The name that is transliterated as “Isaac” in English is signed in Spanish Sign Language and French Sign Language with a sign that is linked to his mother’s laughter when she hears that she will be pregnant with him (referring to Genesis 18:12 – 18:15) and also is the meaning of the Hebrew “Isaac” (Yitschaq — “he laughs”):
The name that is transliterated as “Abraham” in English is translated in the vast majority of sign languages, including American Sign Language with the sign signifying “hold back arm” (referring to Genesis 22:12).
In Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with a sign for that demonstrates his new destiny. Previously, he had been called to wander from his home, and the name “Abram” reflected this movement (see here). The new sign name is in one location and stays there, showing Abraham will be given a land to call his own. At this time, Abraham was in the southern part of Canaan, which is shown on the base arm by the location near the elbow. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)
“Abraham” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL
In Tira it is transliterated as Abaram. The choice of this, rather than the widely-known “Ibrahim,” as used in the Tira translation of the Qu’ran, was to offset it against the Muslim transliteration which originates from Arabic. (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Click or tap here to see two short video clips about Abraham (source: Bible Lands 2012)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 25:19:
Newari: “Here is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac — Isaac, son of Abraham was born.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “This is the story about the family of Isaac the child of Abraham.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “This is an account of/I will now tell you about Abraham’s son, Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac,” (Source: Translation for Translators)
These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: the wording is identical to that of verse 12 concerning Ishmael. However, the Hebrew word toledoth is not followed by a list of descendants but rather by the account of Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah and her pregnancy. Therefore toledoth is used here as it was in 2.4 with the meaning of “story,” “account,” “history.” Accordingly Good News Translation translates “This is the story of….” Verse 19a functions as a formal title to this division, which the Handbook calls “The story of Isaac and Rebekah.”
Isaac is identified twice with Abraham, once as Abraham’s son and again by the sentence Abraham was the father of Isaac. Revised Standard Version and other formal translations retain the repetition; however, many modern translations consider Abraham was … Isaac to be redundant and so do not repeat this information.
Even with a division and subdivision heading, it may be necessary to open this story with a suitable story opener. Our text provides one that may have to be adapted to say, for example, as does Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, “Here begins the story of Isaac, Abraham’s son.” We may also say, for example, “This is how the story of Isaac begins. He was Abraham’s son….”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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