divorce

In Ghari different words are used for a husband divorcing a wife and a wife divorcing a husband. (Source: David Clark)

In Mairasi the term that is used means “discard.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)

complete verse (Mark 10:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 10:4:

  • Uma: “The Parisi people answered: ‘Musa allowed a man to divorce his wife, as long as he first makes a divorce letter.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “They said, ‘Musa allowed a man to sign (pilma) a letter of divorce, then he can divorce his wife.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And they answered, ‘Moses allowed a man to divorce his wife but it was necessary that that man give his wife a notice of his divorcing her.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘Moses allowed a man to give his wife a writing that confirmed that they had divorced, then he would make-her-leave,’ they said answering.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “They said, ‘Well, Moises did indeed permit a man to divorce his wife, provided there is a writing which is the sign that they are now divorced.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

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).

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).


“Moses” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

In Estonian Sign Language Moses is depicted with a big beard. (Source: Liina Paales in Folklore 47, 2011, p. 43ff.)

See also Moses and Elijah during the Transfiguration.

Translation commentary on Mark 10:4

Exegesis:

epetrepsen … grapsai kai apolusai ‘he allowed … (a man) to write and to divorce (her)’: by law a Jewish husband had to write a divorce certificate in the presence of witnesses, sign it and deliver it to his wife, saying, “Here is your bill of divorce.”

epitrepō (cf. 5.13) ‘allow,’ ‘permit’: the Pharisees cannot quote a Mosaic commandment concerning divorce, but only what Moses allowed (Deut. 24.1).

biblion apostasiou (only here in Mark) ‘a document of divorce,’ ‘a certificate of divorce’: in the Septuagint the word apostasion ‘putting away’ is always used in the sense of divorce.

Translation:

Certificate of divorce is translatable as ‘paper concerning sending his wife away’ (Amganad Ifugao), ‘write her a paper when he puts her out’ (Highland Puebla Nahuatl), or ‘write a paper and she will no longer be his wife’ (Piro).

Put her away must not be translated literally in most languages, for this would imply ‘storing her’ or ‘placing her in a position away from people,’ a not uncommon mistake in translating. As in all such instances the receptor language idiom should be one commonly used for a man getting rid of or abandoning a wife.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .