6The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go toward the west country, and the dappled ones go toward the south country.”
The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated into English as “chariot” is translated into Anuak as “canoe pulled by horse.” “Canoe” is the general term for “vehicle” (source: Loren Bliese). Similarly it is translated in Lokạạ as ukwaa wạ nyanyang ntuuli or “canoe that is driven by horses.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Chichicapan Zapotec: “ox cart” (in Acts 8) (ox carts are common vehicles for travel) (source: Loren Bliese)
Chichimeca-Jonaz, it is translated as “little house with two feet pulled by two horses” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
HausaCommon Language Bible as keken-doki or “cart of donkey” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
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 Zechariah 6:6:
Kupsabiny: “The chariot that those black horses pull shall go to the side of North, so that the one that white horses pull will be following and the one that striped horses pull that one is going to go to the side of South.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The chariot with black horses is going to countries in the north. The chariot with white horses is going to the west, and the chariot with spotted horses is going south."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The chariot that was-being-pulled by the black horses was-going to a place in North. The chariot that was-being-pulled by the white horses was-going to west. And the chariot that was-being-pulled by the spotted/dappled horses was-going to a place in south.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The chariot pulled by black horses will go north, the one pulled by white horses will go west, the one pulled by spotted gray horses will go south.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
In some versions (New American Bible, Good News Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) the angel’s words end at the end of verse 5, but the majority of versions include verse 6 in the angel’s speech. This seems to be the more likely option and we recommend that translators follow it.
Since “four winds” have been mentioned in the previous verse, we would expect the descriptions to continue by saying that the four different colored horses all pulled their chariots off in different directions. However, only three colors and three directions can be found in the Hebrew text as it now stands. The red (or, brown) horses and the eastward direction are absent. Some scholars believe that the omissions are deliberate while others think there is something missing from the traditional text. Some versions such as Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1. Edition (but not Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 2. Edition) and Jerusalem Bible (but not Bible de Jérusalem or New Jerusalem Bible) add a statement about the red horses going to the east. However, the majority of versions do not do this, and translators are advised not to do so either. The focus of attention is on the black horses that go north (verse 8) and no further attention is paid to any of the others, so there is no real gain in restoring the red/brown horses to verse 6. It is possible that the red/brown horses did not go anywhere, but that their chariot contained an angel commander. Compare the rider of the red horse in 1.8, who was apparently the leader.
The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country: The Hebrew word for north was associated with darkness, and this may be why the black horses go in this direction. The north was the direction from which enemies normally attacked Judah, and Good News Translation tries to indicate something of this by saying “north to Babylonia.” Translators may either follow this example, or include the information in a footnote, as do Bible en français courant and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente. Compare 2.6-7, where the north is linked with Babylonia in the Hebrew, and see the notes on 2.6.
The white ones go toward the west country: The traditional Hebrew text has a word meaning “after them” (Revised Standard Version footnote) instead of toward the west country, and a number of versions such as New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 2. Edition, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, and Biblen: Det Gamle og Det Nye Testamente translate this so as to say that the white horses follow the black ones. However, it requires the addition of only one letter to give the meaning toward the west country. This fits the context better, and is accepted by many modern versions. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament suggests that the Hebrew as it stands can mean “toward the west,” and we recommend that translators accept this meaning. From the Hebrew point of view, the west would represent Asia Minor and Greece, but since there is no further mention of the white horses, there is no need to say anything about this in translation.
And the dappled ones go toward the south country: The south would represent Egypt, but again since these horses receive no further mention, there is no need to say anything more. For dappled see the comments on verse 3.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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