complete verse (Exodus 18:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 18:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “And/But on the next day, Moses counselled the people as he always did while settling issues. People came and went to Moses the whole day.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The next day Moses sat on his seat to judge the people and People stood around him from morning till evening.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The next day, Moises sat as judge to settle the cases of the people. The people were-lined-up in front of him from morning until twilight/dusk.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “On the next day, Moses sat down to straighten the disputes of the people of Israel. But many people came to him and they were standing and awaiting him [from] morning until the afternoon.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “On the morrow, Moses sat down to people judge. Starting in the morning go arrive evening, they be present standing before him.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “The next day, Moses/I sat down at the place where he/I settled disputes among the people. The people were continually bringing their disputes to Moses/me, from morning until evening.” (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 .