complete verse (Deuteronomy 27:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 27:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “On that day Moses said to the people,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “That same day Moses gave commands like this to the people–” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “On the same day Moises commanded the people:” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “On that same day Moses/I said to the Israeli people,” (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 Deuteronomy 27:11-12

Moses charged the people: that is, he ordered, commanded, gave instructions to them (see 21.7).

The same day: repeated for emphasis (verse 10).

Mount Gerizim: just north of Mount Ebal (verse 4). See 11.29-30 for the two mountains.

Bless in this context means “ask Yahweh to do good things for” (see also 1.11).

The six tribes on Mount Gerizim, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin, have the names of six of the sons Jacob had by his wives Leah and Rachel. Here the tribe of Levi is included, although they were not provided with a large area of land as were the others, and so they were often not included in the lists of the twelve tribes. The use of Joseph as one of the tribes is also rare but does occur (see Gen 49.22-26). In the division of the land, the tribe of Levi was not given its own territory, and the total of twelve tribes was reached by having Manasseh and Ephraim, the two sons of Joseph, counted as two separate tribes. For a comment on “tribes” see 1.13.

For the record of this ceremony, see Josh 8.30-35.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .