Finding baby Moses

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nurse (verb)

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “nurse” in English is translated in German as stillen or “to quiet.”

The das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) and the BasisBibel (publ. 2021) also use the same verb in Psalm 131:2 (for this choice, see here).

complete verse (Exodus 2:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 2:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “That girl of the king said to the woman that, ‘I want you to take (him) and suckle/breastfeed so that I will give you something.’ That lady took the child and went to suckle it.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will give you (fam) wages.’ The women took the baby and nursed him (for some time)” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The princess said to her, ‘Take this child and nurse-(him) for me. Take-care-of him for I will-give-a-wage to you (sing.).’ So she took the child and took-care-of-(him).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “It came about that his mother came and arrived, and so the daughter of the great chief said, ‘I want you (sing.) to help me and so take this child and then nurse him and look after him well. And then I will pay you.’ Therefore that child’s mother took him and so was nursing him.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “And daughter of king of Egypt said to her «Carry this child, that you might give him breast, and I will give you money.» Therefore, mother carried him, gave him breast.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “The king’s daughter said to her, ‘Please take this baby and nurse him for me. I will pay you for doing that.’ So the woman/my mother took him/me and nursed him/me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Japanese benefactives (-sete)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kao (御顔) or “face (of God)” in the referenced verses.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Exod 2:9

And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her: the pronoun her refers to the mother and not the girl. Good News Translation makes this clear by translating “the woman.”

Take this child away translates what is literally “Cause this child to go,” so it means more than simply receiving the child. A different Hebrew verb meaning “to receive” or “to take hold of” is used in the second sentence for the woman took the child. It is safe to assume, therefore, that the princess intended for the mother to keep the child until he was weaned. Nurse him here literally means “suckle him” (New English Bible), but it also implies by context taking complete care of the child. Translators should try to find a term in the receptor language that includes both meanings.

I will give you your wages may suggest that the princess herself would pay the mother, for the emphatic pronoun “I” is used. For this reason New English Bible has “I will pay you for it myself,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “I shall pay you myself for doing so.” However, it may simply mean “I will pay you.” Either way, it suggests that this was an arrangement made by the princess herself without informing her father the king.

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 .