The Hebrew that is transliterated as “Reuben” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “head” or “leader” referring to the position he had among his brothers as the firstborn. (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 46:8:
Newari: “The sons of Israel who went to Egypt and his offspring are like this –Jacob’s eldest son, Reuben.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “These are the names of the Israelinhon, the descendants of Jacob, who went to Egipto: Reuben, the oldest child of Jacob,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Here is/I will now give you a list of the names of the members of Jacob’s family who went with him to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son; Reuben’s sons Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; Simeon and his sons Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, who was the son of a Canaan people-group woman; Levi and his sons Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; Judah and his sons, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (his other sons, Er, and Onan, had died in Canaan); Perez and his two sons Hezron and Hamul; Issachar and his sons Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron; Zebulon and his sons Sered, Elon, and Jahleel; (Those were the sons of Jacob and Leah, and their daughter Dinah, who were born in Paddan-Aram/Mesopotamia: There were 33 of them, altogether.) They had Gad and his sons Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli; Asher and his sons Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah; and their sister Serah; Beriah’s sons Heber and Malkiel; (Those were the children and grandchildren of Jacob and Zilpah, the slave girl whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah: There were 16 of them, altogether.) Joseph and Benjamin, the sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel; (Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph’s two sons. They did not go down to Egypt because they were already in Egypt. They were sons of Asenath, the daughter of On, who was the priest in the temple in On city.) Benjamin and his sons Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard; (Those were the sons and grandsons of Rachel and Jacob: There were 14 people altogether.) Dan and his son Hushim; Naphtali and his sons Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. (Those were the sons and grandsons of Jacob and Bilhah, the slave girl whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel: There were seven people altogether.)” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Verse 8 serves as a heading for the list of names and is similar to that used in Exo 1.1. The names in verses 8-15 are the sons and grandsons born to Leah and Jacob. Verse 12 names two of their great-grandsons.
These are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt: these points ahead to the list; it means “The following….” Descendants of Israel is literally “sons of Israel,” the common expression used in the Old Testament for “Israelites.” Although many modern versions say “Israelites,” Good News Translation “members of Jacob’s family” is more in keeping with the purpose of the list, which is to name the individuals who went with Jacob to Egypt.
Jacob and his sons is in apposition with descendants of Israel and means the same.
Reuben, Jacob’s first-born: that is, “Reuben, who was Jacob’s firstborn son” or “… oldest son.”
In some languages, fitting the list of Jacob’s family members into the story is made easier by repeating the verb from the opening sentence of this verse with the name of each of the sons of Jacob. For example, “These are the names of … who went to Egypt with him: Jacob’s son Reuben went with him, and Reuben’s sons … Jacob’s son Simeon went with him, and Simeon’s sons….”
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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