The term that is transliterated as “Joseph” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that relates to a) the coat he wore (see Gen 37:3), b) the holding of his clothes by Potiphar’s wife (see Gen 39:12), and c) the many times Joseph experienced grief. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Joseph” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies “dream,” referring to Jacob’s dream at Bethel (see Genesis 28:10 and the following verses). (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “lentil,” referring to the soup he gave his brother in exchange for his birthright (see Genesis 25:34). Note that another Spanish Sign Language sign for Jacob also users the sign for Jewish. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “smooth arm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 1:5:
Kupsabiny: “The people from the stomach of Jacob who went to the land of Egypt were seventy. When Jacob reached there, (he) met/found Joseph living there.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Jacob had seventy offspring altogether. His son Joseph was in Egypt already.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Jose (was) already there in Egipto. (There were) 70 descendants of Jacob altogether when he went to Egipto.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “In that day, the family members [descended] from Iakop, their number amounted to seventy. But Iosep was living already there in Isip.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “In year when they had gone Egypt, seed of Jacob all, they be ones who be 70 (seventy). And son namely Joseph before lived Egypt.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “Altogether there were 70 people who went with Jacob. That included his sons, his grandsons, and two great-grandsons. His son Joseph was already in Egypt.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
All the offspring of Jacob in the Hebrew is literally “every person coming from the loins of Jacob.” The offspring were the male descendants of Jacob; females were not included in the seventy. This is because the Israelites kept record of their ancestors only through the father, who was the head of the family. It may be helpful for translators to include this information in a footnote. In some languages it will be useful to translate offspring as “sons and grandsons,” as all of these are included in the seventy. Their names are given in Gen 46.8-27.
The footnote in Good News Translation calls attention to “one ancient translation” that has “seventy-five” instead of “seventy.” k The Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Projectk* (Hebrew Old Testament Text Project) recommends that this ancient Greek translation, the Septuagint, be followed rather than the Hebrew. The reasons for this are not yet widely accepted by biblical scholars, so it is better to follow the Hebrew wording of “seventy” until there are more who support this change. However, a footnote similar to the one in Good News Translation should be included to show that there is a textual problem here and that “seventy-five” may have been the number intended.
Joseph was already in Egypt. This does not necessarily exclude him from the seventy, but it explains why he is not listed with the names of his eleven brothers in verses 2-4.
Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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