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 Ezekiel 47:15 - 47:17

This shall be the boundary of the land: Verses 15-20 describe the “borders” (New International Reader’s Version) of the country that God will give to the people of Israel. This clause may be rendered “This is where the boundaries of the land will be” or “The boundaries of the land will be this.”

Verses 15-20 are similar to the passage in Num 34.1-12, where Moses divided the land among the Israelite tribes after the Exodus. It is useful to compare the two passages, especially in those places where Ezekiel’s list is unclear. We do not know the locations of many of the places mentioned in these verses. We have noted those that are known on the map, but we have left out others if no one knows for sure where they were. The important thing is the general outline of the territory belonging to the different tribes, not the exact positions of their borders.

On the north side …: Verses 15-17 describe the northern border of the land. The northern boundary line begins from the Great Sea, that is, “at the Mediterranean Sea” (Contemporary English Version, New Century Version), and goes by way of Hethlon, which may be the modern city of Haitela, to the entrance of Hamath, which is also known as “Lebo Hamath” (New International Version) or “Hamath Pass” (Good News Translation; see the comments below), and on to Zedad, which may be the modern city of Sadad. A border running through the territory of these three places goes generally in an eastward direction.

Some translations render the Hebrew expression for way of Hethlon as “Hethlon Road” (International Children’s Bible; similarly New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Jerusalem Bible). This is quite acceptable. New International Version renders by way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, and on to Zedad as “by the Hethlon road past Lebo Hamath to Zedad” (similarly New International Reader’s Version), and International Children’s Bible has “It will go by the Hethlon road. This is where the road turns toward Lebo Hamath. And it will go to the cities of Zedad….” These renderings give an attractive interpretation because it enables the interpreter to smooth out the northern border. If the border goes through the three towns or areas mentioned, it involves a large zigzag to the south. But if it follows the road, it would run south of Hethlon and pass to the north of Lebo Hamath on its way to Zedad. This makes such good sense that it is likely to be correct.

The entrance of Hamath translates the Hebrew phrase leboʾ hamath. The exact meaning of the Hebrew is not clear. The word leboʾ may be an infinitive meaning “to enter,” and taken with the name Hamath it may indicate the entrance to the town of Hamath (so Revised Standard Version). Some scholars think that this phrase refers to a mountain pass to the south of the city of Hamath. For this reason Good News Translation translates “Hamath Pass” (similarly Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible, Moffatt). Or leboʾ hamath may be taken together as the name of a town located in what is the modern country of Syria. Compare “Lebo-hamath” (New Revised Standard Version, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “Lebo Hamath” (New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version), and “Lebo-Hamath” (Contemporary English Version).

Berothah, Sibraim (which lies on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran: Berothah may be the same place as Beruthah, the modern-day city of Bereitan, but this is unlikely. Bereitan lies southwest of Zedad, not further east as we would expect the boundary line to go. The next two places, Sibraim and Hazer-hatticon, are totally unknown, and it would only be a guess to put them on the map. (In a footnote New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh identifies Hazer-hatticon with Hazar-enon, but there is no reason why two names should be used for the same place here.) It seems that the people in Ezekiel’s time did not know where these two places were, because God has to explain that Sibraim was on the border between Damascus and Hamath and that Hazer-hatticon was on the border of Hauran. Both Damascus (see 27.18) and Hamath were large cities north of Israel in the area that is now Syria. They were about 160 kilometers (100 miles) apart. This Hamath differs from the Hamath in verse 15. The mountainous area east of Lake Galilee in the area called Bashan is called Hauran, but this area is a long way south of the other places. To draw the border line from the first few places mentioned to the area of Hauran involves an eastern border, not a northern border. But Block suggests that from the point of view of someone brought up in Jerusalem, as Ezekiel was, anything north of Lake Galilee was to the north. This suggestion is possible, but somewhat unlikely. Unfortunately, we do not know of another Hauran.

So the boundary shall run from the sea to Hazar-enon …: Verse 17 summarizes the northern border described in the previous two verses. The location of Hazar-enon is unknown, but God describes it as being on the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north. Most scholars identify it with the modern city of Qaryatein. This location fits well with a northern border that runs east from the Mediterranean Sea through the places mentioned in verses 15-16, but it is nowhere near the only Hauran that we know. However, if the territory of Hauran stretched from Bashan northwards toward Hamath on the eastern side of Damascus, it would be consistent with the other details of this passage. This view of where the territory of Hauran was results in a more logical description of the northern border of Israel, but the idea remains only a guess. In summary, the northern border of Israel will run from the Mediterranean Sea in an easterly direction, along the border between Damascus and Hamath (that is, north of Damascus and south of Hamath), until it reaches the territory of Hauran, somewhere near modern Qaryatein.

This shall be the north side summarizes verses 15-17.

Our interpretation of verses 15-17 depends on a number of decisions about textual problems:

1. At the end of verse 15 and beginning of verse 16, the Hebrew reads “going to Zedad, Hamath” instead of to the entrance of Hamath, and on to Zedad. However, the Septuagint changes the order of these two names, saying “to the entrance of Hamath, Zedad.” Changing the order of these names makes very good sense, so we recommend that translators follow this reading.
2. In verse 17, when describing the location of Hazar-enon, the Hebrew says “the border of Damascus and north northward and the border of Hamath” (similarly King James Version) instead of which is on the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north. It is difficult to make sense of the reading in Hebrew. Some translations take it to mean that the northern border of Israel will run to the south of both Damascus and Hamath (so Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Christian Community Bible). However, verse 16 indicates that the border will run between Damascus and Hamath, so the description of Hazar-enon is best rendered “which is north of Damascus and south of Hamath” (similarly Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, International Children’s Bible, English Standard Version). This is the interpretation we recommend.
3. At the end of verse 17 the Hebrew has simply “and the north side” instead of This shall be the north side. Most scholars recognize the Hebrew phrase here as a mistake, which should be changed to read what is in Revised Standard Version. The same change needs to be made for similar phrases at the end of verses 18 and 19. Compare the end of verse 20 (“This shall be the west side”), where it is spelled accurately.

The places in verses 15-17 are very difficult to identify and locate. Although scholars have tentatively identified some of them, it is best for translators to transliterate them as best they can. This will avoid the danger of wrongly identifying places by mistake. Translators may identify what these places were by saying “the town of Hamath,” “the region of Hauran,” and so on.

Since these places are not familiar, there is a danger that readers will have some difficulty following the description of the northern border. If translators break up the description into several shorter sentences, it can help. A model that does this for verses 15-17 is:

• 15 “The northern boundary will be like this. It will start at the Mediterranean Sea in the west and go toward the east. It will pass through the town of Hethlon and go through Hamath Pass to the town of Zedad, 16 and then on to the towns of Berothah and Sibraim. These two towns are on the border between the territories of Damascus and Hamath. The boundary continues as far as the town of Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of the territory of Hauran. 17 In this way the boundary will go from the Mediterranean Sea to the town of Hazer-enon, which is north of Damascus and south of Hamath. This will be the northern boundary.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .