complete verse (Exodus 18:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 18:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “Jethro had sent (a) message to Moses saying that, ‘My son-in-law, I your father-in-law are visiting you. I am coming to see you together with your wife and your children.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Jethro had sent word to Moses, ‘I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Jetro had- already -informed/sent-word-to Moises beforehand that he was-coming together-with Zipora and her two children/(sons).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “But previously, Ietro sent talk to Moses like this, ‘I, your father-in-law Ietro, together with your spouse and your two children are about to come to you.’” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “Jethro first sent a man [that] he might say Moses «I father-in-law your namely Jethro, we (excl.) approach [your direction] place your with your wife with male children two your.»” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “Jethro had sent a message to Moses/me, ‘I, your father-in-law, Jethro, am coming to see you, bringing along your wife and your two sons!’” (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 .

Translation commentary on Exod 18:6

And when one told Moses is literally “And he said unto Moses,” meaning Jethro said. But this is awkward, for Moses and Jethro do not see each other until verse 7. This problem is related to the following word, Lo, which is really I in the Hebrew. (See the footnote in Revised Standard Version.) So the Hebrew has Jethro speaking directly to Moses and saying “I am coming” even before they meet. Revised Standard Version therefore follows the Septuagint, which has “It was reported to Moses, ‘Lo, your father-in-law is coming.’ ”

If one follows the Hebrew and interprets “And he said” to mean “And he sent word,” then no footnote is needed. So New Revised Standard Version now has “He sent word to Moses, ‘I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you.’ ” Contemporary English Version has “Jethro sent Moses this message, ‘I am coming to visit you, ….’ ” Good News Translation avoids this problem entirely by condensing the verse and using the pluperfect: “He had sent word to Moses that they were coming.”

Lo, your father-in-law Jethro is coming to you should therefore be read as in New Revised Standard Version, changing Lo to “I,” and changing is to “am.” (Similar are New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New American Bible, and New International Version.) With your wife and her two sons with her presents no problem, but the pronoun her should be noted, as in verse 3. (See “his sons” and the comment at verse 5.)

It is possible to combine verses 5 and 6 as follows:

• While Moses was staying in the wilderness at [or, by] the holy mountain [or, God’s mountain], Jethro sent someone to him with this message: “I am coming to visit you, and I am bringing your wife and her two sons.” When they arrived, ….

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 .