2Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai.
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.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 7:2:
Kupsabiny: “When Jericho had been destroyed, Joshua sent his people to spy out a city called Ai which was near Beth-aven in the east of Bethel. Those men went.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Joshua sent men from Jericho to the city of Ai that is located before Beth-Aven and on the east side of Bethel, speaking to them like this, "Go there and spy it out." Those men went and spied out the city of Ai.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “From there in Jerico Josue commanded men to spy-out Ai, a city east of Betel, near Bet Aven. So the men went to spy-(it)-out.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Joshua told some of his men to go from Jericho to Ai town, which was east of Bethel city and near Beth-Aven town. He said to them, ‘Go to Ai and spy out the area/see what the area is like.’ So the men went.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
After the encouraging report brought back by his spies, Joshua sends a relatively small force (some three thousand men) to attack Ai, a city on a mountain ridge some 24 kilometers northwest of Jericho. Of course neither Joshua nor the rest of the Israelites know that the Lord is angry with them because of what Achan has done, and so they are surprised and terrified by the defeat they suffer.
The location of Ai is given in relation to Bethel; it was about 2.5 kilometers east (or better, southeast) of Bethel, which is easily identified and located on biblical maps. It is not easy, however, precisely to identify Bethaven, which in the text is said to be a separate locality, not far from Bethel. Bethaven (literally “house of evil/wickedness”) often appears as an insulting nickname for Bethel itself (which means “house of God”; see Hos 4.15; 5.8; Amos 5.5b). So some scholars consider “near Bethaven” an editorial gloss. Others, however, take it to be a variant spelling of “Bethon.”
The initial sentence of verse 2 is difficult for at least two reasons. First, it contains a series of two appositionals, which separate by some distance the subject men from the verbs go and explore. Second, it implies discourse (with orders to go and explore). Some of these difficulties may be made easier if the following restructuring is accepted as a guideline:
• Joshua sent some men from Jericho to the city of Ai. Ai was east of the city of Bethel and not far from the city of Bethaven. Joshua told the men, “Go and find out what you can about the city of Ai and the land around it.”
When they had done so is literally “And the men went up and spied out Ai” (Revised Standard Version). The sentence may be translated “The men obeyed Joshua’s command” or “The men did what Joshua told them to do.”
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 .
Joshua sent the Israelite army to fight against the men of Ai, but the Israelites were defeated.
7:2a
Meanwhile: The Hebrew text has a word that introduces the next event in the storyline. The Berean Standard Bible translates it as Meanwhile, but some English versions do not translate this word. Some English versions begin this verse with the connector “now.” Introduce this next event in a way that is natural in your language.
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai: The men that Joshua sent were Israelites. They were not people of Jericho. The Israelites were camped near Jericho following the battle. The New Living Translation (2004) makes this clear:
Joshua sent some of his men (New Living Translation (2004))
Ai:Ai is the name of a town. It was smaller than Jericho.
7:2b
which is near Beth-aven to the east of Bethel: These are the names of small towns. Ai was near the town of Beth-aven and was east of the town of Bethel.
7:2c
and told them: Joshua gave the men instructions before he sent them to Ai. The Hebrew text uses a direct quote for Joshua’s instructions. Some English versions put these brief instructions into an indirect quote.
The NET Bible has a direct quote:
and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land” (NET Bible)
The Good News Translation has an indirect quote:
Joshua sent some men…with orders to go and explore the land (Good News Translation)
Use the kind of quotation that is most natural in your language.
Go up: Ai was at a higher elevation than the Israelite camp. Hebrew verbs keep track of elevation, and thus it says Goup. If your language does not keep track of elevation, it may be more natural to say “go.”
and spy out the land: The phrase spy out the land means “look at the land and learn about it.” Joshua wanted to know information that would help him to plan an attack on Ai.
Here is another way to translate this phrase:
find out whatever you can (Contemporary English Version)
land: The word land refers to both the town of Ai and to the land that surrounded it.
7:2d
So: The Hebrew connector that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So indicates that 7:2d is the result of 7:2c. Use a natural way to indicate result in your language.
the men went up and spied out Ai: This clause indicates that the men obeyed Joshua’s instructions. In some languages it may not be natural to repeat the information again. If that is true in your language, you may express the idea in a different way. For example:
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