Miriam

The name “Miriam” or “Abataza” means “bitterness,” “rebellion” and “star of the sea.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In some Semitic languages, the transliteration for “Miriam” is identical to “Mary,” testifying to the fact that these names are identical (Arabic and the many translations that are reliant on Arabic: مَرْيَم, Hebrew: מִרְיָם, Ge’ez / Amharic and related languages: ማርያም).

It is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “tambourine” referring to Exodus 15:20. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


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

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

The following is part of an artwork by Indian-German artist Lucy D’Souza-Krone (b. 1949):

“D’Souza’s painting of Miriam dancing at the river is one of a series of ‘Biblical Women’ reproduced as the 1990 Lenten veil of Misereor, Germany. Miriam, the prophetess and sister of Moses and Aaron, celebrated the liberation of her people from their Egyptian oppressors. Her dance was supported by other women who joined with her in an act of celebration. Writing of the story the artist adds that ‘water is a predominant element in the scene reminding us also of the physical hardship facing women in India as they often have to walk many miles for a pot of water.'” (Source for this and the image: The Bible Through Asian Eyes by Masao Takenaka and Ron O’Grady 1991)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Miriam .

daughter of

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “daughter of” in English is translated in all Icelandic Bible versions of the Icelandic Bible Society (latest edition 2007) in parallel with the Icelandic patronymic or matronymic naming system . This means that for instance in Luke 2:36 the name that is transliterated and translated in English as “Anna the daughter of Phanuel” becomes “Anna Fanúelsdóttir” or in Jeremiah 52:1 “Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah” becomes “Hamútal Jeremíadóttir” where in both cases the “-óttir” means “daughter of.

In cases where “daughter of” does not refer to a literal father or perhaps stepfather but to lineage (or is uncertain), however, this system is not used. So in 1 Chronicles 1:50 “Mehetabel daughter of Matred daughter of Me-zahab” is translated as “Mehetabeel, dóttir Matredar, dóttur Mesahabs.” (Source: Halldór Elías Guðmundsson)

See also son of.

Levi

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is transliterated as “Levi” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies a menorah referring to the temple service of the tribe of the Levites. The same sign is also used for the tribe. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Levi” or “Levite” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

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 Levite, Levi and the Tribe of Levi .

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 26:59)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 26:59:

  • Kupsabiny: “Amram married a daughter of Levi who was called Jochebed who was born in Egypt. Jochebed bore to Amram two sons, Aaron and Moses and a girl who was called Miriam.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed descendant of Levi. She was from the tribe of Levi, born in the land of Egypt. By Amram she gave birth to Aaron, Moses and a daughter Miriam.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “and the wife of Amram was Jokebed who was a descendant also of Levi. Jokebed was-born in Egipto. Amram and Jokebed were the parents of Aaron, Moises, and Miriam.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “whose wife was Jochebed. She also was a descendant of Levi, but she was born in Egypt. She and Amram had two sons, Aaron and Moses/me, and their/our older sister Miriam.” (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 26:59

The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi: Jochebed is mentioned only here and in Exo 6.20. Jochebed was the daughter of Levi, which means she was a sister of Kohath, Amram’s father. Exo 6.20 states this explicitly by saying “Amram took to wife Jochebed his father’s sister.” As A Handbook on Exodus points out there, such a marriage was later forbidden for Israelites (see Lev 18.12; 20.19), but it was evidently culturally accepted when Amram and Jochebed were married. The point here seems to be that this close familial relationship ensured the purity of the priestly line.

Who was born to Levi in Egypt: Like many other translations, Revised Standard Version follows the Vulgate and the Peshitta here. (Good News Bible also follows this reading, but omits to Levi.) The Hebrew text says literally “whom she [Jochebed’s mother] bore to Levi in Egypt”. Following this reading, NBV translates “whose wife had borne her in Egypt” (similarly NFB), and WV has “Her mother had borne her to Levi in Egypt.” New International Version and TNIV mention the reading followed by Revised Standard Version as an alternative in a footnote, but in the text itself they begin this verse with “the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born to the Levites in Egypt.” New Living Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch also follow this reading, presumably because these four translations want to allow for a number of generations between Levi on the one hand and Aaron and Moses on the other. However, the problem with this reading is that “to the Levites” seems artificial and does not follow the Hebrew.

And she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister: See 1 Chr 6.3. Aaron is listed before Moses and Miriam, because he was the oldest child, but also because the purpose of the list at this point is to show the primacy of the priestly line of descent through Aaron.

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 .