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.

Elijah and the bird (image)

Hand colored stencil print on washi by Sadao Watanabe (1979).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

complete verse (1 Kings 17:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 17:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “‘Get out of here and go to hide yourself in the stream of Kerith which is in the eastern part of Jordan.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Leave this place and go towards the east and hide near the Kerith ravine that is east of the Jordan river. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘You depart from here and go-eastward and you hide in Kerit which is-the- channel/passageway of water, in the east-side of the River Jordan.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Because you have made the king angry with you, escape from the king and, go to the east, to the Kerith Brook, east of where it flows into the Jordan River.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 17:3

Depart from here: The text does not indicate where Elijah is when God gives him instructions to leave that place. So the translation must be somewhat vague or general in the receptor language.

Hide yourself: No reason is given to explain why Elijah should hide. But the context clearly suggests that he needs to hide from King Ahab, who would blame the prophet for the drought (see 1 Kgs 18.10, 17).

The brook Cherith, that is east of the Jordan: Cherith is a “Wadi” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Nouvelle Bible Segond) on the east side of the Jordan River (a “wadi” is a river bed or stream bed that is dry except during the rainy season). Other renderings for brook include “torrent” (New Jerusalem Bible, Peregrino), “Creek” (Contemporary English Version), and “River” (God’s Word). The Hebrew words translated east of may also be rendered “before” (King James Version, Reina-Valera revisada, Nouvelle version Segond révisée) or “toward,” in which case it is not clear whether this wadi is located east or west of the Jordan River. Some interpreters have understood this to mean west of the Jordan. Peregrino leaves the location ambiguous by saying “near the Jordan.” But since nearly all interpreters today agree that the context suggests that the wadi is east of the Jordan, this should be clearly stated in the receptor language. The reference is probably to the Wadi el-Yubis, located in the highlands of northern Gilead. This wadi empties into the Jordan about eight kilometers (five miles) south of the city of Pella. New Living Translation provides this helpful model: “Kerith Brook at a place east of where it enters the Jordan River.”

Montgomery notes that the name Cherith comes from the Hebrew root that means “to cut.” In his commentary Gray places the name “Cutting” within parentheses after the name Cherith. As will be noted in the discussion on 1 Kgs 18.4, the meaning of the name Cherith contributes to a play on words at the beginning of chapter 18. Since this place name occurs in the whole Bible only here and in verse 5, translators may wish to translate the brook Cherith as “Cut Off Creek,” “Killing Off Creek” or “Massacre Creek” in order to maintain the wordplay, if possible. Alternatively, the wordplay may be pointed out in a footnote. See the further discussion at 18.4.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .