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.” Manya uses a similar nomenclature for the cardinal 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 and people of the East.

complete verse (Genesis 23:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 23:17:

  • Newari: “In this way Ephron [sold to Abraham [from v. 18]] his field of Machpelah near Mamre, and the cave which was there, and all the trees” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore became now his Abraham’s the farm of Efron in Macpela, east of Mamre, including the cave and the trees around the field. All the Hithanon who had-gathered there at the gate of the city (were)-witnesses.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So Ephron’s field in the Machpelah area, near Mamre, and the cave in the field, and all the trees that were in the field inside the boundaries of the land, became Abraham’s possession.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 23:17 - 23:18

These two verses are a summary of the purchase episode and contain the details of the verbal contract. They first describe the property purchased, and then state the transfer and the legal witness to the transaction. For clarity verses 17-18 must often be made into shorter sentences.

So the field: So marks these verses as a conclusion or summary. Note Good News Translation “That is how the property….” In some languages the conclusion may be stated, for example, “Well, this is the way Abraham bought….”

Was made over: this translates the opening word in the Hebrew text, which in the context of a purchase has the sense of establishing or confirming the legal transfer of the property; “So it stood, was established, was firm, that….” So Revised English Bible has “became the legal possession of,” and New International Version the rather technical “was deeded to.” In Good News Translation this legal sense is expressed by “It was recognized as the property of.” Examples of how this is handled in other translations are “That is how they legally passed over…,” “They did this in the proper way, and the Hittites who came later knew that…,” and “So the Hittites who were there at that meeting took that [payment] as proof that Ephron had handed over that land….”

Because the vocabulary in verses 17-18 has all been discussed in the other verses, we present here only a model translation for these two verses:

• So this is what Abraham bought from Ephron: He bought the field in the district of Machpelah east of Mamre. The field included the cave on the land and all of the trees on the property. This property was legally made over to Abraham in the presence of all the men meeting in the city square where the Hittites were witnesses.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .