
Image taken from He Qi Art . For purchasing prints of this and other artworks by He Qi go to heqiart.com .
וַיַּשְׁלִ֨יכוּ֙ אִ֣ישׁ מַטֵּ֔הוּ וַיִּהְי֖וּ לְתַנִּינִ֑ם וַיִּבְלַ֥ע מַטֵּֽה־אַהֲרֹ֖ן אֶת־מַטֹּתָֽם׃
12Each one threw down his staff, and they became snakes, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up theirs.

Image taken from He Qi Art . For purchasing prints of this and other artworks by He Qi go to heqiart.com .
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.)
“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 )
See also Moses and this lectionary in The Christian Century .
Every man includes only the “wise men” and the “sorcerers.” Each of them evidently had his own rod, or staff. Good News Translation‘s “walking stick” may not be the best term in this verse, even though the Hebrew word is the same. (See the comment at verse 9.) They became serpents means that the rods of all these magicians “turned into snakes.” (The same term is used as in verse 9.) Aaron’s rod, of course, was in the form of a serpent when it swallowed up the other serpents. The delightful picture is that all the rods of the magicians, which they evidently used in their magic, were completely gone. They had been destroyed by a greater power, the power of Yahweh, here represented by Aaron’s rod.
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 .
No comments yet.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.