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 18:15:
Kupsabiny: “The border to the south followed from that place of Kiriath-jearim and headed towards the west to the spring of Nephtoah.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The southern boundary began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim. From that western point it went towards the east and reached the spring of water of Nephtoah.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The boundary in the south starts outside of Kiriat Jearim. From there, this goes-towards the west to the springs of Neftoa.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The southern border of their land started near Kiriath-Jearim and extended west to Nephtoah Springs.” (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 15-19 trace the southern boundary from Kiriath Jearim eastward to the Dead Sea. The southern border was the northern border of Judah (see 15.5b-10 for much of the same data describing the land).
After Kiriath Jearim, the Masoretic text has “and the boundary westward and it went to the springs of the waters of Nephtoah.” The direction “westward” is wrong (see 15.9), and there are various ways in which the matter has been handled. Good News Translation, New English Bible, New American Bible omit; Soggin, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible transliterate the Septuagint “towards Gasin”; Revised Standard Version gets its solution from 15.9 “to Ephron.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends a solution here which is similar to what it arrives at in 15.9, where instead of “to the cities of Mount Ephron” it proposes “towards Iyyim (or, the ruins) of Mount Ephron”; here it recommends “towards Iyyim (or, the ruins).”
Whatever alternative is followed as a solution to the textual problem, a footnote will be required (as in Good News Translation). Moreover, one may wish to specify in the text the geographical movement: “and went eastward to….”
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 .
On the south side the border began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim: Joshua 18:15-19 describes the south border of Benjamin’s land.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
The south border began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim -or-
The boundary of Benjamin’s land on the south started at the limits of the town of Kiriath-jearim
18:15b
and extended westward: The Hebrew text is difficult. The Hebrew text reads “and the boundary goes westward.” However, that contradicts verse 14. In verse 14 the western boundary came to an end. The description of the southern boundary begins here and is described from west to east. The English versions have handled this difficulty in several ways:
(1) Some versions omit the word westward. For example:
and projected… (New American Bible, Revised Edition)
(New American Bible, Revised Edition, Good News Translation)
(2) Some versions follow the Hebrew text. For example:
and extended westward (NET Bible)
(Berean Standard Bible, NET Bible, God’s Word, New American Standard Bible, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
(3) Some versions change the text to follow Joshua 15:9, which describes the same border, going from east to west. For example:
and the boundary goes from there to Ephron (Revised Standard Version)
(Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version)
(4) Some versions move the word “west” to a different place in the sentence. For example:
The southern side began at the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim on the west (New International Version)
(New International Version)
It is recommended that you follow option (1). This makes the least change to the text, while still making sense. If you do this, it is recommended that you add a footnote to explain the Hebrew text. For example:
FOOTNOTE: The Hebrew text says: “and the boundary goes westward.”
to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah: This is the spring mentioned in Joshua 15:9b. You should translate this phrase as you did there.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
The border went on to the spring of Nephtoah -or-
Then the border continued to the spring of water called Nephtoah
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