complete verse (Exodus 16:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 16:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “And when the sixth day reached, those people collected (the) food and as it was measured it was two baskets for every person. The leaders came and told Moses about it.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “On the sixth day, they collected twice as much six quarts for each person and the leaders came and reported this to Moses.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “On the sixth day, they gathered double — about two ‘gantang’/(about 4 kilos) for each person. So the leaders of the community of Israel went to Moises and asked why (it) was-double.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “But on the sixth day, they gathered somewhat plentifully, sufficient for two days. They gathered as much as about two small clay pots for each and every person. And the leaders of the Israel people went and informed Moses like that.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “On day sixth, they gathered bread which be sufficient day two, cup four for one man. And elders of people of Israel came told it for Moses.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “On the sixth day after they started gathering it, each person was able to gather four quarts/liters, which was twice as much as they gathered on the other days. When the leaders of the people came to Moses/me and told him/me about that,” (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 .