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 Zechariah 6:8

Then he cried to me: As argued in the notes in 6.7, he is best taken to refer to the interpreting angel. Cried is rendered “called” in most modern English versions (Moffatt, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, New International Version). The Hebrew word seems to mean an utterance louder than normal, and this may be intended to mark the importance of what follows. Contemporary English Version has “shouted,” but some translators will prefer something like “called out with a loud voice, saying to me.”

Behold is translated as “Look” (Moffatt, New International Version; compare New English Bible/ Revised English Bible) or “See” (Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible) in modern versions, or else omitted (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). The Hebrew word is the same as in 3.4, and is not the usual word. See the comments on 3.4.

Those who go toward the north country are of course the black horses of verse 6. Good News Translation makes the statement clearer by saying “The horses that went north to Babylonia.”

Have set my Spirit at rest is open to more than one interpretation. My is best taken as “the LORD’s” (Good News Translation) for the reasons given in the notes on verse 7, and supported here by a footnote in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. By printing Spirit with a capital “S,” Revised Standard Version makes this a reference to the personal divine spirit (as do New International Version, New Living Translation, Bible en français courant, and Biblen: Det Gamle og Det Nye Testamente). It is not certain what the sentence would then mean, though it could be taken as referring to a blessing upon those Jews still living in Babylonia. Since the next paragraph speaks of Jews coming from Babylonia to Jerusalem, this is a possible interpretation. It would serve to provide some link between verses 1-8 and verses 9-15, though there is nothing in verses 1-7 to suggest that the vision is one of blessing. Versions that seem to take this interpretation include New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, which says “have done my pleasure,” Contemporary English Version “will do what the LORD’s Spirit wants them to do there,” Bible en français courant “they are going to make my Spirit descend upon that region,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 2. Edition “they are bringing my Spirit to Babylonia, so that it can operate there.”

Other versions (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, New Revised Standard Version) print “spirit” with a small “s,” and are thus even more vague. A number of modern commentators believe that “spirit” is used here in the sense of “anger,” as in Jdg 8.3; Pro 16.32 (where New International Version, Revised English Bible, and New Revised Standard Version have “temper,” following the Septuagint); Eccl 10.4, and this interpretation is accepted in Moffatt, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, and Good News Translation, which says “have quieted [British and Australian editions ‘calmed down’] the LORD’s anger.” It fits better with the previous verses, in which the chariots are probably pictures of divine punishment rather than blessing. Such an interpretation may be taken as a reference to Darius’s suppression of revolts in Babylonia in the early years of his reign. Compare the comments on 1.11. This understanding does not offer a strong link with verses 9-15, but on the whole it seems more convincing, and we recommend that translators follow it. Another possible model is “have caused the LORD to stop being angry.”

There is no need to repeat in the north country in languages where this repetition would be poor style. Translators could omit the phrase (as Good News Translation) or say simply “there” (Contemporary English Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .