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.

cubit

The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek that is translated as “cubit” or into a metric or imperial measurement in English is translated in Kutu, Kwere, and Nyamwezi as makono or “armlength.” Since a cubit is the measurement from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, one armlength (measured from the center of the chest to the fingertips) equals two cubits or roughly 1 meter. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Similarly, in Akoose, the translation is “arm distance.” (Source: Joseph Nkwelle Ngome and Marlie van Rooyen & Jacobus A. Naudé in Communicatio 2009, p. 251ff.)

In Klao it is converted into “hand spans” (app. 6 inches or 12 cm) and “finger spans” (app. 1 inch or 2 cm). (Source: Don Slager)

Joseph

The term that is transliterated as “Joseph” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that relates to a) the coat he wore (see Gen 37:3), b) the holding of his clothes by Potiphar’s wife (see Gen 39:12), and c) the many times Joseph experienced grief. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Joseph” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies “dream,” referring to Jacob’s dream at Bethel (see Genesis 28:10 and the following verses). (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Joseph” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Joseph .

distance (long / wide / high)

The concepts of distance that are translated in English with “long,” “wide,” and “high/tall” are translated in Kwere with one word: utali. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 48:30 - 48:34

These shall be the exits of the city: Most translations take this clause to refer to the “gates” (Contemporary English Version, New International Reader’s Version) or “entrances” (Good News Translation) of the city, even though the measurements that follow don’t fit well in a paragraph about gates. Therefore some scholars have suggested that the Hebrew term for exits should be understood to mean the “outskirts,” “outer limits,” or “outside borders” (New Century Version) of the city. The Hebrew word literally means “goings out” (King James Version), so it could refer to the openings through which people go out, or to the points to which the city itself goes out, that is, its external limits. If translators follow the second alternative, this clause may be rendered “The outside of the city will be/look like this.” Both interpretations are acceptable. Several translations render this clause in a helpful way, saying “There are twelve entrances to the city of Jerusalem” (Good News Translation) or “The city has twelve entrances.”

On the north side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits by measure: God first gives the measurement of the city wall on the north side. The wall will be four thousand five hundred cubits, that is, about 2,250 meters (2,500 yards), long. This is the same figure used in verse 16. The Hebrew word for by measure may refer to the measuring reed used by the angelic guide in chapter 40, so a possible model for this clause is “The north wall will be 2,250 meters long according to the measuring stick used by the angel.” However, it is more likely that by measure does little more than reinforce the measurement of the wall, so a better model is “The measurement of the north wall will be 2,250 meters” or simply “The north wall will be 2,250 meters long.” In verses 32-34 the clause which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits is used three more times to describe the length of the other three walls. In some languages such repetition may be acceptable, but in others it will be best to bring together this description of all four walls into one sentence, for example, “Each of the four walls measures 2,520 yards” (Good News Translation), “Each side of the city wall will be a mile and half long” (Contemporary English Version), and “the four sides each measure just under one-and-a-half [miles]” (Complete Jewish Bible). If translators choose this option, it is also a good idea to place this clause at the end of verses 30-34, so that it can be joined closely to the measurement of the circumference of the city in verse 35 (so Contemporary English Version with “Each side of the city wall will be a mile and a half long, 35 and so the total length of the wall will be six miles”). Alternatively, it can be placed near the beginning of these verses, as Good News Translation does.

In each of the four walls of the city will be three gates, so there will be twelve gates in all. God describes these gates by focusing on each wall in succession and naming the three gates in one wall before going on to the next wall. This results in quite a long description of the gates. It may be clearer if translators specifically mention the total number of gates before describing each separate wall (so Contemporary English Version with “The city of Jerusalem will have twelve gates, three on each of the four sides of the city wall”). For city gates, see 38.11.

The gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel may be rendered “These gates will be named after the twelve tribes of Israel” (Contemporary English Version). God lists the names of the gates of the north, east, south, and west walls in turn. The twelve tribal names include all the actual sons of Jacob, including Levi. This is different from the names of the tribes to whom land will be allocated (see verses 1-7 and 23-27), where Levi was left out and Joseph’s tribe was divided into two and received two portions (compare 47.13). Translators need to be careful not to confuse the two lists. When listing the names of the gates, God proceeds in a clockwise direction (that is, north, east, south, west), but there is no way of knowing the order of the gates in each of the walls from this listing. Some scholars assume that they, too, go from left to right, but since Hebrew is written from right to left, it is reasonable to assume that the names of the gates actually go in that direction. But the actual direction depends also on God’s point of view: was he inside or outside the city when he described the gates? For those languages that need to make a decision on this, it is best to assume that he was describing the order of the gates from outside, and the names go from right to left. For most languages, unless they wish to include a diagram of the gates in their Bibles, the order of the gates will not be an issue. One way to translate this naming of the gates is:

• The gates will be named after the twelve tribes of Israel. The three on the north will be Reuben, Judah and Levi; the ones on the east will be Joseph, Benjamin and Dan; on the south the gates will be Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun; and on the west they will be Gad, Asher and Naphtali.

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 .