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.)

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.

Translation commentary on 1 Chronicles 26:14

The lot for the east fell to Shelemiah: The lot … fell to focuses on the result of the drawing of lots. Another way of expressing this whole clause is “The drawing showed that Shelemiah would guard the east gate.” A similar expression might also be used for the other gates in the following verses. Shelemiah is called “Meshelemiah” in verses 1, 2, and 9; and several modern translations read “Meshelemiah” here also for the sake of clarity (so New Living Translation, New Century Version, New American Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Bible en français courant keeps the name Shelemiah here but explains in a footnote that this is the same person as Meshelemiah in verses 1 and 9 (similarly Contemporary English Version, New International Version).

They cast lots also for his son Zechariah: There were four gates but only three groups, those headed by Meshelemiah, Obed Edom and Hosah. So Shelemiah and his son Zechariah were assigned to guard different gates.

A shrewd counselor: The word shrewd may have a negative connotation in English. The Hebrew is better translated “wise” (New International Version), “clever” (American Bible), or “prudent” (New Revised Standard Version). The word counselor may also be rendered “adviser.” For this whole phrase New Living Translation has “a man of unusual wisdom,” and New American Standard Bible says “a counselor with insight.”

And his lot came out for the north: The Hebrew expression rendered lot came out has the same basic meaning as the one translated The lot … fell to.

It may be helpful in other languages to follow the model of Good News Translation and make it clear that for the east and for the north refer to the gates to the east and north of the Temple. Good News Translation adds the word “gate” each time (so also Revised English Bible).

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 .