5And the east boundary is the Dead Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan;
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.)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 15:5:
Kupsabiny: “And in the east the border went up to the Lake of Salt and extended like that until where the river Jordan ends. The north border started where the river Jordan enters the lake” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The eastern boundary begins at the southern end of the Dead Sea and goes north along the western shore until it arrives at the place where the Jordan River goes into the Sea. The northern boundary started from the place where the Jordan River goes into the Sea,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The boundary in the east (is) the Dead Sea up-to the coming-out of the water of the River of Jordan. The boundary to the north went-from/started-from there the-coming-out-place of the water of the River of Jordan” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The eastern border of the land of the tribe of Judah was the Dead Sea, and it extended north to where the Jordan River ends at the Dead Sea.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 )
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.”
Verses 5-12 give the eastern border, which was the Dead Sea (verse 5a); the northern border (verses 5b-11); and the western border, which was the Mediterranean Sea (verses 11b, 12a).
At this point it may be useful to repeat that the eastern border referred to is that of the tribe of Judah: “The eastern border of the tribe of Judah was the Dead Sea. This eastern border extended as far north as the place where the Jordan River empties into the Dead Sea.” Or the sentence may be restructured in a slightly different manner: “The Dead Sea formed the eastern border for the tribe of Judah.”
The northern border began there, though representing the Hebrew “And the boundary on the north side runs from” (Revised Standard Version), may be somewhat misleading. That is, although Beth Hoglah (verse 6) is north of the Dead Sea, it is also the point from which the account moves generally in a westwardly direction. There is no way that a reader can be expected to grasp the account fully without looking at a map, but it will be helpful in translation if it is noted that the description of the northern border moves from east (the mouth of the Jordan River) toward the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
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 .
The east boundary of Judah is marked by the Dead Sea.
15:5a
The eastern border was the Salt Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan: The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea. The phrase as the mouth of the Jordan indicates that the east border of Judah’s land extended the length of the Dead Sea, from its southern point to where the Dead Sea reached the Jordan River in the north.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Judah’s east boundary was along the Dead Sea, ⌊from its south end⌋ to where the Jordan River flows into it -or-
The border on the east was the Dead Sea, going north to the mouth of the Jordan River
Paragraph 15:5b-11
The north boundary of Judah started from the north end of the Dead Sea and went west from there to the Mediterranean Sea. This boundary did not go in a straight line. It swung south to avoid Jerusalem, which was part of the territory of Benjamin.
15:5b
The northern border started: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
The north border ran -or-
The boundary on the north began at
15:5c
from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan: The phrase the bay of the sea indicates the north end of the Dead Sea.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
from the end of the Dead Sea where it meets the Jordan River -or-
the ⌊north end of the⌋ Dead Sea where the Jordan River flows into it
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