soot from the kiln

The Hebrew that is translated as “soot from the kiln” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe as viikho or “the place of hot ashes from the fire/cooking place.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Pharaoh

The term that is used for monarchs in ancient Egypt and is transliterated as “Pharaoh” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying the “fake metal beard (postiche)” that was word by Pharaohs during official functions. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Pharaoh” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Pharaoh .

complete verse (Exodus 9:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 9:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “So/Then Moses and Aaron took ash and both stood before the ruler. Moses threw the ash into the air. And immediately boils started to break out on people and the animals.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “So having taken the black powder that was in the kiln they went before Pharaoh. Moses tossed the dust towards the sky. From it boils broke out on men and animals’ bodies.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So Moises and Aaron got/took some ashes from the furnace and stood in-front-of the king. Moises threw this into the air, and boils grew-upon the people and livestock/animals.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “Okay, therefore Moses and Aron scooped up ashes and then went and stood in the presence of the great chief of Isip, and then Moses cast those ashes up above. And then the ashes produced boils on the bodies of humans and animals. And when it was done then they were breaking open and then big skin ulcers were appearing.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “Therefore, they brought ashes inside of the place which they bake jar there, went to king. And Moses threw it up, and it made boils on people and animal.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “So they/we both got some ashes/soot and went and stood in front of the king. Moses/I threw the ashes/soot up into the air. The ashes/soot spread all over, causing boils to afflict the Egyptian people and their animals. All the boils became open sores.” (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 9:10

So they took ashes refers to both Moses and Aaron. For ashes see the discussion at verse 8. From the kiln is omitted in Good News Translation as unnecessary repetition. The kiln, with the definite article, does not refer to a specific furnace, so “a kiln” is better (Translator’s Old Testament). And stood before Pharaoh may be rendered as “appeared before Pharaoh” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “came into Pharaoh’s presence” (Translator’s Old Testament).

Moses alone threw the ashes, not Aaron, as Yahweh had commanded. Threw them really means “scattered them” or “tossed them” (New American Bible, New English Bible). The plural pronoun them, of course, refers to the ashes. If a singular noun like “soot” is used, the singular pronoun will be necessary. (See the comment on the collective noun at verse 8.) The direction was toward heaven, so one may say that Moses “threw them into the air” (Good News Translation). This action suggests that the wind then carried the “fine dust” all over Egypt. For and it became boils …, see verse 9.

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 .