complete verse (Deuteronomy 32:45)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 32:45:

  • Kupsabiny: “When he had finished the song,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “After Moses has proclaimed all these words to the people of Israel,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “After he has-spoken this,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “When they/we finished reciting to the Israeli people the words of this song,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Moses

The name that is transliterated as “Moses” in English is signed in Spanish Sign Language and Polish Sign Language in accordance with the depiction of Moses in the famous statue by Michelangelo (see here ). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


“Moses” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

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:


“Moses” in French Sign Language (source )

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).


“Moses” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

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

In Estonian Sign Language Moses is depicted with a big beard. (Source: Liina Paales in Folklore 47, 2011, p. 43ff. )


“Moses” in Estonian Sign Language, source: Glossary of the EKNK Toompea kogudus

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

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Moses .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 32:45-46

Had finished speaking all these words to all Israel: see 31.36; 32.44.

Lay to heart: that is, “cherish,” “memorize,” “remember,” “meditate on.” Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje has “Think seriously,” and Contemporary English Version has “Always remember.”

All the words which I enjoin upon you this day: it is difficult to say whether all the words here means the words of the song that Moses has just recited, or some or all of the earlier part of the book of Deuteronomy. To enjoin means to direct, order, command; it is more than to advise or recommend.

In keeping with the parallel passages 4.26; 30.19; 31.28, New Revised Standard Version translates “Take to heart all the words that I am giving in witness against you this day” (see Revised English Bible “all the warnings”). It is recommended that translators follow this interpretation of the text; otherwise they should feel free to follow the Good News Translation translation, “Be sure to obey all these commands that I have given you today.”

You may command them to your children: see 4.9.

That they may be careful to do all the words of this law: this means all the teachings in the book of Deuteronomy (see this law in 1.5); so Contemporary English Version has “everything written in The Book of God’s Law.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .