Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 20:2:
Kupsabiny: “Tell the people of Israel that they are to choose cities which one can flee to as I told to Moses.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are to choose cities to give refuge just as I have instructed Moses. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘Tell the Israelinhon that they are-to-choose the cities/towns of refuge according-to what I said to you (plur.) back-then through Moises.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘Tell the Israeli people that they should choose some cities to which people can run in order to be safe/protected, like I told Moses that they should do.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 )
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:
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).
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).
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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).
Tell the Israelites: The phrase Tell the Israelites is a command from Yahweh to Joshua. This command is in direct speech. In some languages it may be more natural to report this command in indirect speech. For example,
⌊Then Yahweh told Joshua⌋ to say to the people of Israel
20:2b
to designate the cities of refuge: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as designate is more literally “give to yourselves” or “set for yourselves.” In this context it indicates that the Israelites must choose some towns.
cities of refuge: A refuge is a place where someone can be safe. The cities of refuge were towns to which people who were in trouble could run and be safe.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
safe towns -or-
towns to be safe -or-
towns of safety
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Choose for yourselves towns where people can run and be safe -or-
that they should select safe towns
20:2c
as I instructed you through Moses: The Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as as I instructed you through Moses is more literally “which I spoke to you by the hand of Moses.” Yahweh had spoken to Moses and told him to tell the Israelites to select these towns after they had crossed the Jordan River. This is reported in Numbers 35:9–29 and in Deuteronomy 19:1–13.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
I commanded Moses to speak to you about them. -or-
⌊long ago⌋ I told Moses to speak to you about these towns
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.