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 Numbers 20:11

And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice: Good News Translation says “Then Moses raised the stick and struck the rock twice with it,” which is more natural in English. This sentence emphasizes that Moses struck the rock with the staff, instead of only speaking to it. So some scholars conclude that this striking of the rock is the cause for the punishment of Moses and Aaron.

And water came forth abundantly: There may be a more natural or even an idiomatic way of expressing this clause; for example, New Living Translation says “and water gushed out” (similarly Good News Translation).

And the congregation drank, and their cattle: All the people as well as their livestock got to drink their fill in accordance with their initial complaint (verse 4) and the LORD’s subsequent promise (verse 8). Congregation renders the Hebrew word ʿedah again (see the comments on verses 1 and 4). For the Hebrew word rendered cattle (beʿir), see verse 4.

1 Cor 10.4 refers to this rock as a symbol of Christ and its water as a symbol of spiritual life.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .