33On the south side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits by measure, three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun.
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) and in Bariai into leoa or “fathom,” which comprises the distance from a person’s fingertip to fingertip with arms outstretched, app. 6 feet (source: Bariai Back Translation).
The place name that is transliterated as “Zebulun” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “boat” referring to Genesis 49:13. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Simeon” or “Simon” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “swords,” referring to the traditional Jewish symbol for the tribe. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Issachar” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “donkey” referring to Genesis 49:14. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
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.”
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)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 48:33:
Kupsabiny: “And the gates in the wall on the South side are named after the clans of Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The four stone-walls which surround the city of Jerusalem have three gates/entrances each. The gates/entrances in the north stone-wall will-be-called Reuben, Juda, and Levi. The gates/entrances in the east stone-wall will-be-called Jose, Benjamin, and Dan. The gates/entrances in the south stone-wall will-be-called Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun. And the gates/entrances in the west stone-wall will-be-called Gad, Asher, and Naftali. Each stone-wall has a length of 2,250 meters,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “On the south side, also 1.5 miles/2.4 km. long, will be gates named for Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 .
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