Jacob

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “lentil,” referring to the soup he gave his brother in exchange for his birthright (see Genesis 25:34). Note that another Spanish Sign Language sign for Jacob also users the sign for Jewish. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


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

In German Sign Language it is a sign that shows the touching of the hip, described in Genesis 32:25:


“Jacob” in German Sign Language (source: Taub und katholisch )

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “smooth arm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Jacob” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

See also Esau.

complete verse (Genesis 49:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 49:2:

  • Newari: “‘Listen, all [you] sons of Jacob, hear what your father Israel has to say.'” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Children/(sons), [you (pl.)] come-near and listen to me your (pl.) father.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘Gather around me in order that I can tell you what will happen in the future. My sons, come and listen to me. I am your father, Jacob, whom God named Israel.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 49:2

Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob: Assemble translates a different verb than “gather” in verse 1, but the sense is the same. In the poetic parallelism of this verse, hear is repeated in the second line, where Revised Standard Version translates it as hearken. See Good News Translation, which has “listen … listen.” In the expression O sons of Jacob, O is used by Revised Standard Version to express poetically that he is addressing them formally. Note that Good News Translation does not use this form. In some languages it will be necessary to make clear that Jacob is speaking to his own sons; for example, “you [plural] my sons” or “you [plural] who are my sons.”

The second line repeats not only hear (hearken) but also Jacob (Israel). If Jacob is replaced by “my” in the first line, it may be best to omit Israel in the second line or say “listen to your father.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .