35You shall set the table outside the curtain and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table, and you shall put the table on the north side.
The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “tabernacle” in English is translated in San Blas Kuna as “house of prayer that can be carried.” (Source: Ronald Ross)
In Bandi it is translated as “holy sitting place.” The “sitting place for the Bandi is where you live.” Therefore the tabernacle is the place where God lived. (Source: Becky Grossmann in this newsletter )
In Vidunda it is translated as “God’s tent” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in Tibetan as gur mchog (གུར་མཆོག) or “perfect tent” (source: gSungrab website )
In American Sign Language it is translated with with a sign for “tent” combined with a sign referring to the outer court surrounding the tent (see Exodus 27:9 and following). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Tabernacle” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
According to Anne Garber Kompaoré (in Le Sycomore 3/2009, p. 34ff. ), there are 4 ways to identify cardinal directions:
1. celestial bodies, especially the sun and certain stars
2. geographical landmarks, for example a mountain, sea, or river (depending on its position or the direction in which the water flows) etc.
3. climatic phenomena, such as the wind and the direction from which rain comes
4. bodily reference points, especially front, back, left, and right, in relation to celestial bodies or geographical landmarks
Following are examples of how these are practically implemented by various languages: (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight)
Celestial Bodies
East and west are often translated by the rising and the setting of the sun (note that the origin of English and other Indo-European languages is “dawn” for “east” and “evening” [i.e. sun-down] for “west”):
Maan: “where the sun comes up” and “where the sun goes down” (source: Don Slager)
Kankanaey: “from the coming-out of the sun “and “going-away of the sun” (source: Kankanaey back-translation)
Northern Emberá: “from where the sun comes up” and “from where the sun falls” (source: Charles Mortensen)
Ejamat “the side where the sun comes from” and “the side where it sets” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
Tzeltal: “where the sun pours-out” (west) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Northern Ngbandi: “the sun behind the chief’s house” (east — the chief lives traditionally at the eastern side of the village, therefore he does not get the sunlight into his eyes) and “under the sun” (west)
Northwestern Dinka: “earth behind” (east — the place behind the earth, i.e. the area where the sun rises)
Jula: “salt village” (north — because salt comes from the north, from the Sahara Desert) and “kola village” (south — since kola comes from the coastal region to the south) (source: Garber Kompaoré)
Matumbi: “toward the beach” (East) (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)
Acoli: “right” (of the local White Nile) (north) and “left” (of the White Nile) (south)
Zande: “interior (dry) land” (east); “place-inside-country” (north / south) — Zande, like a number of other languages, including Matengo and Hehe, traditionally only has three cardinal directions.
Belanda Bor: “lower place” (north) and “higher place” (south)
Turkana: “(up)stream” (north) and (down)stream (south)
Mono (DRC): “water place” (south) (source for this and five above: Mietzner / Pasch)
Climatic Phenomena
Shilluk: “opening westwind” (north) and “opening eastwind” (south)
Swahili used to have six directions. In reducing them to four, kusini and kaskazini which used to refer to south-west and north east respectively (the directions from where the two monsoons blow) have become the terms for “south” and north.” (source for this and one above: Mietzner / Pasch)
Bodily Reference Points
Nuer / Burun: “face” and “sun face” respectively (both: east)
Kalenjin: “eye sun” (east) (this and the one above indicate that the sun is “facing” the spectator from its position in the east:
Shilluk: doesn’t use a fixed position of the speaker, instead it has “eye sun morning” for east and “eye sun evening” for west
Mono (DRC): “foot-sun” (east — the start of the sun’s journey)
Burun: “sun leg” (west — the end of the sun’s journey)
Bari: “back” (north — when people are facing south, north is at their back) (source for this and above: Mietzner / Pasch)
Northern Emberá “the looking [left] hand” (north) and “the real [right] hand” (south) (source: Charles Mortensen)
Morelos Nahuatl: “from above” (north) and “from below” (south) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
When all four directions are mentioned, translators tend to avoid listing the four, sometimes verbose terms, and chose solutions like “all directions” (such as in Maan or Manya (source: Don Slager). Yakan has “from the four corners of the earth” (source: Yakan back-translation) and Western Bukidnon Manobo “from the four directions here on the earth” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo back-translation).
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.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 26:35:
Kupsabiny: “In that Tent of God, place the table of the breads of God in the sitting (outer) room on the right hand as you enter in. Place the thing on which lamps are put at the left hand side as you enter into the Tent.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then outside of the curtain put the table on the north side of the Holy Place. Likewise, on the south side of the Holy Place put the lampstand opposite of the table.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Put the table outside the Most Holy Place, on the north side of the Tent, and put in-front-of the table the thing-to-put- the light/lamp -on.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “And when it’s done, then take the table which exists for the bret offering, and then put it in my shelter’s interior, in the place which has a somewhat great taboo toward the not. And place the lams stand in that interior of the shelter toward the saut.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “And table, you put it inside of tent on the left outside of sacred-place, and lampstand, you shall put it on the right before its face.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “In the room that is outside of the Very Holy Place, they must put the table for the sacred bread on the north side, and put the lampstand on the south side.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And you shall set the table uses a different word for set, but it means “to place,” the same as in verse 34. The table is described in 25.23. It will be helpful to make it explicit that this table was for the sacred bread; for example, “Put the table for the bread dedicated to the LORD outside the Most Holy Place.” Outside the veil means “outside the Most Holy Place” (Good News Translation) but within the larger room called the Holy Place (see verse 33). However, it is possible to give the precise location by saying “outside the curtain” (so also Contemporary English Version).
The lampstand is described in 25.31. The south side of the tabernacle refers to the inside wall on the right, as one faces east. (For the geographical orientation, see the remarks before verse 15.) Opposite the table means directly across from the table. And you shall put the table here uses the other word meaning “to place.” On the north side refers to the left side of the tabernacle as one faces the east.
In some cultures it is more natural to think in terms of right and left from the perspective of one standing at the entrance to the tabernacle and looking in, that is, toward the west. In this case the placement of the lampstand will be on the left (south side), and the table will be on the right (north side). Contemporary English Version follows this orientation. The distinction between north and south, however, will be readily understood in many cultures.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• Put the table for the sacred bread outside the inner curtain but inside the north wall of the tabernacle on the right. Put the lampstand across from the table and against the south wall on the left.
Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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