Judah, Judea

The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)


“Judah” and “Judea” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Judah, Judah (son of Jacob) , and Tribe of Judah .

Translation commentary on 1 Maccabees 5:18

But he left Joseph, the son of Zechariah, and Azariah, a leader of the people, with the rest of the forces, in Judea to guard it: The connector But is not necessary here. Translators may simply begin with “Judas put two leaders….” There is a textual problem and a grammatical problem with the phrase a leader of the people; it is best to regard the phrase as referring to both Joseph and Azariah (so Good News Bible), not simply to Azariah. Nothing else is known about Joseph and Azariah than what is said in this chapter; their story is taken up in verses 55-62. In our opinion Good News Bible‘s phrase “in charge of the people” is an unnecessary addition; the people refers to the army. The verse could be rendered as follows: “Judas put two leaders, Azariah and Joseph son of Zechariah, in charge of the rest of the army, and left them to defend Judea.” A better approach would be to combine this verse with the following one (see the model below on verse 19).

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.