The Hebrew that is typically translated in English as “power” or “might” or “force” is translated in the English translation by Goldingay (2018) as energy or energetic.
complete verse (Joshua 14:11)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 14:11:
- Kupsabiny: “and I still have strength like when Moses sent me. I still today have power to be able to go to war as before.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
- Newari: “I have as much strength as when Moses sent me [and] now I also have that much energy. I am just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “My strength (is) still the same-as that time when Moises commanded me. I still can/have-the-ability-to fight just-like before.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- English: “I am as strong today as I was on the day that Moses sent me to explore this land. I am as ready to fight now as I was then.” (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 Joshua 14:10 - 14:11
But now, look translates the Hebrew “And now, behold” (Revised Standard Version), which serves as an attention getter. In some languages this expression will be best left implicit.
It was been forty-five years since the LORD said that to Moses may be abbreviated as “Since that time forty-five years have gone by” or “That was forty-five years ago.” By a slight rearrangement of Good News Translation clauses, one may translate “That was forty-five years ago, and the LORD kept me alive all the time that our people traveled through the desert, just as he promised. Look at me! I am eighty-five years old….”
And am just as strong today as I was when Moses sent me out translates a Hebrew parallelism: “I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me out; as my strength was then, so also my strength is now.” Good News Translation avoids the redundancy, though for some languages the repetition may make the affirmation stronger. Also, in Good News Translation this represents a continuation of a sentence begun at the end of verse 10. In order to simplify this structure for English readers, one may translate “and I am” in place of and am. For other languages it may be more acceptable to begin a new sentence at the beginning of the verse.
Or for anything else represents “and for going and coming” (Revised Standard Version). In Hebrew “to go and come” is an idiomatic expression indicating daily activity. The force of this expression may be included implicitly by the use of “even” if one translates either “I am strong enough (even) for war” or “and I am still strong enough (even) to fight in war.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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