18On the east side, between Hauran and Damascus; along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel; to the eastern sea and as far as Tamar. This shall be the east side.
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.)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 47:18:
Kupsabiny: “The border of East shall start from the middle of Hauran and Damascus towards the South and then, it follows the river of Jordan where it divides/separates the land of Israel and that of Gilead. It stretches/extends like that to the Lake of Salt and goes towards the South until it touches Tamar.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘The boundary in the east will-start in the boundary of Hauran and of Damascus towards the River Jordan (which separates Gilead and the land of Israel) going-towards the Dead Sea up to Tamar. That was the boundary in the east.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “On the east side, the boundary will extend between Hauran and Damascus, south along the Jordan River between the Gilead region and the land of Israel, along the Dead Sea as far as the town of Tamar. That will be the eastern boundary.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 )
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.”
On the east side: This verse describes the eastern border of the land of Israel.
The boundary shall run from Hazar-enon, which was the easternmost point of the northern border (see verse 17), between Hauran and Damascus, that is, in a southwest direction with Hauran on the left and Damascus on the right (see the comments and the map at verses 15-17). The Hebrew does not mention Hazar-enon. The reading in Revised Standard Version follows a suggested change to the Hebrew text to tie the eastern boundary to the northern boundary. The Hebrew here is literally “from between Hauran and from between Damascus” (similarly Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version). Although this reading results in a less specific description, it is preferable because it does not require a change to the Hebrew consonantal text (see the first model below). But if the omission of Hazar-enon will confuse readers, translators may include it (see the second model below).
Along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel refers to the part of the Jordan River that flows from Lake Galilee to the Dead Sea. God does not say where the border coming from Hazar-enon will meet the Jordan River, but it is unlikely to be further south than Lake Galilee. It may have been at the lake itself, or further north, but we don’t know. Gilead was a region to the east of the Jordan River.
To the eastern sea and as far as Tamar: The boundary will continue to the eastern sea, that is, the Dead Sea, and then further southward as far as Tamar. Revised Standard Version follows the ancient Syriac version here instead of the Hebrew text, which reads “from the border to the eastern sea you shall measure” (similarly King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Complete Jewish Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The Hebrew word for “you shall measure” looks very similar to the Hebrew name “Tamar” and could easily be confused with it. However, the idea of measuring does not fit well here, and the references to the town of Tamar in verse 19 and 48.28 make it almost certain that Tamar is the best translation here (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project).
This shall be the east side changes the Hebrew text, which is literally “and the east side.” It is better to follow Revised Standard Version here (see the comments on verse 17).
Models for this verse are:
• “Here is [or, This is] the boundary on the east. It will start from a point [in the north] between the territory of Hauran and that of Damascus, and will go southward between those two towns. It will follow the Jordan River between the land of Gilead and the land of Israel, continue to the Dead Sea, and then go south as far as the town of Tamar. This will be the eastern boundary of the land.
• “Here is the boundary on the east. It will start at Hazer-enon in the north and go between the territories of Hauran to the east and Damascus to the west. It will follow the Jordan River between the land of Gilead and the land of Israel, continue to the Dead Sea, and then go south as far as the town of Tamar. This will be the eastern boundary of the land.
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 .
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