man's brother

Many languages have terms for siblings that define whether one is younger or older in relation to another sibling.

The Greek that is translated as “a man’s brother” in English is translated in Chilcotin as ˀeyen ya ˀeŝqi ˀatalilh gwech´ez bunagh (“a younger brother who was born after [a man] his older brother”). (Source: Quindel King)

raise up children for his brother

The Greek that is translated as “raise up children for his brother” or similar in English is translated in Copainalá Zoque as “have children with her who will carry on the older brother’s name,” in Central Tarahumara as “those children are to be as though they were the dead brother’s children,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “he is to have children with her so that in this way his brother’s race will not end,” in Tzotzil as “so that she will have a child who will bear the name of his late brother,” and in Southern Puebla Mixtec as “be like the children of the dead.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

widow

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “widow” in English is translated in West Kewa as ona wasa or “woman shadow” (source: Karl J. Franklin in Notes on Translation 70/1978, pp. 13ff.) and in Newari as “husband already died ones” or “ones who have no husband” (source: Newari Back Translation).

The etymological meaning of the Hebrew almanah (אַלְמָנָה) is likely “pain, ache,” the Greek chéra (χήρα) is likely “to leave behind,” “abandon,” and the English widow (as well as related terms in languages such as Dutch, German, Sanskrit, Welsh, or Persian) is “to separate,” “divide” (source: Wiktionary).

See also widows.

brother (older brother)

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “brother” in English is translated in Kwere as sekulu, in Elhomwe as mbalaawo´, and in Mandarin Chinese as gēgē (哥哥), both “older brother.”

Note that Kwere also uses lumbu — “older sibling” in some cases. (Source for Kwere and Elhomwe: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)

See also older brother (Japanese honorifics).

teacher

The Greek that is translated as “teacher” (also: “master”) in English is translated in the 1941 Yiddish by Einspruch as rebe (רֶבּי) or “Rabbi” in an effort to identify Jesus as a teacher of the Jews. (Source: Naomi Seidmann in Elliott / Boer 2012, p. 151ff.)

Likewise, a number of Hebrew translations, including the 2018 and 2020 editions by the The Bible Society in Israel also use “Rabbi” (רַבִּי).

See also rabbi.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Luke 20:28)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including Jesus).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Luke 20:28)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 20:28:

  • Noongar: “‘Lord, Moses wrote this Law for us: ‘If a man dies before his wife bears children, his brother must marry his widow, so she can bear children of the dead man.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “‘Teacher, the prophet Musa wrote in the book of the law like this: if a man dies but does not yet have children, his brother [the Uma term specifies direct sibling, not cousin] must marry his widow, so that the dead man will have descendants.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “They said to Isa, ‘Sir, there is a law that Musa gave to us (incl.), it says, ‘If there is a man and he dies but he doesn’t have a child, his younger brother should marry the widow so that there will be a descendant of his older brother.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “they said, ‘Teacher, Moses taught long ago that for example, if there is a man who has a wife, and that man dies without having any children, his brother must marry the widow so that the dead person might have offspring by means of him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘Sir teacher, our law that Moses wrote says, ‘If there is a married-couple who have no children and the man dies, his brother must marry the widow so that thus if they have a child, it will be as-if that is a child of the dead-one.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we (incl.) Judio have a law which was written by Moises, that if a man dies who is married but he-and-his-wife don’t have any children, his brother will inherit/take-over-from him by marrying. For if they have a child, it will be regarded as if it were indeed the child of that deceased.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

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 .