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.

desert / wilderness

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The Greek, Hebrew and Latin that is translated as “desert” or “wilderness” in English is translated in a number of ways:

  • Mairasi: “a place where noisiness is cut off (or: stops)” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Muna: pandaso bhalano pr “big barren-field” (source: René van den Berg)
  • Balinese: “barren field” (source: J.L. Swellengrebel in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 75ff. )
  • Wantoat: “uninhabited place” (source: Holzhausen 1991, p. 38)
  • Umiray Dumaget Agta: “where no people dwell” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “where no house is” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
  • Amri Karbi: “waterless region/place” (source: Philippova 2021, p. 368)
  • Ocotlán Zapotec: “large empty place” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Pa’o Karen: “jungle” (denoting a place without any towns, villages and tilled fields) (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. )
  • Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “steppe”
  • Yakan: “the lonely place” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a land where no people lived” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “the place with no inhabitants” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Matumbi uses various term: lubele (desert, sandy place without water) — used in John 11:54, lupu’ngu’ti (a place where no people live, can be a scrub land, a forest, or a savanna) — used in Mark 1:3 et al.), and mwitu (a forest, a place where wild animals live) — used in Mark 1:13 et al.) (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Chichewa Contemporary translation (2002/2016): chipululu: a place uninhabited by people with thick forest and bush (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Note that in Luke 15:4, usually a term is used that denotes pastoral land, such as “eating/grazing-place” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).

See also wilderness and desolate wilderness.

complete verse (1 Chronicles 5:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 5:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those people had many cows in Gilead, So, they came to live in the East in the wilderness that stretched to the river of Euphrates.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Because the number of their cows and oxen increased in Gilead, they occupied an area of the wilderness toward the east of that land. The wilderness spread out to the Euphrates river.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And because their animals became many there at Gilead, they lived up to the west, beside the desert towards the River Eufrates.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Some of them lived further east, as far as the edge of the desert south of the Euphrates River. They went there because they had a huge amount of cattle, with the result that there was not enough pastureland for them in the Gilead region.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Chronicles 5:9

He also dwelt to the east … is literally “And to the east he lived….” Also renders the common Hebrew conjunction. The pronoun He refers to the clan of Reuben (see the comments on the previous verse), so some versions correctly say “They” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). The writer uses this plural pronoun in the next verse. New Century Version has “Bela’s people,” which refers more specifically back to the beginning of the previous verse.

As far as the entrance of the desert this side of the Euphrates: For the entrance of the desert, New Revised Standard Version says more appropriately “the beginning of the desert,” but it is even more natural in English to speak of “the edge of the desert” (New Living Translation, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). Other languages may say “the border of the desert” or even “the end of the desert.” Several versions identify the Euphrates as a river (so Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Reina-Valera revisada, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Peregrino. Instead of this side of the Euphrates, some languages may have to specify the direction because a literal translation would be misleading. Contemporary English Version says “just west of the Euphrates River.” New Century Version has “beside the Euphrates River,” but this rendering is less precise than the original. For this whole phrase New American Bible says “as far as the desert which extends from the Euphrates River.” Bible en français courant is even more helpful with “as far as the edge of the desert which separated their territory from the Euphrates, the river of Babylonia.”

Because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead: This clause explains why the clan of Reuben extended so far to the east. They did it because they had many animals to feed. The Hebrew word translated cattle is a generic term that may refer to a wide variety of domestic animals or, according to the standard Hebrew dictionaries, even other possessions. But in this context the reference is clearly to domestic animals; and the term is sometimes translated “livestock” (New International Version, New American Bible) or “herds” (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible). The Hebrew verb translated multiplied has to do with increasing in abundance or becoming more and more numerous. While the Reubenites were in the land of Gilead, the numbers of their livestock grew. For Gilead see 1 Chr 2.22. Contemporary English Version provides a clear model for this clause, saying “They needed this much land because they owned too many cattle to keep them all in Gilead.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .