complete verse (Exodus 9:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 9:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “There was no magician who would come near Moses because the boils were also upon them and all other Egyptians.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Because boils had also broken out on the magicians they were not able to stand before Moses. Like on every Egyptian’s body boils had also broken out in their bodies.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Even the magicians were- not -able-to-face Moises, for boils also grew- even -upon them like all Egiptohanon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And the Isip people’s magic people weren’t able to stand in Moses’ presence, because the boils were coming up on their bodies just as they were coming about on all the Isip people’s bodies.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “Because boils be present on Egyptians [body] all, spiritists their not [eye] stand in front of Moses were able.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “Even the men who worked magic had boils. The result was that they were suffering so much that they were not able to come to Moses/me, because the men who worked magic had boils just like all the rest of the Egyptian people.” (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 9:11

The magicians were last mentioned in 8.19. They included the “wise men” and “sorcerers” in ancient Egypt. (See the discussion at 7.11.) Could not stand before Moses means that “they were not able to appear” (Good News Translation). But it may also mean that they were physically unable to stand up because of the boils. Some translations, however, interpret this to mean only that they “were no match for Moses” (New English Bible), or “could not face Moses” (Jerusalem Bible), or “could not hold their ground before Moses” (Moffatt). This suggests that they no longer had any will to oppose him, which was probably true.

But the reason is clear: for the boils were upon the magicians. This emphasizes all the more why they were unable to make an appearance. Good News Translation concludes that “they were covered with boils,” as do Jerusalem Bible and New Jerusalem Bible. At the very least they were certainly afflicted just “like all the other Egyptians” (Good News Translation). Translators are urged to follow Good News Translation‘s model. Contemporary English Version has “The magicians were suffering so much from sores, that they could not even come to Moses,” but fails to include the final phrase, and upon all the Egyptians. This should not be omitted in translation.

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 .