Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 4:45:
Kupsabiny: “These are the laws together with the commandments and regulations that Moses gave to the people of Israel when they came from the country of Egypt.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “These are the stipulations, decrees, and Laws that Moses gave to them after they came out of Egypt” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “teachings, and statutes when they came-out of Egipto” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “They included all the rules and instructions and commands that Moses/I gave to them, after they/we had come out of Egypt,” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The name that is transliterated as “Moses” in English means “taken out of the water,” “saved out of the water,” “a son.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
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
Good News Translation has rearranged the material in verses 46-47 in a more orderly chronological sequence, to allow the reader to understand the meaning of the text.
Testimonies: this word appears here for the first time in this book (see also 6.17, 20). Something like “precepts,” “stipulations” (New International Version), or “instructions” can serve as a translation; there is no significant difference in meaning between this and the following two words.
The testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances: see 4.1. Good News Translation combines the three terms into “these laws,” while Contemporary English Version has “these laws and teachings.” Some languages will have a number of suitable terms, while others will need to follow Good News Translation or Contemporary English Version.
Moses spoke them when they came out of Egypt: “Moses gave them [to the Israelites] after they had left [or, escaped from] Egypt.”
Beyond the Jordan: see 1.1.
The valley opposite the town of Beth-peor: see 3.29.
For the rest of the verse, see 1.4; 2.26-36. It will not be necessary in many languages to include the final clause when they came out of Egypt, as this information is already in verse 45.
It is possible to restructure verses 45 and 46 as follows:
• The Israelites had come from Egypt and were camped east of the Jordan River near to the town of Beth-Peor. There Moses gave them these laws and teachings. Their camp was in the territory that had formerly belonged to King Sihon, who ruled in the town of Heshbon over the Amorites. But Moses and the Israelites had defeated him, …
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 .
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