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.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Deut 3:12)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

complete verse (Deuteronomy 3:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 3:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “When we had taken that land, I gave the clan of Reuben and that of Gad from the side of north of Aroer near the river of Arnon together with one portion of the land of hills of Gilead together with its cities.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “At the time when we conquered that land, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites half shares of the mountains of Gilead from Aroer that is above the Arnon river gorge and of those cities.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘When we (incl.) had-captured this land, I gave to the descendants of Reuben and of Gad the land in the north of Aroer near/close Arnon which is the channel/water-course/place-where- the water -flows as-well-as the half of the hills of Gilead and its towns.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘From the land that we captured at that time, I allotted to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the land north of Aroer town near the Arnon River, and some of the hilly area of the Gilead region, along with the nearby towns.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 3:12

At the beginning of this new section, Moses should be introduced once again as the speaker; for example, “Moses said to the people of Israel.”

When we took possession of the land at that time: it may be a good idea to say “the land east of the Jordan” (Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). The phrase at that time is frequently used (2.34; 3.4, 8, 18, 21, 23), but in the context it is quite redundant; it simply repeats the opening When.

I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites: it is better to say something like “I assigned to the tribes of Reuben and Gad,” or “I assigned to the people from the tribes of Reuben and Gad.” For “tribe” see 1.13.

The territory beginning at Aroer: New Revised Standard Version is clearer, “the territory north of Aroer”; Today’s English Version helps by saying “north of the town of Aroer.”

Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon: so also 2.36; 4.48. Inasmuch as the Arnon is a river, it makes more sense in English, at least, to say “the Arnon River,” as Today’s English Version does (also Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), rather than “the Wadi Arnon” (New Revised Standard Version; also New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Revised English Bible) or “the Arnon Gorge” (New International Version). Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje has “the valley of the Arnon River.”

Instead of on the edge of the valley, HOTTP prefers “on the gorge” (so also Contemporary English Version), since the phrase “the edge of” is not in the Hebrew text. But this phrase is present in 2.36 and 4.48, and on that basis a translator is justified in saying the same thing here; Aroer did not change location from one chapter to the next.

And half of the hill country of Gilead with its cities: New Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible, like Today’s English Version, have “towns.” This is a reference to the part of Gilead south of the Jabbok River. Contemporary English Version has “and went far enough north to include the southern half of the Gilead region.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .