‘The tribes of Efraim, Manase, and Benjamin are-to-camp on the west, under the banner of their own/[lit. each] tribe. These are the names of their leaders/[lit. heads] and numbers of their people/men:
Tribe
Leader
Number
Efraim
Elishama son/child of Amiud
40,500
Manase
32,200 Gamaliel son/child Pedazur
32,200
Benjamin
Abidan son/child of Gideoni
35,400
(Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin must set up their tents on the west side of the Sacred Tent, close to their tribal flags. These are the names of the leaders of those tribes and number of men whom they will lead: Elishama, the son of Ammihud, will be the leader of the 40,500 men of the tribe of Ephraim.” (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).
Most of the comments on verses 3-9 apply here as well.
On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim means Ephraim and the other tribes in its group must camp on the west side of the Tent of Meeting. In many languages the cardinal point west is translated in reference to the setting of the sun. The west side in Hebrew is literally “seaward” since it is in reference to the Mediterranean Sea. The camp of Ephraim refers to the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin.
The leader of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud: See 1.10.
And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: This clause is slightly different from the parallel clauses in verses 5, 12 and 27, since it is lacking “those to encamp” in the Hebrew. But in this context this variation does not lead to a difference in meaning. The pronoun him refers to the tribe of Ephraim. Contemporary English Version makes this clear by rendering this clause as “On one side of Ephraim will be the tribe of Manasseh.”
The leader of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur: See 1.10.
In some languages it will be more natural and seem less repetitive if Then the tribe of Benjamin (verse 22) is moved to the beginning of verse 20, combining it with the tribe of Manasseh as follows: “Those [to camp] next to the tribe of Ephraim shall be the tribes of Manasseh and Benjamin….”
The leader of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni: See 1.11.
They shall set out third on the march: The pronoun They refers to the three tribes under the banner of Ephraim. Set out … on the march renders the same Hebrew verb as at the end of verse 9 (see the comments there).
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 .
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