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.)

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.

king

Click here to view graphically

Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

(Click or tap here to see details)

  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
  • Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))

Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:

“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on Tobit 1:2

In the days of may be also expressed as “when” (Contemporary English Version) or “During the time that….” (Good News Translation).

King Shalmaneser: This King (Good News Translation “emperor”) reigned from 727 to 722 B.C. His name actually appears in the Greek text as Enemessaros, but Shalmaneser is the accepted form. In a number of languages King may be expressed as “high [or, great] chief,” or just “the great one.” However, Good News Translation uses the term “emperor,” indicating that Shalmaneser ruled over an empire that included a number of smaller or vassal states, each governed by a minor king. The equivalent of “emperor” in some languages is something like “supreme king [or, chief].” It is also possible to avoid the use of King or “emperor” and translate the first clause as “During the time that Shalmaneser ruled over the people of Assyria….”

Was taken into captivity from Thisbe …: Was taken into captivity means that the Assyrian army captured Tobit and took him as a prisoner back to their homeland. In languages that do not have the passive voice, all this information must be made clear; for example, “During the time that Shalmaneser ruled over the people of Assyria, the Assyrian soldiers captured me in my hometown of Thisbe, and took me to Assyria. Thisbe is located….” In cultures where only villages of various sizes exist, we may translate “town” or “city” as “a large village with a high fence around it.” The other place names locate Tobit’s hometown Thisbe to the northwest of Lake Galilee, although the town is otherwise unknown. It is not the same place as the prophet Elijah’s hometown Tishbe, which was east of the Jordan River in Gilead. Good News Translation attempts to clarify above Asher toward the west by identifying the same location with reference to the more familiar city of “Hazor.” In some languages it will be better to break the long Greek sentence after Thisbe, and begin a new sentence: “… from Thisbe. Thisbe is south of the town of Kedesh in the region of Naphtali…” (Contemporary English Version does something like this). In languages where all directional information depends upon where the speaker or writer of the book is located, translators should place the writer of Tobit in the general area of Judah.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• During the time that Shalmaneser ruled over Assyria, the Assyrian soldiers captured me in my hometown of Thisbe and took me back to their country. Thisbe is located in northern Galilee, south of the town of Kedesh in the region of Naphtali, northwest of the town of Hazor, and north of the town of Phogor.

Since it is certain that the Assyrian soldiers captured many Israelites and took them into exile with Tobit, it may be helpful for the development of the storyline to make that clear here. One model that does this is as follows:

• My hometown is Thisbe in northern Galilee. It is located south of the town of Kedesh in the region of Naphtali, and is northwest of the town of Hazor and north of the town of Phogor. When Shalmaneser was king of Assyria, the Assyrian soldiers captured me and many other Israelites, and took us away to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Tobit. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.