8I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land that I gave to their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 21:8:
Kupsabiny: “If the people of Israel follow all the words I have told them and keep all my laws which I gave them through Moses, I shall not chase them from that land which I gave to their forefathers.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “If they are careful to obey all the rules and decrees that my servant Moses gave them, obeying all my commands, I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land that I gave to their ancestors."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “If only the people of Israel will-obey my whole Laws that my servant Moises gave to them, I will- not -let them leave from this land that I gave to their ancestors.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “And if the Israeli people obey all my commands and all the laws that I gave to Moses, the man who served me very well, I will not again force them to leave this land that I gave to their ancestors.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
American Sign Language also uses the sign depicting the horns but also has a number of alternative signs (see here ).
In French Sign Language, a similar sign is used, but it is interpreted as “radiance” (see below) and it culminates in a sign for “10,” signifying the 10 commandments:
The horns that are visible in Michelangelo’s statue are based on a passage in the Latin Vulgate translation (and many Catholic Bible translations that were translated through the 1950ies with that version as the source text). Jerome, the translator, had worked from a Hebrew text without the niqquds, the diacritical marks that signify the vowels in Hebrew and had interpreted the term קרו (k-r-n) in Exodus 34:29 as קֶ֫רֶן — keren “horned,” rather than קָרַו — karan “radiance” (describing the radiance of Moses’ head as he descends from Mount Sinai).
In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting holding a staff. This refers to a number of times where Moses’s staff is used in the context of miracles, including the parting of the sea (see Exodus 14:16), striking of the rock for water (see Exodus 17:5 and following), or the battle with Amalek (see Exodus 17:9 and following).
In Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with the sign that depicts the eye make up he would have worn as the adopted son of an Egyptian princess. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)
“Moses” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
The structure of this verse may need to be reversed in some languages, putting the if clause at the beginning of the verse (so Good News Translation). The overall structure of verses 7-8 may also need to be rearranged as proposed below.
I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land: A literal rendering of this clause may sound very unnatural in many languages. The focus on the feet of Israel (literally “the foot of Israel”) will probably be unnecessarily distracting. This expression stands for the people of Israel in general. The Hebrew noun rendered the land is not the Hebrew noun that is most often rendered “land” in 1–2 Kings. The noun used here is the same as the one used in 1 Kgs 8.34, and the focus is on the land as cultivated land by which people are able to grow food. The focus is not on the land as a political or geographical area. For this reason Osty-Trinquet correctly says “the earth.” Some other ways of expressing the whole clause are “I shall not again make Israel outcasts from the land” (Revised English Bible), “I will not in future allow Israel to be driven off the land” (New American Bible), and “I will never again make the Israelites wander out of the land” (New Century Version).
Their fathers refers to “their ancestors” (Good News Translation).
My servant Moses: The image of Moses as the servant of the LORD is common in the literature of the Old Testament and occurs very frequently in the book of Joshua. Compare also 1 Kgs 8.53, 56 and 2 Kgs 18.12.
The following model is one possible way of rearranging the complex structure of verses 7-8 and converting the direct discourse to indirect discourse.
• Now the LORD had previously told David and Solomon that he had chosen the Temple in Jerusalem from the whole land of Israel as the place where he wanted his people to worship him. And he promised that if the people of Israel would obey all his commands and keep the whole Law, which his servant Moses gave them, then he would not allow them to be driven out of the land that he gave to their ancestors. But [in spite of this] Manasseh set up an image of the goddess Asherah in that very same Temple.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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