Aaron

The name that is transliterated as “Aaron” in English means “light,” “a mountain of strength” “to be high.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Catalan Sign Language and Spanish Sign Language it is translated as “stones on chest plate” (according to Exodus 28:15-30) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


“Aaron” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In Colombian Sign Language, Honduras Sign Language, and American Sign Language, the chest plate is outlined (in ASL it is outlined using the letter “A”):


“Aaron” in ASL (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Moses, more information on Aaron , and this lectionary in The Christian Century .

complete verse (Numbers 16:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 16:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “When it dawned, each person among them took his pan and put glowing charcoal in it and placed those things that smell sweet, and after that they stood near the entrance to the Tent of God. Moses was also there with Aaron.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “then on next day, each one took his incense burner, lit a fire and put incense in it. Then they stood along with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Therefore each one took his (own)-container of incense and put-on burning-coal and incense, and they stood with Moises and with Aaron at the gate/entrance of the Meeting-Together-Place Tent.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So the next day each of those men got a pan to burn incense. They put in it incense and hot coals to light it, and then they all stood at the entrance of the Sacred Tent with Aaron and Moses/me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

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 Numbers 16:18

So every man took his censer, and they put fire in them and laid incense upon them …: Korah and his followers did what Moses told them to do. See the comments on verses 7 and 17.

And they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron: For the Hebrew phrase rendered the entrance of the tent of meeting, see 6.10, where it is translated “the door of the tent of meeting.” For the tent of meeting, see 1.1. This significant location may have been made explicit already in verses 16-17. Yet the repetition is also significant since Moses, Aaron, Korah, and his followers were all about to appear “before the LORD.”

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .