Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 18:13:
Kupsabiny: “And/But on the next day, Moses counselled the people as he always did while settling issues. People came and went to Moses the whole day.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The next day Moses sat on his seat to judge the people and People stood around him from morning till evening.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The next day, Moises sat as judge to settle the cases of the people. The people were-lined-up in front of him from morning until twilight/dusk.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “On the next day, Moses sat down to straighten the disputes of the people of Israel. But many people came to him and they were standing and awaiting him [from] morning until the afternoon.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “On the morrow, Moses sat down to people judge. Starting in the morning go arrive evening, they be present standing before him.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “The next day, Moses/I sat down at the place where he/I settled disputes among the people. The people were continually bringing their disputes to Moses/me, from morning until evening.” (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
In Korean Sign Language it is translated with the sign that depicts the arms held up by Moses to assure the Israelites victory over the Amalekites (see Exodus 17:11).
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.