Jacob

The name that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English means “he will supplant,” “he that follows after,” “a heeler,” “one who trips up,” “takes hold by the land.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

It is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “lentil,” referring to the soup he gave his brother in exchange for his birthright (see Genesis 25:34). Note that another Spanish Sign Language sign for Jacob also users the sign for Jewish. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


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

In German Sign Language it is a sign that shows the touching of the hip, described in Genesis 32:25:


“Jacob” in German Sign Language (source: Taub und katholisch )

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “smooth arm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Jacob” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign signifying Jacob grabbing the heel of Esau during their birth (referring to Genesis 25:26). (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia )


“Jacob” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Esau.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jacob .

complete verse (Genesis 29:1)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 29:1:

  • Newari: “Jacob went, following his own way. He arrived in a land of the east.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Jacob continued on his journey until he reached the land of those-who-came-from-the-east.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Jacob continued on the road, and he arrived at the land that was east of Canaan.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

cardinal directions

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)
  • Mono (DRC): “of-hole-sun” (west)
  • Belanda Bor: “place morning” and “place evening”
  • Shambala: “side sink sun” (south)
  • 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)
  • Bari: “Morning Star” / “Venus” (east)
  • Chopi: “sky” (north) (source for this and six above: Angelika Mietzner and Helma Pasch in Skase Journal of Theoretical Linguistics 4, 3/2007 )

Geographical Landmarks

  • Kele: “down-river” (west) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • 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)
  • Lamba: “to the Aushi country” (north) / kumausi and “to the Lenje country” (south) / kumalenje (source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )
  • 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.”

See also people of the East and three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east.

Translation commentary on Genesis 29:1

The whole story of Jacob’s journey, which extends from 28.10 to 29.14, only makes two references to Jacob traveling: in 28.10 and here. So this verse picks up the action from 28.10, continuing Jacob’s journey from Bethel after the dream he had there. This verse in fact covers the rest of Jacob’s traveling from Bethel to Haran.

Then Jacob went on his journey is literally “Jacob lifted up his feet and went.” If this is an idiom, it is found only here. The sense is as given in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Went on means he left Bethel and continued his journey toward Haran his destination. We may translate, for example, “After that Jacob went on toward Haran” or “Then Jacob continued on his journey” (New International Version). Another model is “Jacob set out again….”

Came to the land of the people of the east is literally “to the land of the sons of the east.” The reference is to the land that lay to the east (in this case northeast) of Canaan, that is, Mesopotamia. The expression is also used broadly of the people living east and northeast of Canaan, such as Moab, Ammon, and Gilead, as seen in Judges 6.3, 33; Isa 11.14; Jer 49.28. In some languages this expression is rendered by descriptive terms; for example, “people who live where the sun rises,” “people where the big river flows.” New English Bible/Revised English Bible say “land of the eastern tribes.” In the context of the story that follows, the geographic location east is not as significant as the fact that Jacob came to another country, where the people had different customs from those of Canaan.

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 .