Moses

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 ). See also Translation commentary on Exodus 2:10.

It is translated in Spanish Sign Language and Polish Sign Language with a sign 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 (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).


“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 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).


“Moses” in Korean Sign Language, source: Korean Sign Language Bible House

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 3:15

Verse 15 begins a long discourse spoken by God to Moses that continues to the end of the chapter. Within this discourse are embedded quotes where Moses is told what he is to say to the Israelites and to the king of Egypt, but in verse 16 he is told what he is to say that God told him to say. This is a quote within a quote within a quote. Before translating verse 15, therefore, translators should notice in Revised Standard Version the alternation of double quotation marks and single quotation marks, and especially the single quotes in verse 16. In languages that have difficulty showing a third level of embedded quotes, it may be easier to change to indirect discourse, as Good News Translation has done both here and in verse 16. (See also the discussion of third-level quotes at 7.16.)

God also said to Moses may be omitted (as in verse 14) if it is clear that God is still speaking. The LORD is the sacred name, YHWH, that is here revealed to Moses. The substitution of the title “LORD,” with four capital letters, is the usual way in English of handling this four-letter word that was long considered too holy to pronounce. It translates the oral tradition of substituting the word ʾadonay, “lord,” when reading aloud, rather than pronouncing the name Yahweh, which was the written text. (See the comment at 3.2a.)

Good News Translation often uses indirect rather than direct speech in order to avoid quotations within quotations. So here Good News Translation has “Tell the Israelites that I, the LORD, … have sent you to them.” This unfortunately shifts the focus from the sacred name Yahweh in verse 15 to the basis for the name, ʾehyeh, in verse 14 (where Good News Translation uses the direct speech!). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch tries to combine the two terms, ʾehyeh and YHWH, at this point: “The ‘Lord’ (I-am-here) is my name for all time.” But this also confuses the name itself with the basis for the name. If a translator wishes to use the name Yahweh at this point, one may say “I, Yahweh, the God….”

Some translations resort to transliterating the name (either “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”) in the few instances where the significance of a personal name is crucial to the meaning of the text and would be lost with the traditional use of LORD. For example, New English Bible uses JEHOVAH here, in the following verse, and in 6.3. Whatever option is chosen, a footnote explaining the problem is strongly recommended.

The God of your fathers means the God of “your ancestors,” as in verse 13. (For the God of Abraham, … Isaac, … and Jacob, see the comment at 3.6.) This is my name forever refers to the name YHWH, not to the “I am” on which the name is based. Thus I am to be remembered only confirms the previous statement. Remembered here means “called to mind,” “kept in mind,” or “not forgotten.” Throughout all generations refers to all future descendants as the ones who are to remember this name. Good News Translation expresses it well: “this is what all future generations are to call me.”

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 .