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.

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Translation commentary on Baruch 5:5

Babylon has fallen, the exiles have started on their way, Jerusalem has prepared herself for their arrival, and now, in this last subsection, they arrive. The prediction of Bar 4.24 comes true.

The writer, who in this major section of Bar 4.5–5.9 has been heavily relying on Isaiah 40–66, at this point turns to another source, The Psalms of Solomon. It may be useful to quote at this point the relevant passage from Wright’s translation of The Psalms of Solomon (11.2-9) in the Charlesworth edition:

2 Stand on a high place, Jerusalem, and look at your children,
from the east and the west assembled together by the Lord.
3 From the north they come in the joy of their God;
from far distant lands God has assembled them.
4 He flattened high mountains into level ground for them;
the hills fled at their coming.
5 The forests shaded them as they passed by;
God made every fragrant tree to grow for them.
6 So that Israel might proceed under the supervision of the glory of their God.
7 Jerusalem, put on (the) clothes of your glory,
prepare the robe of your holiness,
for God has spoken well of Israel forevermore.
8 May the Lord do what he has spoken about Israel and Jerusalem;
may the Lord lift up Israel in the name of his glory.
9 May the mercy of the Lord be upon Israel forevermore.

Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height: Once more, a strong imperative begins the subsection. The Greek words rendered Arise and stand are related words, echoing each other. In English this could have been conveyed with “Stand up … stand.” Together the two verbs urge Jerusalem to rise to a standing position and to take a stand on an elevated place. The text does not actually say “mountaintop” (Good News Translation) but the poet very likely has this in mind. Compare Isa 40.9, which uses the same imagery.

Look toward the east: This clause is exactly the same as in Bar 4.36. The idea is omitted from Good News Translation, but Contemporary English Version includes it with “look east.”

See your children gathered from west and east, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them: These lines are very close to the corresponding lines in Bar 4.37 (see the comments there). The only particular difference is that west and east are reversed, and that west is literally “setting of the sun.” The correspondence between these two verses is not entirely sacrificed in Good News Translation, although the following sentence from Good News Translation in 4.37 could easily have been repeated here: “They have been gathered together from the east and from the west by the command of God, the Holy One.” Contemporary English Version restructures the sentence in the active voice, and this will be helpful to many translators: “Our Holy God has gathered your children from the east and the west.” For a comment on the Holy One, see Bar 4.22. The last line, rejoicing that God has remembered them, has a close correspondence also to 4.37, but even Revised Standard Version was not able to bring it out. The phrasing in Greek is exactly the same, except that where 4.37 has “glory of God,” this verse has “remembrance of God.” This means, as both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have it, that God has remembered the people. The author is using here the same word, “remembrance,” that was used at Bar 4.27 (see the comments there). In some languages Contemporary English Version will be a helpful model for this line: “and they are celebrating because he hasn’t forgotten them.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.