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). Likewise, in Toposa all the different bodies of water are all called by one term as well: nya-name̥ (source: Schröder 2026, p. 101).
In Malagasy culture, the sea is perceived as sacred because it was a path taken by the ancestors. That is why the Malagasy word for the “sea” is ranomasina, which literally means “the sacred water.” The word masina actually has two different meanings: “salted” and “sacred/holy.” Salt is used for the conservation of some foods, such as meat or fish, that are to be set aside for later use. In this sense, the Malagasy phrase for “Holy Spirit” has the literal meaning of “Salted Spirit.” (Source: Brigitte Rabarijaona in The Bible Translator 2022, p. 103ff.)
“Sea” (or: “ocean”) is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “water land” and in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac as “very big lake.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
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)
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)
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)
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.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 15:4:
Kupsabiny: “It went to Azmon following the Wadi of Egypt to hit the ocean. That was the border of Judah in the south.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Going toward Azmon by way of the valley of Egypt, the boundary arrives at the Mediterranean Sea. There its boundary is complete. That is their southern boundary.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “going-towards Azmon, then to the place-where- the water -flows of Egipto up-to the Sea of the Mediteraneo. That (is) the boundary of Juda to the south.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “From there it continued to Azmon, and from there to the dry riverbed on the border of Egypt, and from there west to the Mediterranean Sea. That was the southern border.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Inasmuch as verses 2-4 give the details of the southern border of Judah, it may be useful to introduce this information by some formula such as “Specifically, this southern border ran….”
It may also be helpful to identify Zin (verse 3) as the wilderness of Zin, and Kadesh Barnea, Hezron, Addar, Karka, and Azmon as cities. Furthermore, in place of went southward (verse 3) it would be more nearly accurate to render “went in a southwesterly direction.”
In restructuring, it may be wise at some point to break the lengthy sentence which runs from the last half of verse 2 to the first part of verse 4. For example: “4 went on to the city of Azmon. From there it followed the stream on the border of Egypt in a northwesterly direction to the Mediterranean Sea.”
In Hebrew That was the southern border of Judah is in direct discourse, and it states “This shall be your southern border” (see Revised Standard Version). This statement is addressed either to the people of the tribe of Judah or to the Israelites as a whole; Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends the second interpretation, which is not followed by Good News Translation.
Since the southern borders of Judah and the Israelite nation are the same, it is possible to combine both interpretations: “That was the southern border of Judah and also of all the tribes of Israel.” Or, on the assumption that it is implicitly the southern border of Judah, one may translate “That was at the same time the southern border of all the tribes of Israel.”
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 .
It proceeded to Azmon: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
The border then continued to Azmon -or-
The boundary line went past the town of Azmon
15:4b
joined the Brook of Egypt: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Brook refers to a river. This river had water only in the rainy season. See Joshua 12:1 where this Hebrew word was translated “Valley.”
Brook of Egypt: The phrase Brook of Egypt refers to a river that drains rainwater from the Sinai Peninsula into the Mediterranean Sea. This river is usually dry but becomes a large river when it rains. It formed the boundary between Israel and Egypt. Today this river is called the Wadi el Arish.
Here are some ways to translate this phrase:
Stream of Egypt (NET Bible) -or-
River of Egypt (God’s Word, King James Version) -or-
Wadi of Egypt (New International Version, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures) -or-
the stream on the border of Egypt (Good News Translation)
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
⌊The boundary line⌋ followed the river valley on the border of Egypt -or-
and continued along the Brook of Egypt
15:4c
and ended at the Sea: The term the Sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea. It may be helpful to make this clear.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
and ended at the Mediterranean Sea -or-
until it reached the Mediterranean Sea
15:4d
This was their southern border: Here the author speaks directly to the people of Judah. The Berean Standard Bible translates this as their southern border, while some English versions chose to translate this with a second person plural reference. For example:
All this describes your boundary on the south
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
their south boundary (New International Version, NET Bible) -or-
That was the south border of the tribe of Judah
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