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.

complete verse (Genesis 41:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 41:6:

  • Kankanaey: “A-little-while-later also reportedly, seven other (lit. also) heads-of-grain sprouted and grew whose fruit was poorly-formed because hot wind had scorched it.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “After that seven heads of grain, thin and withered by the east wind, appeared.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And from that stem also, came-out also seven lean/thin heads-of-grain which (were)-hardened by hot wind from the east.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “After that, the king saw that seven other heads of grain sprouted on that (OR, on another) stalk. They were thin and had been dried up by the hot east wind.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 41:6

And behold, after them sprouted seven ears: after them means “after the king saw the seven good heads.” We must assume that the thin heads of grain were growing on one stalk, just as the healthy ones were; this may have been the same stalk or it may have been a different stalk. Some translations say, for example, “Then he saw another stalk of wheat, on which were seven….” Sprouted refers here to growing from nothing to full size. It means to push out or grow out from the main stem of the stalk.

Thin and blighted: thin translates the same Hebrew word as used of the cows in Gen 41.3. However, in translation the term must be one that describes a weak, stunted, underdeveloped head of grain. Blighted means “withered,” “scorched,” or “dried up.” Instead of receiving rain to make them grow, these heads are said to have been blighted by the east wind. East wind translates “eastern” and as in Job 27.21 refers to the hot wind that blows from the desert. In areas where “east” does not make people think of the desert, translators are advised to follow Good News Translation “desert wind” or some such equivalent in their own languages.

We may render verse 6, for example, “After the good heads had formed, seven thin heads sprouted that looked as though they had been scorched by the desert wind” or “… scorched by a hot wind.”

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 .