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.

complete verse (Genesis 14:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 14:15:

  • Kankanaey: “Then Abram divided-in-two his people and they entered where plural Kedorlaomer were during the night and they defeated them. They pursued them as far as Hoba which was north of Damascus,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Abram put his people in groups and attacked at night from all sides, defeating them completely. Then he pursued [them] up to Hobah, which is north of Damascus.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “At night, Abram divided his men and they attacked their enemies, and they defeated them. The others who-were-able-to-flee they pursued (them) until Hoba, in the north of Damascus.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “During the night, Abram divided the men into several groups, and they attacked their enemies from various directions and defeated them. They pursued them as far as Hobah, which was north of Damascus city.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 14:15

And he divided his forces against them by night: divided is literally “divided himself,” which means he divided his men into smaller units, or separated them into groups. Revised Standard Version supplies his forces, but divided his forces against them is awkward English. The sense is, as in Good News Translation, “He divided his men into groups.” The purpose of dividing his men into groups was to spread them out and attack from several sides. See Judges 7.16 for a similar division of three hundred soldiers by Gideon. New English Bible translates “His followers surrounded the enemy by night.” The purpose in making a night attack is to give Abram’s men the advantage of surprise and to conceal their small number.

He and his servants refers to Abram and his men. No new information is supplied through this phrase, since in the first part of the verse it is Abram who divides his men.

Routed them and pursued them is literally “struck them and chased them.” The idea is that Abram’s soldiers defeated the armies of the four kings so that they fled, and Abram followed them in hot pursuit.

Hobah, north of Damascus is the only reference to Hobah in the Bible, and although various places have been identified as Hobah, there is no certainty. Damascus, the capital of modern Syria, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities known to archaeologists (see the map, page 18). This indicates that Abram did not recover Lot in the night raid at Dan, but only later at Hobah.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .