The Hebrew that is transliterated as “Reuben” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “head” or “leader” referring to the position he had among his brothers as the firstborn. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
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 48:7:
Kupsabiny: “and then the one of Judah comes next separating itself from Reuben from East to West.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The following still lands belong to the tribes of Efraim, of Reuben, and of Juda, which its width is also from the east up-to the west of Israel.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “South of their land will be the territory for the tribe of Judah.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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.”
God started speaking at verse 13 in chapter 47 and continues until the end of this chapter. Most translations indicate that he is still speaking here, either by beginning this subunit with quotation marks (so Revised Standard Version) or with a quote frame (so Contemporary English Version with “The LORD said”). Translators will need to decide how best to make this clear in their language.
These are the names of the tribes: This clause introduces the list of territory that God will give to the twelve tribes. Although he just mentions the names of the tribes, translators may find it useful to expand this phrase to make the meaning clear by rendering this clause as “Here is the list of the tribes of Israel and the territory each is to receive” (New Living Translation). The list begins with a summary of the northern border of the land, but beginning at the northern border is part of the list, not part of the summary of the border. It is best to attach this phrase to the previous clause by saying “This is the list of the territory each tribe of Israel will receive, starting from the north.”
From the sea by way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, as far as Hazar-enon (which is on the northern border of Damascus over against Hamath): God described the northern border of the country in 47.15-17 (see the comments there). Here he summarizes what he said there, but some of the details are different. Revised Standard Version changes the Hebrew to read from the sea by way of Hethlon, so that it is exactly the same as 47.17 (so also Good News Translation, Moffatt). The Hebrew actually reads “beside the way of Hethlon” (New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version). A good rendering here is “Its boundary line follows the Hethlon road” (New Living Translation; similarly New International Version, New International Reader’s Version). Which is on the northern border of Damascus over against Hamath shortens the description in 47.17, which makes explicit that the border runs north of Damascus and south of Hamath. Here the meaning is the same, but God simply says that the border is over against Hamath, that is, “next to [the territory of] Hamath” (New International Version; compare Good News Translation “to the boundary between the kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath”). Translators may prefer to state the details here fully (as in 47.17) for the sake of clarity. A model that does this is “The boundary line will go east through the town of Hethlon to the Hamath Pass and go as far as the town of Hazar-enon, so that Damascus is to the south and Hamath is to the north.”
And extending from the east side to the west, Dan, one portion: The Hebrew here is literally, “and these will belong to him: the east side [and] the west [side], Dan, one [portion]” (similarly Hebrew Old Testament Text Project), but Revised Standard Version has captured the sense of the difficult Hebrew construction here (compare New Living Translation “Dan’s territory extends all the way across the land of Israel from east to west”). After describing the section of land in verse 1, God names which tribe it will belong to. The northernmost section of land will belong to the tribe of Dan. In verses 2-7 the sections of land are allocated to Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and Judah respectively. These are seven of the twelve tribes of Israel; the other five are listed in verses 23-27. The tribes were named after the sons of Jacob, except that Levi’s clan did not receive land and Joseph’s clan was divided into two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim (see the comments on 47.13). Each tribe will receive one share of land.
Adjoining the territory of means the land of the next tribe will “border” (New International Version, New International Reader’s Version) the territory of the previously mentioned tribe. The territory of each tribe will extend from the east side to the west, that is, right across the country. Some translations make explicit that a subsequent tribe’s territory is south of the previous one; for example, New Living Translation begins verse 2 with “Asher’s territory lies south of Dan’s,” and New Century Version has “South of Dan’s border, Asher will have one share.” God describes the allocation of the land to each tribe in exactly the same way.
Translators have different ways of listing the tribes. Good News Translation combines verses 1-7 and simply lists the names in order (compare Contemporary English Version for verses 1b-7, which says “The tribes will receive their share of land in the following order, from north to south: Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and Judah”). Other translations do not combine verses 2-7, but bring the name of each tribe to the beginning of each of these verses; for example, New International Reader’s Version has “2 Dan will receive one share of land … 3 Asher will receive one share…” (similarly New International Version, Complete Jewish Bible). Still others go through the whole list in full, repeating all the material (so Revised Standard Version). Translators may choose whatever method of listing the allocation of land to the tribes is most natural in their own language. A model that combines verses 2b-7 is:
• The territory for each tribe will extend all the way across the country from east to west. South of Dan’s territory will be Asher’s, and then continuing south will be the territories of Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben and Judah.
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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