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.

as numerous as the sand on the seashore

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “as numerous as the sand on the seashore” or “as numerous as the sand by the sea” in English is translated in Bauzi as “as many like the tree flowers of the jungle” (source: David Briley in Kroneman 2004, p. 539), in Afar it’s translated as mari mangah arrooqih gide akkuk yeneeniih: “are as numerous as gravel” or loowo sinni: “not countable” (source: Loren Bliese), in Angal Heneng as “like the hairs on a dog” (Source: Deibler / Taylor 1977, p. 1077), and in Copainalá Zoque as “their number is like ants” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.).

locust

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated in English as “locust” is translated in Ayutla Mixtec as “insect like flying ants” because locusts are not known locally (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Shuar as “edible grasshoppers” (especially in connection with John the Baptist) (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Pa’o Karen as “grashopper” (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).

See also locust (different kinds in Joel 1:4 and 2:25).

as thick as locusts

The Hebrew that is translated as “as thick as locusts” or similar in English is translated in Falam Chin as “as many as ants.”

Stephen Hre Kio explains (in The Bible Translator 1990, p. 210ff. ): “Sixteen years ago we were translating into Falam the story in Judges chapter 6 about the Midianites and the Amalekites, who had come in great numbers against the Israelites and were destroying their crops. The text says that their number was so great that it was beyond counting, ‘like locusts.’ In translating this passage we faced problems at both the literal and figurative levels of meaning. In our part of the world we have no locusts and the closest equivalent to the locust is the grasshopper. But even if this substitution was acceptable, and I believed that it was, we still had a problem: grasshoppers are so few in our region that they are not easy to find, and therefore to substitute grasshoppers for locusts to convey the meaning of “beyond counting” would not make sense. In fact the meaning would be the opposite: ‘as many as grasshoppers’ would mean very few! This led us to make a different adjustment: locusts would have to be replaced by ants, since we have ants in great numbers, and we also have a saying, ‘as many as ants.’ Thus in our rendering of the passage we literally had the following: ‘the Midianites and Amalekites were as many as ants.’ This in my view is an acceptable and meaningful translation, faithful to the meaning of the text.”

Translation commentary on Judges 7:12

The storyteller has Gideon and his servant creeping along the edge of the Midianite camp. But to build suspense, he stops to describe the camp. Its soldiers are numerous like a swarm of locusts, and its camels are as abundant as the grains of sand on a beach. This verse is a kind of aside, but most versions let the text flow from the previous verse.

And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts for multitude: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “Now” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) to introduce the background information here. For the Midianites, see verse 6.1; for the Amalekites, see verse 3.13; and for the people of the East, see verse 6.3. Lay renders the Hebrew verb that normally means “fall” (nafal). It is a verb that is often used in this book to refer to the defeat of the enemy, as they “lay” dead (see verse 3.25; verse 4.22). Though the Midianites and their allies are not yet defeated, this verb describes them scattered all over the Jezreel Valley, and seems to foreshadow their defeat. We can use any appropriate verb, such as “covered” or “spread out.” For the valley, see verse 7.1. For the Hebrew phrase rendered like locusts for multitude, see the comments on verse 6.5, where it is translated “like locusts for number.”

And their camels were without number may be rendered “and their camels were too numerous to count.” See the comments on verse 6.5.

As the sand which is upon the seashore for multitude: The storyteller now adds yet another comparison, a common Old Testament expression to indicate great numbers (see, for example, Gen 22.17; verse 11.4; verse 1 Sam 13.5). This comparison directly follows the description of the camels that cannot be counted. But since this is poetic language, this clause could also describe the enemy in general. The sand which is upon the seashore refers to the tiny particles that are found on the side of a river or an ocean. Even a handful of sand can contain hundreds of particles, so the sand which is upon the seashore would refer to thousands and thousands of particles—too many to count. Some cultures may be more familiar with the sand of a desert or on a riverbed, and since this is a figure of speech, such a substitution can be made. Translators should look for an idiomatic expression to express this comparison. In English sand is a collective word, without a plural marker, but some languages will have a plural word “sands.” The phrase for multitude occurs here for the second time in this verse. As in verse 6.5, it is not an easy expression to translate and Revised Standard Version‘s rather literal rendering is not natural in English. We might say “as numerous as the sands on the seashore” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). In some languages an ideophone can express the idea of multitude.

The purpose of the two comparisons in this verse is to emphasize how vast the enemy forces are in comparison to Gideon’s very small group of soldiers. These comparisons add to the suspense and repeat the theme that Yahweh alone is responsible for any Israelite victory.

Translation models for this verse are:

• The troops of the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the other eastern tribes filled the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were so numerous they could not be counted. They were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore.

• The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the rest of the eastern desert covered the valley. They were spread out like locusts, and their camels were so many, like the sands on the side of a river.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .