from the natural world. It states the principle that a given condition (clouds full of rain; a tree falling) has certain results. We can discover these results and even predict them, so although the verb “find” does not occur, it is obvious that these examples are to illustrate the first theme: some things we can find out.

If the clouds are full of rain: in Israel, where rainfall is seasonal and the direction of the wind significant, dark rain-bearing clouds rolling in from the sea signal the coming of rain. Qoheleth uses this illustration from nature because it is so familiar to his readers. In many languages If can also be translated “When” and still retain the conditional idea. This is what New Revised Standard Version suggests.

There are no real difficulties with the Hebrew text, although the noun rain, because of its position in the sentence, may be either the object of the verb “are full of” or the subject of the verb “empty themselves.” This part of the verse says literally “If they are full the clouds rain upon the earth they pour.” It is possible that rain is meant to serve both functions. However, the second verb, “they pour out,” is plural, so it is more likely that clouds and not rain is the subject of the second clause. Thus the Revised Standard Version rendering seems correct.

The translator should translate idiom for idiom in this instance. Hebrew says “the clouds are full” to express the fact that rain will soon come. Translators should choose the proper expression in their own language: “When the clouds are heavy with moisture,” “If the clouds are dark with rain,” or whatever is natural.

They empty themselves on the earth: this is the inevitable result of the scene painted in the first clause. Again the translator should substitute the most natural expression for rainfall. Good News Translation expresses it very briefly with “it rains.” There is nothing wrong with this kind of translation, though we may want to use a future tense “it will rain” rather than the present tense. We can also convey the Hebrew imperfect more clearly with “it always rains.” In place of the reflexive “empty themselves,” New Revised Standard Version suggests “they empty rain on the earth.”

On the earth has a slightly different meaning than the same phrase in the previous verse, where it can mean “in society.” Here it literally means “on the ground.”

The first example in the verse, then, demonstrates the truth that some things in this world can be known or discovered if we observe carefully.

And if a tree falls: here is a simple case of a tree falling over. It is presented as a conditional clause, inviting the reader to imagine the scene. New Revised Standard Version uses “whether” in place of “and if.”

To the south or to the north represent two possible and opposite directions. In some languages, such as English, it is more natural to say “north or south” rather than “south or north.” This reversal of order is completely acceptable in translation, since there is no change in the meaning. The terms south and north are not known in some languages; they have only names for “east” and “west.” In these cases the normal expression may be “up” for north and “down” for south, or even “left” and “right.” The point of the saying is not dependent upon precise geographical direction, so we can use any two opposing compass points if necessary, or alternatively do as Good News Translation does and say “no matter in which direction.”

In the place where the tree falls, there it will lie: in the previous example an action in nature had certain results. In this case the tree remains where it falls. This is a simple statement of something we can know for certain. We do not have to engage in discussion or argument about how long it may stay there, or whether it can or cannot be moved, and such like. An inanimate object, a tree, falls and it lies where it fell. The final word speaks of continued existence in a place. We can translate as Revised Standard Version, or we can say “there it will stay” or “there it remains.”

The word order in Revised Standard Version reflects the word order in Hebrew. In both clauses, the focus is on location: in the place where … there. The form emphasizes that an object like a tree cannot change its position. This second illustration makes the point that we can know certain things about our world, and so it demonstrates the theme of 11.1.

Translation of the second half of the verse can follow Revised Standard Version, or say “when a tree falls, whether toward the south or the north, it stays there [where it fell]”; or it may follow Good News Translation, “No matter in which direction a tree falls, it will lie where it fell.”

There seems no logical reason for Good News Translation to change the order of the two parts of this verse, though Good News Translation may have assumed that mention of rain in verse 3 should logically come before the farming illustrations of verse 4. This is not necessary, so translators need not follow the Good News Translation reordering.

We noted earlier that the two halves of this verse begin with a conditional “if.” The two clauses are joined by a conjunction, which can be translated as “and” (so Revised Standard Version) or left untranslated (New International Version). Since we are dealing with pairs of lines of similar structure throughout this subsection, the translator may try to maintain this repetitive style. The conditional form may not be the best choice in every instance. If we do choose to adapt it, we should still try to maintain parallel grammatical structures. We can say for example:

• When the clouds are dark, the rain comes pouring down.

• When a tree falls, whether to the north or south, it stays where it lands.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Ecclesiates. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .