family / clan / house

The Hebrew terms that are translated as “family” or “clan” or “house” or similar in English are all translated in Kwere as ng’holo or “clan.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as “kin-group.”

See also tribe.

tabernacle (noun)

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “tabernacle” in English is translated in San Blas Kuna as “house of prayer that can be carried.” (Source: Ronald Ross)

In Bandi it is translated as “holy sitting place.” The “sitting place for the Bandi is where you live.” Therefore the tabernacle is the place where God lived. (Source: Becky Grossmann in this newsletter )

In Vidunda it is translated as “God’s tent” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in Tibetan as gur mchog (གུར་​མཆོག) or “perfect tent” (source: gSungrab website )

In American Sign Language it is translated with with a sign for “tent” combined with a sign referring to the outer court surrounding the tent (see Exodus 27:9 and following). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Tabernacle” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

See also tabernacle (verb) / dwell, festival of Tabernacles and ark of the covenant.

sea / lake

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.)

complete verse (Numbers 3:23)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 3:23:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those houses had to set up their tents on the West side of the Tent of God.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “[EAH]The Gershonites clans were to set up their tents behind the Tent of Meeting towards the west.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The place where they were-camped was-there behind the Place-of-Worship Tent, on the west side.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They were told to set up their tents on the west side of the Sacred Tent.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

cardinal directions

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)
  • Mono (DRC): “of-hole-sun” (west)
  • Belanda Bor: “place morning” and “place evening”
  • Shambala: “side sink sun” (south)
  • 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)
  • Bari: “Morning Star” / “Venus” (east)
  • Chopi: “sky” (north) (source for this and six above: Angelika Mietzner and Helma Pasch in Skase Journal of Theoretical Linguistics 4, 3/2007 )

Geographical Landmarks

  • Kele: “down-river” (west) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • 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)
  • Lamba: “to the Aushi country” (north) / kumausi and “to the Lenje country” (south) / kumalenje (source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )
  • 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.”

See also people of the East and three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east.

Translation commentary on Numbers 3:23 - 3:24

The families of the Gershonites were to encamp behind the tabernacle on the west: Verses 23, 29, 35, and 38 give the Levites’ camp positions around the Tent of Meeting. The Gershonites had to encamp on its west side. As in the previous verses, the Hebrew word for families (mishpachah) is better translated “clans” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Again, the singular word “clan” in Good News Translation is misleading. The verb rendered were to encamp (see 1.50) is not in the past tense in Hebrew. The Hebrew form of this verb is the same as in 1.53 and 2.2. Here in verse 23 as well as in 1.53 and 2.2, Luther translates this verb as a command, saying “should encamp” (similarly King James Version, Russian Synodal Orthodox Version). As a command, the Gershonites had to do it repeatedly, that is, whenever they set up their camp. In some languages this verb may be rendered as a repetitive command or in the present or future tense to bring out the list character of the text. The Hebrew verb here certainly allows for such a rendering. However, the translation should not give the wrong impression that the LORD is speaking to Moses here. Verses 23-24 are a statement by the author.

Behind the tabernacle on the west does not contradict 2.18, which speaks about the camp of Ephraim being on the west side of the Tent of Meeting. According to 2.17, the camp of the Levites was closer to the Tent than any other tribe’s camp. The camp of Ephraim was behind the Tent, but not as close as the camp of the Gershonites. This phrase may be rendered “closely behind [or, very close to] the Tent of Meeting on its western side.” For tabernacle see 1.50; for west see 2.18.

With Eliasaph, the son of Lael as head of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites is literally “and a chief of the house of a father for the Gershonites Eliasaph, the son of Lael.” This is actually quite a difficult or potentially ambiguous construction in many languages. It may be clearer to separate the content of verses 23 and 24, even if this results in sentences that are relatively short (so New Century Version). Strictly speaking, the Hebrew does not have head but “chief” (Good News Translation) or “chieftain” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The Hebrew word for head is nasiʾ, which refers to a prominent and distinguished leader, for example, a sheikh (see the comments on 1.16). In Revised Standard Version fathers’ house seems to be used here in a wider sense than in 1.2 (see the comments there). New Living Translation uses the wider sense by rendering head of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites as “The leader of the Gershonite clans.” However, a rendering such as “the family leader for the Gershonites” (similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bijbel: Vertaling in opdracht van het Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap) shows a more accurate analysis of the Hebrew construction here, which is literally “a leader of the house of a father for the Gershonites.” In Hebrew fathers’ house is not directly connected with Gershonites. So it remains valid to interpret fathers’ house (or more accurately “father’s house”) in the same way as in 1.2, which is “family.” According to this interpretation, Eliasaph was one of several family chiefs, the one who led the Gershonites. In the end, however, the complications that go with fathers’ house at this point may have to be avoided in translation. A good model that does this for verse 24 is “The chief of the clans of Gershon was Eliasaph, the son of Lael.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is even less complicated with “Their chief was Eliasaph, the son of Lael.”

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .