cardinal directions

The cardinal directions “east” and “west” are easy to translate into Maan here since the language uses “where the sun comes up” and “where the sun goes down.” For “north” the translator had “facing toward the sun rising to the left,” and for “south” she had “facing toward the sun rising to the right.” So the listener had to think hard before knowing what direction was in view when translating “to the north and south, to the east and west.” So, in case all four directions are mentioned, it was shortened by saying simply “all directions.” (Source: Don Slager) Likewise, Yakan has “from the four corners of the earth” (source: Yakan back-translation) or Western Bukidnon Manobo “from the four directions here on the earth” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo back-translation).

Kankanaey is “from the coming-out and the going-away of the sun and the north and the south” (source: Kankanaey back-translation), Northern Emberá “from where the sun comes up, from where it falls, from the looking [left] hand, from the real [right] hand” (source: Charles Mortensen), Amele “from the direction of the sun going up, from the direction of the sun going down, from the north and from the south” (source: John Roberts), Ejamat “look up to see the side where the sun comes from, and the side where it sets, and look on your right side, and on your left” (source: David Frank in this blog post).

In Lamba, only umutulesuŵa, “where the sun rises” and imbonsi, “where the sun sets” were available as cardinal directions that were not tied to the local area of language speakers (“north” is kumausi — “to the Aushi country” — and “south” kumalenje — “to the Lenje country”). So “north” and “south” were introduced as loanwords, nofu and saufu respectively. The whole phrase is kunofu nakusaufu nakumutulesuŵa nakumbonsi. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff.)

“West” is translated in Tzeltal as “where the sun pours-out” and in Kele as “down-river” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel).

In Morelos Nahuatl, “north” is translated as “from above” and “south” as “from below.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

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.”

See also cardinal directions / left and right.

Translation commentary on Judges 2:9

Unlike Moses, who was buried outside the Promised Land, Joshua’s resting place was within the territory allotted to his clan. In Israelite culture, as in many cultures around the world, the place of burial is very significant. Gen 23 recounts how Abraham bought a cave to serve as a burial place for his family, where he eventually buried his wife Sarah. He himself was laid to rest next to her (Gen 25.10). Thus there were often family tombs, where bodies of the same family were placed together. To not have a recognized burial place was considered a terrible fate.

And they buried him: This verse is very closely linked to the preceding one by the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And. New Revised Standard Version has “So.” The impersonal pronoun they refers to the Israelite community. The Hebrew verb translated buried (qabar) is a general word, meaning to put the body of the deceased in a designated place, without specifying what kind of place that was. In Israel people buried their kin often in rocks and caves—not always underground as in many cultures. Translators should thus try to use a general verb here. Some languages opt for a passive verb here, for example, “He was buried” (Good News Translation).

Within the bounds of his inheritance means that Joshua was buried inside the borders of the land his clan had been given. Bounds renders the same Hebrew word translated “border” in verse 1.36 to indicate a boundary line. Many take the word inheritance to refer here not to the land given to his tribe but to the land accorded to him personally (verse 19.49-50). The word inheritance forms an inclusio here (verse 2.6, 9), appearing again at the end of the book, where it is part of another inclusio. Thus it would be helpful to use the same expression throughout the book.

In Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash: Joshua was one of the descendants of Ephraim, and the narrator takes great care to tell where he was buried. This specification parallels the later detailed accounts of where Gideon and Samson were buried (verse 8.32; verse 16.31).

Timnath-heres was the name of a town in Ephraim. Joshua had settled there some time before his death (verse 19.50). There is a minor textual problem here since the text of verse 19.50 and verse 24.30 gives the name as Timnath-serah, reversing the consonants of the second half of the name. Good News Translation makes this change here for consistency. Contemporary English Version keeps the Hebrew form without a footnote, but Bible en français courant adds a footnote that says, “Timnath-Heres is also called Timnath-Serah. See Josh 19.50; 24.30.” Note that some versions insert a hyphen between the two words, while others do not. Some capitalize the second term, while others do not. Translators can decide how to handle these issues that have little impact on the story.

In the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash defines the location of the town more precisely. For the hill country, see verse 1.9. Ephraim is cited in verse 1.29 as an Israelite tribe, but some readers may not yet know that a certain region also bears this name. If so, we might speak of “the hill country promised [or, allotted] to [the descendants of] Ephraim.”

For north see verse 1.9. The exact location of the mountain of Gaash is unknown, but some believe Joshua was buried around 30 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of Shechem. Mountain renders the same Hebrew word (har) as hill country. This term can refer to a range of hills, or to a single big hill or mountain.

Some translation examples for this verse are:

• They buried Joshua within the land he inherited [from the LORD] at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

• Joshua was buried in Timnath-serah, in the mountains of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash, in the land he had inherited [or, the land God gave him].

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .