complete verse (Acts 7:29)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 7:29:

  • Uma: “When Musa heard that his action was known [lit., exposed], he fled from the land of Mesir, going to dwell in the land of Midian. There he married and had two children.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When Moses heard this, he was afraid because his killing of the man of Misil was known/surprise. Therefore he fled from Misil and he dwelt in Midiyan. When he was there he got married and had two sons.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “When Moses heard this he ran away and he went to live there in the land of Midian. And it was there in Midian that his two sons were born.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Moses became-afraid upon hearing that, and he ran-away to go live in Midian. He got-married there and there also is where-his two male children -were-born (lit. came-out).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When Moises heard that which was said, he ran away at once. He went to a far-away land called Madian. There is where he got married. They had two sons.” (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).

Even at the time of his translation, Jerome likely was not the only one making that decision as this recent article alludes to.

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 Estonian Sign Language Moses is depicted with a big beard. (Source: Liina Paales in Folklore 47, 2011, p. 43ff.)

See also Moses and Elijah during the Transfiguration.

Translation commentary on Acts 7:29

Started living is literally “he became an alien,” an idea which is brought out by the Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Phillips, and Moffatt, but is not emphasized in the Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, or An American Translation*, unless one assumes that it is implied by the additional phrase in the land of Midian.

The expression started living is rendered in some languages as “became a resident of” or “built a house in,” this being the idiomatic way of indicating taking up residence.

A translation of he had two sons must be indicated in a somewhat more expanded fashion in some languages, for example, “his wife gave him two sons” or “he and his wife had two sons.” Many languages, however, have a special term for “begetting” (that is, the function of the male in reproduction), for example, “he begot two sons” or “he became the father of two sons.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .