Ezek 23:24 – TIPs

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.”

chariot

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated into English as “chariot” is translated into Anuak as “canoe pulled by horse.” “Canoe” is the general term for “vehicle” (source: Loren Bliese). Similarly it is translated in Lokạạ as ukwaa wạ nyanyang ntuuli or “canoe that is driven by horses.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

In Eastern Highland Otomi it’s translated as “cart pulled by horses” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98) and in Chichicapan Zapotec as “ox cart” (in Acts 8). Ox carts are common vehicles for travel. (Source: Loren Bliese)

In Chichimeca-Jonaz, it is translated as “little house with two feet pulled by two horses” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.) and in the Hausa Common Language Bible as keken-doki or “cart of donkey” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

It is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:

Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 23:24

And they shall come against you from the north …: In contrast to the way her lovers came to Oholibah before, now they will come against her in full armor, dressed ready for battle. From the north renders a Hebrew word that is not used anywhere else, so its meaning is unknown. Based on its similarity with other words, translators have guessed it might mean “from the north” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Bible en français courant, Septuagint), “with war-horses” (Revised English Bible; similarly New King James Version ), “with weapons” (New International Version, New American Standard Bible; similarly New Century Version), and “equipped” (Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). There is no way of knowing which is correct, so translators are free to choose whichever rendering makes most sense to them.

With chariots and wagons and a host of peoples: Chariots were war wagons or battle carts, usually with two wheels and drawn by one or two horses. They usually carried one driver and a soldier who fought from it. In areas where readers do not know of chariots, translators may use a descriptive phrase, such as “carts for battle” or “war carts [or, vehicles] pulled by horses.” The Hebrew word for wagons (literally “wheels”) may refer to “supply wagons” (Good News Translation), that is, carts that carry food and spare weapons for the soldiers, but it is possible that the Hebrew words for chariots and wagons should be taken together to mean “chariots with [big] wheels” (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh with “wheeled chariots”). In the context of the parable about the two sisters, the Hebrew expression for a host of peoples refers to a large group of people from many different tribes, but most translations understand it as “a large army” (Good News Translation; similarly Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version).

They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet: The large army will come with weapons both to attack Oholibah (that is, Judah) and to defend themselves. Set themselves against you on every side may be rendered “take up positions against you on every side” (New International Version; similarly New Living Translation) or simply “surround you” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version). In the historical situation this phrase carries the sense of besiege and attack. The shield was a defensive weapon, which a soldier carried on his arm to ward off blows from swords, spears or clubs, as well as to stop any missiles such as arrows, stones, or javelins. Shields were disks made of wood, closely-woven wickerwork, or metal. In regions where shields are completely unknown, translators may use a descriptive phrase, such as “weapon which a soldier carried to protect himself.” The Hebrew words for shield and buckler refer to two different sizes of shield; the first is a large shield that protects the whole body and may be carried by a servant in front of the soldier, and the second is a smaller round shield held by the soldier himself. A helmet was a leather or metal hat that protected the head of a soldier. Shield, buckler, and helmet have a collective sense here, meaning that each soldier had them, so these words may be translated as plurals; for example, New International Version says “with large and small shields and with helmets.” If necessary, translators may add “for protection in war.”

And I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments: These two clauses emphasize the coming punishment—the Hebrew root meaning “judge” is repeated three times. I will commit the judgment to them means God will allow Oholibah’s former lovers to implement the punishment. This clause may be rendered “I will give them the task of punishing you.” They shall judge you according to their judgments means they will punish Oholibah using their own rules and customs. Good News Translation says “they will judge you by their own laws,” and New Living Translation has “they can do with you as they please.” Some of their rules and customs, which were very cruel, are described in the next few verses.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

first person pronoun referring to God

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 show different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help.

In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

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