Moses

The name that is transliterated as “Moses” in English is signed in Spanish Sign Language and Polish Sign Language 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 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 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 Tobit 7:13

Then he called her mother and told her to bring: Good News Translation indicates that “Raguel asked his wife to bring” (similarly Contemporary English Version). Edna was probably in another room (see verse 12). Her mother may also be expressed as “his wife Edna” (Contemporary English Version).

Writing material is one word, often meaning “book,” which is hardly meant here. Good News Translation and New American Bible speak of a “scroll,” which is not really intended either. No one is going to write enough to require a scroll. A single sheet of papyrus or a piece of leather is probably all that is needed. “Paper” is of course anachronistic (that is, inappropriate for that time), but arguably no more so than speaking of people “seated at a table” for meals. It is possible to avoid this problem with a translation like “some writing material” or “something to write on” (Contemporary English Version).

Marriage contract: This appears to be the first reference in Jewish literature to a marriage contract, but it is not the ketuba or marriage contract known in rabbinic law. That document was drawn up by the bridegroom, not by the bride’s father, as here. The author is probably reading back into an earlier time, which he understands imperfectly. It is a ritual that in his own time may also be expressed as “an agreement saying that he [Raguel] gave Sarah to Tobias as his wife.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Tobit. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.