7The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Michmethath, which is east of Shechem; then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah.
The name that is transliterated as “Manasseh” in English means “one who causes to forget,” “forgetting,” “forgetfulness,” “causing forgetfulness.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 17:7:
Kupsabiny: “The border of the land of Manasse followed where the (border) of Asher was in the north and went to Michmethath which was east of the city of Shechem. It turned there/then and headed to where the people of En-tappuah lived.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The boundary of Manasseh reached from Asher up to Michmethath, which is before Shechem. Then it proceeds toward the south and reaches the place where the people of En-tappuah live.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The boundary of the land of the tribe of Manase starts from Asher up-to Micmetat, east of Shekem. Then this goes-towards to the south towards the land of the people who live/dwell near the spring of Tapua.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The land allotted to the tribe of Manasseh was between the land where the tribe of Asher lives and Michmethath town, near Shechem city. The border extended south to the Tappuah Spring.” (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.”
Verse 7 gives the northwestern limit, the tribe of Asher; the southern limit was the city of Michmethath (see 16.6). At the end of the verse, Good News Translation translates the Hebrew text with its later traditional vowels as the people of Entappuah (also Revised Standard Version). By a change of vowels in the Hebrew text, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project understands it to mean “to Jashib-en-Tappuah”; Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible have “to Yashib at the spring of Tappuah”; New English Bible “Jashub by Entappuah.” Whatever the precise meaning of the Hebrew phrase, the place is on the border with Ephraim (see 16.8).
The translation of this verse may be managed so as to indicate that reference is to the northern and southern borders of West Manasseh:
• In the northwest the territory of West Manasseh bordered on the territory of the tribe of Asher. The southern border ran from the city of Michmethath east of the city of Shechem and then south to the region where the people of Entappuah live.
To represent the alternative interpretation, one may translate “From the city of Shechem south to the city of Jashub (or, Jashib) near the spring of Tappuah.”
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 .
Now the border of Manasseh went from Asher to Michmethath near Shechem: The term Asher refers to the clan of Asher. Their land was northwest of the land belonging to the clan of Manasseh.
Michmethath: The town of Michmethath was on the northern border of Ephraim, near the town of Shechem. The exact location is unknown. This town was mentioned in Joshua 16:6b.
Shechem: The town of Shechem was in the territory assigned to Ephraim.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Manasseh’s land bordered on the clan of Asher’s land ⌊in the northwest⌋ , and reached to the town of Michmethath ⌊in the south⌋ . Michmethath was east of Shechem town -or-
The territory of the clan of Manasseh went from the border of Asher’s land in the northwest to the town of Michmethath which was east of Shechem
17:7b
then southward to include the inhabitants of En-tappuah: The town of Tappuah was mentioned in Joshua 16:8. The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as En-tappuah can also be translated as “the spring of Tappuah.” The inhabitants of En-tappuah lived in the area near Tappuah spring, which was outside the town of Tappuah.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Then the border went south to the people who lived near the spring of Tappuah -or-
The border then continued south. It went past the people who lived near the spring of Tappuah
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