9Then the boundary went down to the Wadi Kanah. The towns here, to the south of the wadi, among the towns of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of Manasseh goes along the north side of the wadi and ends at the sea.
The name that is transliterated as “Manasseh” in English means “one who causes to forget,” “forgetting,” “forgetfulness,” “causing forgetfulness.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Ephraim” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “palm tree” referring to the palm of Deborah in the land of Ephraim (see Judges 4:5. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
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 17:9:
Kupsabiny: “the border followed the northern side of the valley of Kanah and touched/ran into the ocean.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then the border went down southwards and reached the ravine of Kanah. Among the cities of Ephraim were also towns of Manasseh. As for the boundary of Manasseh, however, it is on the north bank of the ravine and then it reaches the sea.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Then the boundary goes to Kana where- water -flows. There-are cities south of the stream belonging-to the tribe of Efraim, even these were-included in the cities of the tribe of Manase. The boundary of the tribe of Manase continues north of the stream up-to the Sea of Mediteraneo.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The border of the land allotted to the tribe of Manasseh extended south to Kanah Gorge. From there it extended west along the north side of the gorge and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.” (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.”
Verses 9-10a further define the relation between the two neighboring tribes; verse 10b locates West Manasseh in relation to the tribe of Asher and the tribe of Issachar.
It may be more effective to translate verses 9-10 as a unit:
• From there the southern border followed the stream Kanah westward to the Mediterranean Sea. The main territory of Manasseh was located north of the Kanah stream, but south of it were some cities that belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, even though they were in the territory of Manasseh. In the northwest Manasseh bordered on the tribe of Asher, and in the northeast it bordered on the tribe of Issachar.
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 continued southward to the Brook of Kanah. There were cities belonging to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh: There is an interpretation issue in this verse. Scholars do not agree on how the word southward relates to the parts of this verse.
(1) It relates to the phrase the cities in verse 9b. For example:
These cities, to the south of the brook… (English Standard Version)
(English Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, New Living Translation (2004), Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, King James Version)
(2) It relates to the term border in verse 9a. For example:
Then the boundary continued south to the Kanah Ravine (New International Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, NET Bible, God’s Word)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with the majority of English versions and some commentaries. The border of Manasseh went south of the Kanah River for some distance. However, there were some towns belonging to the clan of Ephraim that were within the borders of the land assigned to Manasseh.
Here is another way to translate this part of the verse:
Some towns that belonged to the clan of Ephraim were south of the river, among the towns that belonged to the clan of Manasseh
17:9a
From there the border continued southward to the Brook of Kanah: You should translate the phrase the Brook of Kanah the same way as you translated it in Joshua 16:8.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Then the border descended to the southwest to the Kanah River -or-
The border then continued south downhill to the Kanah streambed
17:9c
but the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Sea: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
The border of Manasseh’s land continued ⌊westward⌋ on the north side of the river and ended at the Mediterranean Sea -or-
Then the boundary line of Manasseh’s land went along the northern side of the river, and it ended at the Mediterranean Sea
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