Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 24:5:
Kupsabiny: “After that, I chose Moses and Aaron to be leaders and sent trouble/death to the country of Egypt. Then, I led your ancestors away from that place.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “’A long time later I sent Moses and Aaron, and through my work I send great plagues upon Egypt. And afterward I brought you out ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Sometime later, I sent Moises and Aaron to rescue you (plur.) from Egipto, and I sent- afflictions/evils/disaster -upon Egipto, and I brought- your (plur.) ancestors -out from there.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘Many years later, I sent Moses and his older brother Aaron to help your people, and I caused the people of Egypt to suffer very much because of what I did there. Then I enabled your ancestors to leave Egypt.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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).
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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 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.
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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).
In verses 5-7a it is noticed how the text alternates between “your ancestors” and “you” (plural) as participants in the events of the exodus and the deliverance at the Sea of Reeds (see Revised Standard Version). This is especially noticeable in verse 7. Some scholars may believe that the use of different sources accounts for these variations. But this may be also the author’s way of reminding the people of his day that they are personally related to the great redemptive event that the Lord accomplished for their ancestors in Egypt.
At the beginning of verse 5, Good News Translation has introduced Later in order to provide some sense of the lapse of time; Hebrew has simply “And I sent Moses…” (Revised Standard Version).
One may wish to introduce the persons to whom the Lord sent Moses and Aaron: “Later I sent Moses and Aaron to your ancestors in Egypt.”
And I brought great trouble on Egypt translates a Hebrew text which has some repetition: “and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it” (Revised Standard Version). Although the land of Egypt suffered under the plagues which the Lord sent, the people of Egypt are really the ones in focus. Therefore the clause may be translated, “and brought great trouble on the people of Egypt.”
The great trouble refers to the plagues.
But I led you out may require the complete form, “But I led you out of Egypt,” or even “… safely out of Egypt.”
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 .
Then: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then introduces the next event in the storyline. Introduce this next event in a way that is natural in your language.
I sent Moses and Aaron: Many years passed between the time that Jacob and his family went to Egypt, and the time that Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron to meet the king of Egypt. It may be helpful to add this implicit information at the beginning of the verse. For example,
Later I sent Moses and Aaron (Good News Translation) -or-
⌊Many years after that,⌋ I sent Moses and Aaron
The clause I sent Moses and Aaron does not state where Yahweh sent them or what Yahweh sent them to do. In some languages it may be helpful to include some of this implicit information. For example:
I sent Moses and Aaron ⌊to help the Israelites⌋ -or-
I sent Moses and ⌊his brother⌋ Aaron ⌊to Egypt⌋
24:5b
and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there: The Hebrew verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as afflicted is more literally “hit.” In this context it refers to the disasters that God caused the Egyptians to suffer. The disasters that God brought upon the Egyptians are recorded in Exodus 7-11.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
I struck the people of Egypt with the disasters that I caused there -or-
I made terrible things happen to the Egyptian people
24:5c
and afterward I brought you out: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
After that, I brought you (plur.) out ⌊of Egypt⌋ -or-
Then I led you ⌊all⌋ out ⌊from Egypt⌋
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