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 Deuteronomy 11:30

The Revised Standard Version form is that of a rhetorical question, Are they not…? to which the answer is Yes, they are. This is better translated as a statement of fact, as in New Revised Standard Version, “As you know….” Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and Revised English Bible use parentheses around this verse, to show that it is not part of Moses’ speech but a comment inserted later by the writer. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is a good model to follow: “(These mountains, as everyone knows, ….)”

Beyond the Jordan: that is, on the west side of the Jordan River; the point of view here is Moab.

West of the road, toward the going down of the sun: this is a rather wordy way of saying “west”; it is not known what road is meant. New Revised Standard Version translates “some distance to the west,” and Good News Translation has “They are toward the west.”

The Arabah: the Jordan Valley (see 1.1).

Over against Gilgal “Near the town of Gilgal” (Good News Translation). This town is near Jericho (see Josh 4.5).

Beside the oak of Moreh: see Gen 12.6; this is near Shechem, close to Gerizim, which is some 25-30 miles distant from Gilgal. The text as it stands is not very clear, unless Gilgal is another town, not the one known from the book of Joshua. It is not clear what is meant by the oak of Moreh. The tree could be a terebinth, but most translators have oak. The Hebrew word moreh may mean “teaching” or “divining”; it is not the name of a place or a person. It seems to have been a sacred tree or grove of trees where it was believed people would receive a revelation from God, or also where a sacrifice would be offered. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version attempt to bring out the special nature of the place by saying “sacred trees”; it would be better to say “sacred tree” (as Good News Translation has in Gen 6.12). It is possible that this is the same tree that in Judges 9.37 is called “the Diviners’ oak” (Revised Standard Version; see Good News Translation “the oak of the fortunetellers”).

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 .