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 .

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Exod 5:1

Afterward is an important transition marker in the narrative. It introduces a new episode directly related to the one just told in the sense of “After this” (New English Bible) or “After that” (New American Bible); Good News Translation‘s “Then” is a bit weak. In some languages it will be necessary to say “After Moses and Aaron met with the leaders of Israel, they went….” Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh suggests that they were granted an audience with “the king of Egypt” in his palace, for went is literally “went in.” If it is necessary to say where Moses and Aaron went, one may translate went to Pharaoh as “… went into the palace to meet the king.” (Pharaoh as a title is discussed at 1.11b.) And said does not suggest that the two men addressed the king in unison; presumably one of them—Aaron, perhaps—was the speaker, but this is not indicated in the text. It is clear that they spoke to the king, for the text literally says “and they said to Pharaoh.”

Thus says the LORD is the special messenger formula indicating that the words which follow are the words of the LORD. (See the discussion at 4.22-23a.) Here the personal name of the LORD, Yahweh, was announced by two messengers who were authorized to speak for him. Yahweh is further introduced as the God of Israel, that is, the God of the people of Israel, the Israelites, in contrast with the gods of other peoples. Some translators will wish to use the personal name here; for example, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says…” or “Yahweh, who is the God of Israel, says….”

Let my people go is another formula used eight times in Exodus. (See the discussion at 4.22-23a.) The LORD is speaking, calling the Israelites his people. That they may hold a feast to me is quite different from “that they may serve me,” found elsewhere with this formula. It suggests a religious pilgrimage to a place where a “festival” (Good News Translation) will be observed, so New English Bible calls it a “pilgrim-feast.” Some languages will use a noun such as feast, “festival,” “fiesta,” and so on. In other languages one must employ a verbal expression; for example, “so that they may feast … to honor me” or “so that they may eat and drink … to honor me.” (See the discussion on holding a feast at 10.9 and 23.14.) It most probably involved animal sacrifice, as in 3.18, but that is not directly stated here. To me simply means “to honor me,” or “in my honour” (Translator’s Old Testament). In the wilderness may be “in the desert,” but see the discussion at 3.1. It is possible to reorder the clauses as Contemporary English Version does and say “Let my people go into the desert, so they can honor me with a celebration there.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• After Moses and Aaron had returned to Egypt, they went [into the palace] to the king and said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Free my people so that they can go to eat and drink in the wilderness to honor 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 .