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 Isaiah 14:31

Good News Translation begins a new paragraph here while Contemporary English Version and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have a stanza break. Since this verse is a unit with verses 28-30, there should not be a break here.

There are three imperatives in the first half of this verse: Wail, cry, and melt in fear. The first two are synonymous, and the third one is very close in meaning.

Wail, O gate; cry, O city: These two parallel clauses call on the Philistines to lament in anguish and despair. For Wail see the comments on 13.6. Gate (which is the most important meeting place of a city; see 3.26) and city are metaphors for the Philistines. See the discussion below on how to render this line without using metaphors.

Melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you!: This imperative calls on the Philistines to be extremely frightened in light of what will happen. Melt in fear may be rendered “Die/Collapse/Choke/Faint in fear.” The repetition of O Philistia, all of you (see verse 29 and the comments there) functions as an inclusio for this section. Normally it should be rendered the same way in both places.

In some languages it may be difficult to address the gate and the city since they are inanimate objects. If so, Revised English Bible may provide a useful model for the first two lines: “Wail in the gate, cry for help in the city, let all Philistia be stricken with panic.” Another possible model is “You people of Philistia, sitting in the gates [of the city], wail! You people of the city, cry! You people should be very much afraid!”

For smoke comes out of the north: This is the reason why the Philistines should cry and be terrified. Smoke is a metaphor for a new enemy threat. This enemy is pictured as the “adder” and “flying serpent” in verse 29. Instead of smoke, Good News Translation has “A cloud of dust” since it is a more appropriate metaphor for an army on the march. Revised English Bible removes the metaphor, saying “a formidable foe.” All other versions consulted keep the metaphor of smoke, which we recommend. However, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes it explicit that the smoke represents an army, which is a valid option in those languages where the metaphor would not be understood. For the last two lines Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “From the north approaches a cloud of smoke, a disciplined army, from which no one lags behind.” This army coming out of the north is a possible reference to either Assyria or Babylonia; both of them were generally north of Philistia. For translating the direction north, see the comments on 2.6.

And there is no straggler in his ranks: This means the advancing enemy army is marching as a unified group. This kind of discipline is another reason why the Philistines should be afraid. The Hebrew word translated straggler comes from a root meaning “to be alone.” For no straggler, New Jerusalem Bible has “no deserters,” which is acceptable. Good News Translation says “no cowards,” which differs slightly from the Hebrew. The Hebrew noun for ranks is a technical term for army groups organized in columns, as well as a more general term for those who are part of a group.

For the translation of this verse we suggest:

• Wail and cry out, you gates and cities throughout Philistia! Be afraid, all of you[, people of Philistia]!
The reason is the smoke that is coming from the north, [it is] an army that is well unified.

• Wail, O city gate; cry out, O city; melt in fear, all you Philistines!
For out of the north smoke is advancing; an army is on the march
and none of its soldiers lag behind.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .