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.” Manya uses a similar nomenclature for the cardinal 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.)

In Matumbi cardinal directions are defined as in relation to another place. “East” for instance typically is “toward the beach” since 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)

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 and people of the East.

complete verse (Song of Solomon 4:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Song of Solomon 4:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “Blow now, you wind from the North,
    and appear, you wind from the South.
    Come to blow the trees of my garden
    and the sweetness of a flower envelope the land.
    (Let) my beloved come to his garden, oh please,
    come and eat amazing fruits!” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Northern wind wake up,
    Southern wind, come blow
    through my garden.
    May its fragrance spread far and wide.
    My beloved, come to your garden.
    and taste its choice good fruits.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) north and south wind, [you (plur.)] blow upon my garden/field so-that its fragrant-aroma will-spread-out. Cause/(tell)- my beloved -to-go to his garden/field and eat its best fruit.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I want the north wind and the south wind to come,
    and blow on my garden,
    in order that the fragrance of the spices will spread through the air.
    Similarly, I want the one who loves me to come and enjoy cuddling up to me
    like someone comes into a garden and enjoys eating the fruit that grows there.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

please (adverb / Japanese honorifics)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

The concept of “please” is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-kure (おくれ) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Song of Songs 4:16

Here after a long silence we hear the voice of the young woman. She responds to her lover’s praise by an invitation to “come into the garden.” Like those before it, this verse is also well crafted, including parallelism and a heavy use of similar sounds. In the first line of the verse, four out of eight words end in the sound -i.

Awake, O north wind: in the first of two parallel imperatives, the young woman calls on the wind to carry the fragrance of her garden to her lover so that he will be aroused by her scent and hurry to be with her. Awake is from the Hebrew root meaning “to arouse.” Using the verb “wake” with the noun “wind” may be unnatural in some languages and so may require a more appropriate verb like “start blowing.” Since this entire clause is parallel with the following come, O south wind, we can combine lines and retain the more natural of the verbs, come: “Come, North and South Winds.”

The north wind is the one that blows from the north, though here the actual geographical reference or the direction is not the focus. This is clear from the following reference to the wind from the south. The two compass points are merely poetic decoration. The noun wind in this and the following phrase is understood from the context; the Hebrew text does not have it. Translators should follow Revised Standard Version and others and insert wind. In many languages there will not be single words for north or south, but there will always be expressions that refer to the same thing, such as “wind coming from the left” or “from the right.” If the translation proves too difficult, we can use a more general phrase, “Come, winds, and blow [from every direction].”

Come, O south wind calls the wind from the south to blow.

Blow upon my garden: it is from this third imperative, Blow, that we can be certain that the words north and south refer to wind. Jerusalem Bible suggests “breathe over,” but this does not seem to convey the idea that the wind should carry the young woman’s scent toward her lover. The absence of a preposition with the noun garden means one has to be supplied. We can use “through” or “over.”

The mention of my garden is crucial here. In this line the garden belongs to the young woman, but in the next she shows that she is offering her garden to her lover: “Let my lover come into his garden.”

Let its fragrance be wafted abroad is literally “let its spices flow.” The sense is that the spicy fragrance of her body and perhaps also her clothes (verse 11) might be blown in her lover’s direction, not just that the air will be filled with fragrance.

Let my beloved come to his garden: this expresses her longing for her lover; she invites him to enjoy her, the delights of her garden. His garden refers to the garden kept for him to enjoy. As noted above, the shift from my garden to his garden is very significant, as she indicates that she belongs to him and is offering herself to him.

Eat its choicest fruits: for comments on its choicest fruits, see notes on verse 13. To eat can also be rendered “enjoy” or “taste,” which are broader and able to include the idea of lovemaking.

For translation we can say:

• Start to blow [or, Arise], O wind from the north,
Come, O wind from the south.
Blow through my garden
and carry the scent of its spices.
Let my lover come to his garden
and enjoy its fine fruit.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Song of Songs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1998. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Song of Songs 4:16

4:16–5:1 The man and woman united in marriage

These two verses (4:16 and 5:1) can be considered the climax of the Song. In 4:16 the woman spoke for the first time since 3:5. She responded to the man’s praise in 4:1–15, and she indirectly invited him to enter the “garden.” Here the garden is a poetic way for the woman to refer to herself. The woman invited the man to come “into her garden,” and in 5:1 he did come in.

In Hebrew the word used for “awake” in 4:16 is the same word that was used in 2:7c–d. There the woman told the other women not to stir up nor awaken love until the right time. In 4:16–5:1 the time became right for love to awaken. The man and woman were married, and it was time to fulfill their desires for each other.

4:16 The woman spoke

Most English versions indicate that the woman speaks this whole verse.

4:16a–c

Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind. Breathe on my garden: Here the woman replied to the man indirectly by calling to the wind. She used a figurative way to invite him to be intimate with her. When she told the winds to blow on the locked garden, she indicated that she was opening the garden so the man could enter and enjoy its fruits. The garden represents the woman herself. She called the winds to blow so that her fragrance would reach the man and make him want to come to her.

In this verse the woman speaks directly to the north and south winds. In some languages speaking to the wind may imply a wrong meaning or it may not be natural. If that is true in your language, you may translate the meaning indirectly. For example:

How I wish the north and south winds would blow! I wish they would come and blow on my garden!
-or-
Let the north wind blow, the south wind too! Let them spread the aroma of my garden (Contemporary English Version)

In some languages it may be helpful to make the figurative meaning more explicit. For example:

The north and south winds should arise and blow to spread the fragrances of my garden ⌊to my beloved⌋ !

Awake…come: The woman calls to the winds to Awake and come. In some languages, there may be a more natural way to speak about the wind rising. Use a natural way in your language. For example:

O winds, be stirred, start blowing/breathing…
-or-
The winds should rise and fly/come

north wind…south wind: Scholars are not sure why the author mentioned the directions north and south to describe the winds. The words north and south may represent winds from all directions, or it may be a poetic way to talk about wind here. Use a natural way in your language to speak about the wind. Other ways to translate these winds in this context are:

O north wind, rise and blow!

O south wind, come!
-or-
O winds, come from all directions,

come and blow!

4:16c–d

Breathe on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices: Here the woman called on the wind to blow on her garden so that its fragrance would spread. She specifically wanted her beloved (4:16e–f) to smell the sweet odors and come to her. So 4:16d is the purpose for the action in 4:16c. Some other ways to translate the action and purpose are:

• Use a purpose connector. For example:

Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. (NET Bible)

• Translate the clauses as separate actions. For example:

blow on my garden; fill the air with fragrance. (Good News Translation)

Translate the actions in a natural way in your language.

4:16c

Breathe on my garden: The phrase Breathe on my garden indicates that the woman wanted the wind to blow on her garden so that the good odors of the fruits and flowers there will spread. Some other ways to translate the phrase are:

Waft over my garden!
-or-
Blow on/over my garden!

my garden: In 4:12 the man compared the woman to a garden. Here the woman used the phrase my garden in a figurative way to speak about herself. The fragrant garden represents the woman. Before 4:16 she was like a locked garden because she had not yet “opened” her body to anyone. In 4:16e, she will speak of herself as “his garden,” which will be a major change for them.

In some languages it may be necessary to indicate more explicitly that the woman compared herself to a garden here. For example:

⌊ I am like⌋a garden that needs the wind to blow across it

4:16d

spread the fragrance of its spices: In this clause the woman continued to speak to the winds. She implied that the winds should spread the fragrances of her garden. The next clauses (4:16e–f) show that she wanted those odors to reach the man who was outside the garden. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

and spread its fragrance all around (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
so that ⌊my beloved⌋ will smell its sweet odors

spread: The Hebrew verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as spread means “to flow.” The woman wanted the odor of the perfume to flow through the air. The context implies that she wanted it to reach her beloved. She hoped that the odor would attract him to come to her.

the fragrance of its spices: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the fragrance of its spices is literally “its spices” or “its perfumes.” However, the author refers to the sweet odor of the spices. In many languages it is clearer to refer directly to the fragrance (Berean Standard Bible) or “sweet smell.” It is the odor of the spices and not the spices themselves that the woman wanted the wind to spread. The garden’s fragrance represents the woman’s perfume or her sweet odor in general.

4:16e

Let my beloved come into his garden: Here the woman shifted from speaking to the wind (4:16a–d) to speaking to her beloved. She used an indirect way to tell him that she desired his love. In some languages this indirect request may not be clear or it may imply a wrong meaning. If that is true in your language, you may communicate the meaning more directly. For example:

Come into your garden, my love (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
My love, I am your garden. Come in

Let…come: The verb Let…come is a request. The woman used it to invite the man into her garden. The garden is a symbol for the woman herself, so the request implies that she wanted the man to show his love for her. Translate this desire in a natural way in your language. See the examples in the preceding note.

his garden: The words “my garden” (4:16c) and his garden (4:16e) both refer to the woman. They do not refer to two different gardens. Here the woman changed from referring to herself (or her body) as “my garden,” to saying that she was his garden. This change shows that the woman agreed to be united with the man in the sexual union that a husband and wife share. This shift from “my garden” to his garden implies that they were now husband and wife.

4:16f

and taste its choicest fruits: In this part of the verse the woman continued her indirect request for the man to unite with her in marital relations. She offered her husband the freedom to eat the best fruits of her garden. This offer is a metaphor and a euphemism. It means that she invited her husband to enjoy her as they had sexual relations together. Use an appropriate way for a modest woman to invite her husband to make love to her.

Some other ways to do this in English are:

enjoy my best fruits
-or-
share the pleasure of the finest fruit ⌊of my love⌋

In some languages it may be helpful to include a footnote in your translation. For example:

The woman here invites the man to have marital relations with her.

taste: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as taste is used here as a euphemism to refer to enjoying making love.

its choicest fruits: A similar phrase to its choicest fruits also occurred in 4:13b. There the man described the woman as a garden and mentioned her “choicest fruits.” So here in 4:16 she quoted the man and invited him to come and eat those fruits. The phrase choicest fruits figuratively refers to the woman’s sensual charms and her lovemaking. Some other ways to translate it are:

its greatest pleasures
-or-
its sweet delights

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