The term that is transliterated as “Joseph” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that relates to a) the coat he wore (see Gen 37:3), b) the holding of his clothes by Potiphar’s wife (see Gen 39:12), and c) the many times Joseph experienced grief. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Joseph” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies “dream,” referring to Jacob’s dream at Bethel (see Genesis 28:10 and the following verses). (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “lentil,” referring to the soup he gave his brother in exchange for his birthright (see Genesis 25:34). Note that another Spanish Sign Language sign for Jacob also users the sign for Jewish. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “smooth arm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 46:27:
Kankanaey: “If the two children of Jose who were born in Egipto were also to-be-counted, the number of Jacob’s family who went there would go to (i.e., would be approximately) seventy.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “Joseph had two sons born in Egypt. Now in this way Jacob had a total of seventy descendants in Egypt.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Including the two children/(sons) of Jose who were-born in Egipto, 70 (in)-all was the entire household of Jacob when he went to Egipto.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Including Jacob and Joseph and Joseph’s two sons who were born in Egypt, there were 70 members of Jacob’s family when they were all there in Egypt.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the persons … were seventy: it is not possible to arrive at the number seventy by adding Joseph’s two sons to the sixty-six in verse 26. It appears that two more would also have to be added (perhaps Jacob and Joseph or Jacob and Dinah). Since we cannot say with any certainty how the numbers in verses 26 and 27 have been arrived at, we can only translate them as they are, and Good News Translation is as good a model as any. However, some translations give a possible explanation in a footnote to satisfy the curiosity of readers; for example, “ This number 70 … also counts Jacob and Joseph and the two sons of Joseph.”
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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