8then the boundary goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnom at the southern slope of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem); and the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim;
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
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 15:8:
Kupsabiny: “After that, it followed the valley of Hinnom south of the city of the Jebusites (which later became Jerusalem). It went up to a mountain which overlooks the valley of Hinnom to the west which is also at the end of the valley of the Rephaites at the north end.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “From there that boundary goes by way of the gorge of Ben-Hinnom and along the southern slopes of the city of the Jebusites which is Jerusalem. Then that boundary goes to the top of the hill which is to the west of the Hinnom gorge at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “From there this goes-towards the Valley/Plain of Ben Hinom up-to the southern slope of the city of the Jebusnon. (This city is Jerusalem.) Then this goes-up to the peak/top of the mountain, to the west of the Valley of Ben Hinom, to the outlying-edge of the northern Valley of the Refaim.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “From there it extended through Ben-Hinnom Valley, south of the city where the Jebus people-group lived. (That city is now named Jerusalem.) From there the border extended to the top of the hill on the west side of Hinnom Valley, at the northern end of the valley where the Repha giants lived.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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.”
Hinnom Valley (Revised Standard Version “valley of the son of Hinnom”) is the name of the valley south of Jerusalem.
The Jebusite city of Jerusalem is translated “the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem)” by Revised Standard Version. It appears as though this parenthetical statement, together with the two in verses 9 and 10, were explanations added by a later scribe to make sure that the readers would understand what was meant. Good News Translation is able to avoid the interruption of a parenthetical statement in this verse, though parentheses are included by Good News Translation in verses 9 and 10.
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 .
From there the border went up the Valley of Hinnom: The clause the border went up indicates that the boundary line climbed in elevation from the spring of En-rogel through the Valley of Hinnom.
the Valley of Hinnom: The phrase Valley of Hinnom refers to a valley that is southwest of Jerusalem.
Hinnom:Hinnom is the name of a person. The Hebrew word ben hinnom means “son of Hinnom.” Some English versions keep the Hebrew word and say “valley of Ben Hinnom.” It is recommended that you follow the tradition of the major language version in your area when you translate this name.
Here are some ways that English versions translate this name:
valley of the son of Hinnom (Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, King James Version) -or-
valley of Ben Hinnom (NET Bible, New International Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New American Standard Bible, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
Hinnom Valley (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version)
15:8b
along the southern slope of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem): The phrase southern slope refers to the slope of the hill that is south of Jerusalem.
of the Jebusites: The term Jebusites refers to the Jebus people. Jebus was also the name of their town at the time of Joshua. Later King David conquered this town and renamed it Jerusalem.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
along the south slope of Jerusalem, where the Jebus people live -or-
beside the hill to the south of Jerusalem, which was then called Jebus
15:8c
and ascended to the top of the hill: The clause ascended to the top of the hill indicates that the border continued to climb up until it reached the top of a mountain.
Here is another way to translate this part of the verse:
the border climbed up to the top of the mountain
15:8d
that faces the Valley of Hinnom on the west: The clause faces the Valley of Hinnom on the west indicates that the mountain is on the west side of the Valley of Hinnom.
the Valley of Hinnom: The Valley of Hinnom is the same place as the “Valley of Hinnom” in verse 15:8a.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
which is on the west side of the valley of Hinnom -or-
on the west side of the Hinnom Valley
15:8e
at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim: The Rephaim people were mentioned in Joshua 12:4 and you should translate the term the same way in both places.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
That mountain is on the northern side of the valley of Rephaim -or-
It is on the northern edge of the Rephaim Valley
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