Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 23:15:
Kupsabiny: “The house of Moses was divided into two following his two sons: the house of Gershom and the house of Eliezer. The descendants of Moses did the (same) work that the Levites did.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The sons of Moses [were] Gershom Eliezer.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “His male children were Gershom and Eliezer.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
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:
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 (and Hungarian 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).
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 Korean Sign Language it is translated with the sign that depicts the arms held up by Moses to assure the Israelites victory over the Amalekites (see Exodus 17:11).
The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer: Having dealt with Aaron, Amram’s first son, the writer now turns to Amram’s second son, Moses, who in turn had two sons. Gershom and Eliezer were born to Moses by his wife Zipporah, and the meanings of their names are presented in Exo 18.3-4.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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