tremble

In Gbaya, the notion of trembling is emphasized with tututu, an ideophone that expresses trembling, as when frightened or cold.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

fear (of God)

The Hebrew and Greek that are translated as “fear (of God)” (or: “honor,” “worship,” or “respect”) is translated as “to have respect/reverence for” (Southern Subanen, Western Highland Purepecha, Navajo (Dinė), Javanese, Tboli), “to make great before oneself” (Ngäbere), “fear-devotion” (Kannada — currently used as a description of the life of piety), “those-with-whom he-is-holy” (those who fear God) (Western Apache) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel), “revere God” (Lalana Chinantec), “worship God” (Palantla Chinantec) (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “obey” (Chichewa) (source: Ernst Wendland), “having/showing respect (for God)” (Makonde) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext), or with a term that communicates awe (rather than fear of an evil source) (Chol) (source: Robert Bascom).

Bullard / Hatton (2008, p. 8) say the following about this concept: “As the writer of Proverbs states in 1:7, ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.’ (…) ‘The fear of the Lord,’ that is, human fear of God, is an exceptionally difficult concept to express, at least in English. Other languages may have more appropriate terms. The idea probably is rooted in the most ancient days when people were indeed afraid of any deity. But in Israel the concept of fearing God was transformed by God’s revelation into a much fuller idea. Basically, as used in the Bible, the fear of God refers to the proper attitude of reverence and awe before the Holy One. To fear God is to recognize one’s own place as a mere mortal before the Creator, one’s place as a sinner before the Judge, one’s place as a child before the Father, one’s place as the recipient of God’s love. It thus involves submission, repentance, trust, and grateful love toward the One who is fearsome in holiness, in justice, in power that both protects and punishes, and in love. Using the word “fear” is sometimes as good as we can do, but often we will alternate that word with terms like ‘reverence’ or ‘awe.’”

See also fear of the LORD (Isa 11:2) and complete verse (Genesis 22:12) et al.

complete verse (Hebrews 12:21)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 12:21:

  • Uma: “What the Yahudi people faced was very terrifying. Even the prophet Musa said: ‘I am afraid and shaking [emphatic].'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “What they saw was really frightening and even Musa was compelled-to-speak, he said, ‘I am shaking because of fright.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for what they saw at that time, it was very frightening. And even Moses, he said that he was trembling because of his fear.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “What could be seen and heard was extremely frightening, so even Moses said, ‘I admit I’m trembling with my fear.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When (one) looked at that mountain it really made- the-hair-on-the-back-of-the-neck -stand-on-end. That’s why, even Moises, he spoke saying, ‘I’m trembling with fear.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “It was a very fearful thing which the people saw. Also even Moses said: ‘As for me, I am even shaking from fear.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Moses

The name that is transliterated as “Moses” in English means “taken out of the water,” “saved out of the water,” “a son.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

It is translated in Spanish Sign Language and Polish Sign Language with a sign 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 (and Hungarian 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 Korean Sign Language it is translated with the sign that depicts the arms held up by Moses to assure the Israelites victory over the Amalekites (see Exodus 17:11).


“Moses” in Korean Sign Language, source: Korean Sign Language Bible House

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 Hebrews 12:21

Sight translates an unusual word which may include reference to other senses, as in verses 18-19. The sight was so terrifying may be expressed as “What the people experienced frightened them so much” or “What happened there at Mount Sinai frightened people so much” or “… caused them to be so terrified.”

I am trembling is quoted out of context from Deuteronomy 9.19; the writer adds and afraid for emphasis. The addition is intended as part of the quotation, not as in Jerusalem Bible, “Moses said: ‘I am afraid,’ and was trembling with fright.” It is doubtful whether the addition of a synonym really increases the impact; in English, at least, it may produce an anticlimax. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Translator’s New Testament have simply “I tremble with fear.” Barclay puts the quotation into indirect speech: “The sight was so terrible that Moses said that it left him trembling and afraid,” but this sentence is too long and complicated to make a strong impact on the average reader.

Something of the impact of I am trembling and afraid may be expressed as “I am so afraid as to tremble.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .