Jordan

The Hebrew, Greek and Ge’ez that is translated as “Jordan” means “descending (rapidly),” “flowing down.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the river bordering Jordan and Israel, along with the general sign for river. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Jordan river” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jordan River .

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.

complete verse (Joshua 12:1)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 12:1:

  • Kupsabiny: “The people of Israel defeated the kings who lived east of the river Jordan. They also took their countries from the valley of Arnon in south to mount Hermon in north.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The people of Israel conquered the land on the eastern side of the Jordan River from the Arnon Gorge in the south to Mt Hermon in the north, that is, the entire eastern side of the Arabah, these are name of the kings of that land.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The Israelinhon had- now -subjected/brought-under-(their)-jurisdiction the land in the east of Jordan, from the Arnon channel/water-course/place-where- the water -flows up-to the Mountain of Hermon, including now here the land in/to the east of the Valley of Jordan. These are the kings in those places who were-defeated by the Israelinhon:
    Sihon the Amornon who was-living in Heshbon. The jurisdiction of his kingdom (was) half of Gilead. This (was) from Aroer beside the Arnon channel/water-course of water, and from this half up-to the River of Jabok, the border of the Ammonhon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The Israelis took control of the land that was east of the Jordan River, from the Arnon River gorge in the south to Hermon Mountain in the north, including all the land on the eastern side of the Jordan River Valley. That land previously belonged to the two kings whose armies the Israelis defeated.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

king

Click here to view graphically

Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, 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 12:1

The land conquered on the east side of the Jordan had for its southern limit the Arnon Valley; the Arnon River flows into the Dead Sea about halfway between the southern and northern ends of the sea; and the city of Aroer (verse 2) is on the Arnon River. The northern limit was Mount Hermon (see 11.3).

The verb tense had already conquered and occupied may leave the reader guessing as to the time reference intended, especially if the reading is begun with this chapter. In order to help the reader, and on the basis of verse 6, one may translate “Moses had (already) led the people of Israel to conquer and occupy….”

They defeated two kings may easily be fitted into the earlier part of the verse:

• Moses had led the people of Israel to defeat two kings east of the Jordan and to take over their territory, which went from the Arnon Valley up the Jordan River and as far north as Mount Hermon.

Or, if two sentences are more satisfactory:

• Moses had already led the people of Israel to conquer two kings east of the Jordan and to take over their territory. The territory of these two kings ran from the Arnon Valley up the Jordan River and as far north as Mount Hermon.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 12:1

Section 12:1–24 The kings that Joshua and the Israelites defeated

In this section there is a list of the kings that the Israelites defeated on the east side and the west side of the Jordan River.

Here is another possible section heading:

The kings that the Israelites defeated on both sides of the Jordan River

Paragraph 12:1-6

The kings that the Israelites defeated on the east side of the Jordan River.

12:1a

Now: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Now introduces a list of two kings that the Israelites defeated. Many English versions do not translate this word. Use a word that is appropriate to introduce a list in your language.

these are the kings: In some languages it may be more natural to say that these are the names of the kings.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

These are the names of the kings (Revised English Bible)

of the land: The phrase the land indicates the land east of the Jordan River. This is not stated until 12:1c. It may be more natural in some languages to reorder this verse. A way to reorder the verse is found at the end of the notes for this verse.

12:1b

whom the Israelites struck down: The Israelites defeated these kings at an earlier time, before they crossed the Jordan River. This story is found in Numbers 21:21-35. It may be helpful to express this implicit information.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

The people of Israel had defeated these kings ⌊before they crossed the Jordan River⌋

Israelites: The word Israelites indicates the Israelite army.

12:1c

and whose lands they took: The clause whose lands they took indicates that after the Israelites defeated the kings and their armies, they occupied their land and controlled it.

beyond the Jordan to the east: The phrase beyond the Jordan to the east indicates that the land was on the east side of the Jordan River.

12:1d

from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon: The Arnon Valley and Mount Hermon were at the south and the north of the area that the Israelites conquered east of the Jordan River.

the Arnon Valley: The Arnon River flows through a deep Valley that is dry during part of the year. It runs into the Dead Sea. Its valley is halfway between the southern and northern ends of the Dead Sea. This was the southern limit of the land that the Israelites conquered on the east side of the Jordan River.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

the valley of the Arnon River

Valley: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Valley refers to a riverbed that has water in it only during the rainy season. This kind of riverbed is sometimes referred to by its Arabic term, wadi.

Here are some ways to translate this word:

gorge (New Living Translation (2004), New International Version)
-or-
ravine (New Century Version)
-or-
wadi (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)

Use the word in your language that best fits this context.

Mount Hermon: Mount Hermon is west of Damascus. It was the northern limit of the land that the Israelites conquered on the east side of the Jordan River.

including all the Arabah eastward: The Arabah is the valley of the Jordan River. The land that the Israelites conquered included all the Jordan River valley and the land to the east of it.

General Comment on 12:1

Here are some other ways to translate verse 1. These examples have partially reordered the parts of the verse. They have also broken the verse into two sentences.

These are the kings of the land east of the Jordan River that the people of Israel defeated. Israel also took possession of their land from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, and all the eastern plains. (God’s Word)
-or-
Before Moses died, he and the Israelites had defeated two kings east of the Jordan River. These kings had ruled the region from the Arnon River Gorge in the south to Mount Hermon in the north, including the eastern side of the Jordan River Valley. (Contemporary English Version)

General Comment on 12:1-5

In the Hebrew text these verses are one long sentence, and the Berean Standard Bible translates them this way. It is recommended that you translate these verses as several sentences. Use the sentence breaks that are most natural in your language. There are some examples of how to do this the end of each verse.

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.