Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 5:1:
Kupsabiny: “Moses called all the people of Israel and said to (them), ‘Please, people of Israel, listen to these laws and decisions that I am telling you today. Consider them carefully and keep them well.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Moses called all the Israelites and said, O Israel, hear the decrees and laws that I am about to tell you today! Learn them and obey them well!” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Moises summoned all the Israelinhon and told (them), ‘Israelinhon, you (plur.) listen to the commands and statutes which I (am) giving to you (plur.) today. You (plur.) study/learn them and be- sure -to-follow.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Moses/I summoned all the people of Israel and said to them, ‘You Israeli people, listen to all the rules and regulations that I am giving to you today. Learn them and be sure to obey them.” (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
And Moses summoned all Israel: it is not necessary to preserve And in translation, unless it is a natural feature of the language. “Moses called all the people of Israel to meet with him.”
“Hear, O Israel, all the statutes and ordinances…”: this may be expressed as “People of Israel [or, Israelites], listen to….” For statutes and ordinances see 4.1.
Which I speak in your hearing this day: that is, “that I am announcing [or, proclaiming] to you today [or, now],” “that I am giving you today” (Good News Translation), or “Today I am telling you the laws that you…” (Contemporary English Version). The phrase in your hearing is quite repetitive and unnatural in today’s English, and perhaps in some other languages as well. The language should be natural and conform to normal style.
You shall learn them and be careful to do them: or “you must learn them and obey them faithfully” or “learn them and be sure that you obey them” (Good News Translation). See similar commands in 4.2, 5, 6.
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 .
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