Aaron

The name that is transliterated as “Aaron” in English is translated in Catalan Sign Language and Spanish Sign Language as “stones on chest plate” (according to Exodus 28:15-30) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


“Aaron” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In Colombian Sign Language, Honduras Sign Language, and American Sign Language, the chest plate is outlined (in ASL it is outlined using the letter “A”):


“Aaron” in ASL (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Moses, more information on Aaron , and this lectionary in The Christian Century .

complete verse (Numbers 20:28)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 20:28:

  • Kupsabiny: “And when they reached there, Moses took off Aaron’s clothes and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron died on top of that mountain. After that, Moses and Eleazar went down from that mountain.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Moses took Aaron’s priestly garments off and let his son Eleazar put them on. Right there on the mountain peak Aaron died. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then Moises took-off the garment/clothes of Aaron and he caused- Eleazar -to-wear it. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moises and Eleazar came-down from the mountain.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “At the top of the mountain, Moses/I took off the robes that Aaron wore while he did the work of a priest and put them on Eleazar. Then Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Eleazar and Moses/I went back down.” (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 Numbers 20:28

And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: See verse 26.

And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain: Good News Translation expresses better the focus of this whole episode by rendering this clause as “There on the top of the mountain Aaron died.”

Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain: Good News Translation says simply “and Moses and Eleazar came back down” to avoid the repetition of the mountain.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .