The name that is transliterated as “Aaron” in English is translated in Catalan Sign Language and Spanish Sign Language as “stones on chest plate” (according to Exodus 28:15-30) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff.)
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.)
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).
Even at the time of his translation, Jerome likely was not the only one making that decision as this recent article alludes to.
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).
With which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed is obviously a continuation of verse 30 in Revised Standard Version. Literally the Hebrew says “and Moses and Aaron and his sons washed from it.” The word for “from it” refers to the washbasin mentioned in verse 30, not to the water. Good News Translation translates this as “there” (similarly New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Their hands and their feet indicates the extent of their washing, and this became the usual ceremonial washing for all priests. (This contrasts with the washing discussed at 29.4.)
When they went into the tent of meeting is literally “in their entering unto [the] ʾohel moʿed.” The infinitive form of the verb “to enter” gives the idea of when, but this should not be understood as a single event. Good News Translation has “whenever,” which really means “each time before entering the tent” (Contemporary English Version). The idea of repeated action comes from the verb they washed, which should be understood in the frequentative sense. And when they approached the altar, literally “and in their approaching unto the altar,” uses the same infinitive form of the verb “to draw near.”
As the LORD commanded Moses is the seventh and last time this formula is used in this chapter. The Hebrew is identical in each case, but Revised Standard Version does not use the word “had” here as in the previous examples. (See the comment at verse 19 above.) New Revised Standard Version has corrected this.
Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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