tribe

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “tribe” in English when referring to the “12 tribes of Israel” is translated in some East African languages, including Taita and Pökoot, with the equivalent of “clan” instead.

Aloo Mojola explains (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 208ff. ) (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):

“A number of Bible translation teams in East Africa have been baffled and intrigued by the use of the term ‘tribe’ in the English translations of the Bible. The usage employed in these translations does not reflect any of the popular meanings associated with the term ‘tribe’ in present-day English. Neither does it reflect popular conceptions of the meaning of this term in East Africa or in other parts of Africa and elsewhere. This raises the question: is the term tribe the best translation of the Hebrew terms shebeth and matteh or the Greek term phyle? What is a tribe anyway? Are the twelve tribes of Israel tribes in the sense this term is currently understood? How can this term be translated in East African languages?

“It is easy to see that there is no consistent definition of the term tribe which applies exclusively and consistently to the communities to which it is currently applied. Why, for example, are the Somali or the Baganda called a tribe, but not the Irish or the Italians? Why do the Yoruba or Hausa qualify, but not the Portuguese or the Russians? Why the Bakongo and the Oromo, but not the Germans or the Scots? Why the Eritreans, but not the French or Dutch-speaking Belgians? Why the Zulu or the Xhosa, but not the South African Boers (Afrikaners) or the South African English? The reason for the current prejudices, it would seem, has nothing to do with language, physical type, common territory, common cultural values, type of political and social organization or even population size. Ingrained prejudices and preconceived ideas about so-called “primitive” peoples have everything to do with it.

“The term ‘tribe’ is used to refer to a universal and world-wide phenomenon of ethnic identification which may draw on any of the following bases: identification in terms of one’s first or dominant language of communication (linguistic), in terms of one’s place of origin (regional), in terms of one’s presumed racial, biological or genetic type (racial), or in terms of one’s ideological or political commitments (ideological), and so on. Communities may choose one or more of these bases as criteria for membership. Any of these may change over time. Moreover forms of ethnic identification are dynamic or in a state of flux, changing in response to new environments and circumstances. Essentially forms of ethnic association reflect a people’s struggle for survival through adaptation to changing times. This is inextricably intertwined with the production and distribution of vital resources, goods and services as well as the distribution of power, class and status in society.

“At the base of any ethnic group is the nuclear family which expands to include the extended family. The extended family consists of more than two families related vertically and horizontally: parents and their offspring, cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews, and others, extending to more than two generations. A lineage is usually a larger group than an extended family. It includes a number of such families who trace descent through the male or female line to a common ancestor. A clan may be equivalent to or larger than a lineage. Where it is larger than a lineage, it brings together several lineages which may or may not know the precise nature of their relationships, but which nevertheless claim descent from a common ancestor. A clan is best thought of as a kind of sub-ethnic unit whose members have some unifying symbol such as totem, label, or myth. In most cases the clan is used to determine correct marriage lines, but this is not universally so. Above the clan is the ethnic group, usually referred to inconsistently as the tribe. Members of an ethnic group share feelings of belonging to a common group. The basis of ethnic identity is not always derived from a common descent, real or fictional; it may draw on any of the bases mentioned above.

“The Israelites identified themselves as one people sharing a common descent, a common religious and cultural heritage, a common language and history. There is no doubt that they constitute what would nowadays be called an ethnic group, or by some people a tribe. The twelve subunits of the Israelite ethnic group or tribe, (Hebrew shebeth or matteh, or Greek phyle) are clearly equivalent to clans. In fact this is what seems to make sense to most African Bible translators in the light of their understanding of these terms and the biblical account. Referring to a shebeth as a tribe or an ethnic group and to Israel as a collection of twelve tribes creates unnecessary confusion. Translating each of the terms shebeth, matteh, and phyle as clan seems to solve this problem and to be consistent with current usage in African languages.”

See also family / clan / house.

complete verse (Joshua 11:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 11:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “all the kings in the highland in north, the kings in the valley of Arabah south of the lake of Kinnereth, the kings of the slopes and the highlands close to Dor in the west.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “All the kings of northern the hill country, the kings in the Arabah south of the Sea of Galilee, kings in the western foothills, and kings in Naphoth Dor in the west,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “to the kings in the mountains to the north, to the kings in the Valley of Jordan in the south of the Sea of Galilea, to the kings in the hills/[lit. little-mountains] in the west, to the kings in Nafot Dor in the west,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “He also sent messages to the kings in the northern hilly area and to the kings in the Jordan River Valley, south of Galilee Lake and in the western hills. He sent a message to the king of Naphoth-Dor in the west” (Source: Translation for Translators)

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.

sea / lake

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)

king

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Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

(Click or tap here to see details)

  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
  • Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))

Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:

“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on Joshua 1:12

Verses 12-18 narrate how Joshua secured the help of the two and one-half tribes that settled on the east side of the Jordan, Numbers 32.1-42, Deuteronomy 3.12-22, and Joshua 13.8-13 narrate how Moses assigned to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and to half the tribe of Manasseh land on the east side of the Jordan River (the other half of the tribe of Manasseh settled on the west side). So before Joshua directs the people across the Jordan to the west bank he asks these two and one-half tribes to promise to help their fellow Israelites invade the land on the west side and possess it, after which they may return to their territories on the east side of the river (see 22.1-9). They promptly promise to do so and pledge their allegiance to Joshua.

In some languages it may be more natural in verse 12 to follow the order of the Hebrew text so as to have Joshua’s address to the people immediately follow the verb “said”: “To the tribes of Reuben and Gad and to the half tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said….” Or, “Then Joshua gave some special instructions to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and to the half tribe of Manasseh. He said….”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Translation commentary on Joshua 11:1 - 11:2

When the news of Israel’s victories reached King Jabin may not be possible in languages where news does not “reach” someone, but rather a person hears the news. If such is the case, one may translate “King Jabin of Hazor heard that the Israelite army had conquered all this territory.” Or “King Jabin of Hazor heard about the victories of Israel’s army.”

King Jabin of Hazor heard of Israel’s victories in the south, and immediately he sent messengers to the rulers in the northern part of the country proposing all join forces against the invaders. Hazor is in Galilee, about 15 kilometers north of the northern end of Lake Galilee. It was a large and important city-state, and mention of it is made in nonbiblical texts.

Before listing the kings to whom Jabin addressed his message, it may be wise both to indicate that they were neighboring kings and to specify the reason for this message. In verses 4 and 5 the reason does become clear, but it could be very helpful to indicate from the outset the nature of the communication. For example:

• So King Jabin sent a message to the neighboring kings and asked them to bring their armies together to fight against Israel. He sent this message to King Jobab of Madon, to … near Dor.

Madon is 30 kilometers southeast of Hazor, and 4 kilometers west of Lake Galilee.The Masoretic text is madon; the Septuagint marron (and the Syriac, more or less) represents the Hebrew maron. The name of the place where the battle took place is Merom Brook (verse 5; Revised Standard Version “waters of Merom”); Merom itself is identified as a city some 12 kilometers southwest of Hazor, and its location is certain. On the basis of historical and archaeological evidence, some scholars prefer to read Merom (and not Madon) here and in 12.19-20 (see below). (It should be noticed that Merom in the Masoretic text, verses 5,7, is spelled merom not maron.) Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, citing Factors 12 (accidental change) and 9 (deliberate change), prefers to read here maron or merom (decision “D”), and recommends translating “Maron.” Bible de Jérusalem has “Merom” here; the other translations (An American Translation Revised Standard Version New American Bible New English Bible Jerusalem Bible Traduction œcuménique de la Bible Good News Translation Zur) have Madon.

There is considerable uncertainty over the identification and location of Shimron and Achshaph.Instead of the Masoretic text shimeron, the Septuagint has Sumoon, which represents the Hebrew shimeon, which Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers (decision “D”), recommending translating “Shimeon” (here and also in 12.20 and 19.15). On the maps Shimron is located in Zebulun (see 19.15), about 51 kilometers southwest of Hazor; and Achshaph is located about 42 kilometers southwest of Hazor. But the location of these places is far from certain.

In verse 2 “the Arabah” (Revised Standard Version) is the Jordan Valley, and “Chinneroth” (Revised Standard Version) is Lake Galilee.Some think that “Chinneroth” here means not Lake Galilee but the town of Chinnereth, on the northwest coast of the lake (see Bright, Gray, Smith). The hill country in the north is the highlands of Galilee.

On the coast near Dor translates the Hebrew naphothdor (see Revised Standard Version). It is not quite certain what the Hebrew naphoth means; perhaps “the coast” (Bright), referring to the Mediterranean coast plains south of Mount Carmel, of which Dor was the chief city. Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, have “the hillsides of Dor”; An American Translation “the uplands of Dor”; also Traduction œcuménique de la Bible. Gray defines it as “the foothills of Carmel.”In the New Oxford Bible maps the city of Dor is located on the coast, south of Mt. Carmel; and Naphath-Dor (as in 12.23; 1 Kgs 4.11) is identified as a region inland from the city.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .