carried them by their tunics

The Hebrew in Leviticus 10:5 that is translated as “carried them by their tunics” or similar in English is translated in Kwere as “they took the corpses of their relatives by holding onto their clothes.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Leviticus 10:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 10:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “They came and took the corpses in their clothes which they were wearing and carried them outside the camp as Moses had told them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “So they came, bundled up the bodies of Nadab and Abihu in their clothes and carried them away outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So they took the corpses, but they only were-taking-hold-of (their) garment(s), and they brought (them) outside the camp according-to what- Moises -commanded.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So they carried the corpses, which still had their special gowns on, outside the camp, and buried them.” (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 Leviticus 10:5

So: the transition word used here should indicate that the action described in the following words were the result of Moses’ orders in the preceding verse. Most English versions have So, as in Revised Standard Version.

Them: or “their bodies,” as in the previous verse.

In their coats: this is ambiguous and may be understood as referring either to the coats of the bearers or to those of the dead men. It is scarcely logical to think that the bearers removed their own tunics to use them in the transportation of the cadavers. Some commentators see this as a confirmation that Nadab and Abihu had been ordained as priests (see 8.13). But the sense of this phrase seems to be that the bearers avoided direct contact with the dead bodies by grasping the clothing to carry their cousins’ bodies outside the camp.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .