complete verse (Joshua 1:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 1:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “Your wives, your children and your animals can remain in this land. But all the soldiers must go across to the other side (of the river) ahead/in front of (other people) going to assist the other clans” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Your wives, children and herds will remain in the land east of the Jordan that Moses has assigned to you. The fighting men, however, must take their weapons and in order to help other Israelites they must cross over ahead of them.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “the east side of the River of Jordan. Your (plur.) wives, children and groups-of-livestock will-remain here. But your (plur.) soldiers must go-ahead to-cross the Jordan to-help your (plur.) brethren/brothers-and-sisters,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Your wives and your children and your livestock may stay here in this land on the east side of the Jordan River, but all your soldiers must cross the river, ahead of the people of the other tribes. They must take all their weapons with them. You must continue to help your fellow Israelis” (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 .

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Joshua 1:14

Their wives, children, and livestock will remain on the east side, while the men themselves, armed for battle, will take the lead in crossing over to the west side ahead of their fellow Israelites.

Soldiers translates a phrase “men of valor among you” (Revised Standard Version), “all the warriors among you” (New English Bible, New American Bible), “all of you who are fighting men” (Jerusalem Bible). They were not permanent military men, as the modern term means, but men of twenty years of age or older who were fit for battle, equivalent to a modern militia. They were “citizen soldiers,” not professional warriors. Since the Hebrew word “soldiers” does not refer specifically to military men, one might render “able-bodied men” or “men fit for battle.” The clause may then be translated, “But all of your men who are fit for battle must take their weapons and cross over….”

Armed for battle translates the participle of a verb related to the word “five,” and may designate a battle formation of five groups; one in the lead, one in the rear, one in the middle, and one on each side. Since these men would not have their families and animals with them, they would go first. Although armed for battle does originally come from the word “five,” it is not necessary (and is probably impossible) to reproduce this root meaning in translation. In fact, it is quite likely that even for the author of the book the term no longer held this specific meaning. Soldiers, armed for battle may be rendered “battle-ready men” or “able-bodied men.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .