complete verse (Deuteronomy 4:46)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 4:46:

  • Kupsabiny: “They were there/then East of the river Jordan in the (broad) valley that was in front of Beth-peor. (The Amorites lived in that country and Sihon was ruling staying in the city if Heshbon And later, Moses and the Israelites defeated those people.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “as they camped in the valley near Beth-peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, and whom Moses and the Israelites had killed as they came out of Egypt.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “and while they camp in the seemed-like-valley near Bet Peor in the east of Jordan. This land is under-the-jurisdiction in-the-time-past of Sihon the king of the Amornon, who lives in Heshbon. He and his men were-defeated by Moises and by the Israelinhon when they came-out of Egipto.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “when they/we were in the valley east of the Jordan River. They/We were across from Beth-Peor town, in the land that previously was ruled by Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group, who lived in Heshbon city. Moses/I and the other Israelis had defeated his army when they/we came out of Egypt.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Jordan

The Hebrew, Greek and Ge’ez that is translated as “Jordan” means “descending (rapidly),” “flowing down.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the river bordering Jordan and Israel, along with the general sign for river. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Jordan river” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jordan River .

king

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Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
  • Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))

Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:

“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Moses

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 )

It is translated in Spanish Sign Language and Polish Sign Language with a sign 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 (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).


“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 4:45 - 4:46

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 .