Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 33:9:
Kupsabiny: “And when Moses would go into that tent, (a) cloud like a pillar immediately descended down and covered/enveloped the door of that tent and after that God spoke to Moses.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “After Moses entered inside the tent during the Lord was speaking to Moses the pillar of cloud would stand at the entrance down the tent.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “And while Moises was inside, the thick cloud would-come-down at the Tent while the LORD spoke with Moises.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Bariai: “And when Moses entered the shelter, right then the long cloud would go and stand near the opening of the shelter, and then God was talking with Moses.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
Opo: “When he be entering [that direction] its inside, pillar of cloud be going stop at door, and The Lord be speaking with Moses there.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
English: “When Moses/I entered the Sacred Tent, the tall cloud that looked like a fire would come down and stay at the entrance of the Sacred Tent, and then Yahweh would talk with Moses/me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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).
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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, kata-rare-ru (語られる) or “speak” is used.
When Moses entered the tent, literally “And it was according to the entering of Moses the tent,” has the same form as verse 8, giving it the sense of “whenever” (New Jerusalem Bible). The pillar of cloud is the same as 13.21. (See the comment there.) Would descend and stand is literally “it came down and took its stand.” As before, the would brings out the sense of repeated action. Good News Translation has “would come down and stay.” At the door of the tent refers to the opening, or entrance, of the tent of meeting.
And the LORD would speak with Moses is literally “and he [or, it] spoke with Moses.” The LORD is not in the text. However, since the cloud represented the presence of Yahweh, the “he” obviously refers to Yahweh. Good News Translation makes explicit what is probably intended, “and the LORD would speak to Moses from the cloud.”
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 .
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