Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 13:4:
Kupsabiny: “There is another area of the Canaanites which includes Mearah of the Sidonians. It begins from Aphek and goes to the border of the Amorites.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “in the south. And in the north, all the land of the Canaanites, from Arah of the Sidonians up to the Aphek area of the Amorites.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “in the south; all the land of the Canaanhon from Meara, which (was) formerly belonging-to the Sidonhon, up-to Afek which (is) there on the border of the land of the Amornon;” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “which is south of the area where the Canaan people-group live;” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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.”
Verses 4-6 describe territory in the north. Mearah is located north of Sidon, the important Phoenician city on the Mediterranean coast, north of Palestine. Aphek here is not the same as in 12.18; perhaps it lay east of Gebal. (the land of the Gebalites, verse 5), which is known also as Byblos, north of Beirut (in Lebanon). Baalgad: see 11.17. Hamath Pass was regarded as the northern limit of Israel, in the valley between the two ranges of the Lebanon Mountains. Misrephoth Maim (see 11.8) was the southern boundary of the Sidonians, as the Lebanon Mountains were the northern boundary.It should be noticed that the Hebrew text in such places as 13.2-6 can be understood in different ways, so translations do not always agree.
A proposed restructuring for verse 4 is given in conjunction with the comments at 13.2-3.
In order to aid the reader’s comprehension, one may want to begin a new sentence at verse 5, or even divide it into two complete sentences: “You still have not conquered the land of the Gebalites. You have not taken the territory of Lebanon to the east, from the city of Baalgad, which is south of Mount Hermon, to Hamath Pass.” Or, “You have still not taken the territory that belongs to the city of Gebal. And you have not conquered all the territory of Lebanon from the city of Baalgad at the foot of Mount Hermon to Hamath Pass.”
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 .
to the south: The Avvim lived in the south of the Philistine territory. This prepositional phrase describes the Avvim people and is a continuation of verse 3e. You should translate it as a single phrase.
Here is another way to translate this phrase:
The region of the Avvim people in the south ⌊has also not been conquered⌋
13:4b
all the land of the Canaanites: The phrase the land of the Canaanites introduces a second group of towns. These are places in the north that are named in verses 4-6.
For example:
In the north, the following area has not yet been conquered: all the land of the Canaanites, including Mearah (which belongs to the Sidonians) stretching northward to Aphek on the border of the Amorites. (New Living Translation (2004))
The term “Canaanite” is used here as a term for the inhabitants of Canaan. This is different from how it is used in verse 13:3b, where it refers to a specific group of Canaan people.
13:4c
from Mearah: There is a textual issue in this verse.
(1) The Hebrew text says Mearah. We do not know where the town of Mearah was.
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Good News Translation, King James Version)
(2) Some scholars suggest that we should divide the word Mearah and modify the vowels so that it becomes two Hebrew words “from Arah.” The town of Arah is also unknown.
(New International Version, NET Bible, Contemporary English Version)
It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with the Hebrew text.
of the Sidonians: The clause of the Sidonians indicates that town of Mearah was ruled by the people of Sidon. Sidon was on the Mediterranean coast in the north.
13:4d
to Aphek: The term Aphek indicates a town that was probably southeast of Byblos in Lebanon.
as far as the border of the Amorites: The phrase as far as the border of the Amorites indicates that “Aphek” was on the northern border of the land that was ruled by the Amorite people. The next people further north from there were the Amorite people.
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