complete verse (Exodus 18:25)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 18:25:

  • Kupsabiny: “From there/then he chose elders of the council who were able to counsel, coming from all those social groups. Those councilors were in charge of one thousand, one hundred, fifty and ten people.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “He chose able men from all over Israel and made them leaders over the people thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He chose from the Israelinhon the people that have ability to judge, and he made them officials over groups of people in one thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “He chose good people of knowledge from amongst all the Israel people, and so he appointed them to be leaders over a thousand people, and [over] a hundred people, and [over] fifty people, and [over] ten people.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “Amongst people of Israel, he selected wise people, put them for head of they who be 1,000 and they who be 100, and they who be 50, with they who be 10.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “Moses/I chose capable men from among 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 .

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on Exod 18:25

Moses chose able men uses a different word for “choose” from that in verse 21. (It is used in 17.9.) It simply means that he selected capable men, or “men of ability” (Durham). Out of all Israel means “from among all the Israelites” (Good News Translation). And made them heads over the people means “he appointed them as leaders” (Good News Translation). New American Bible has “he put them in charge of the people.”

Rulers of thousands, … repeats the same words as verse 21, including the four occurrences of rulers of. (For rulers see the comment at verse 21.)

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 .