desert / wilderness

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The Greek, Hebrew and Latin that is translated as “desert” or “wilderness” in English is translated in a number of ways:

  • Mairasi: “a place where noisiness is cut off (or: stops)” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Muna: pandaso bhalano pr “big barren-field” (source: René van den Berg)
  • Balinese: “barren field” (source: J.L. Swellengrebel in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 75ff. )
  • Wantoat: “uninhabited place” (source: Holzhausen 1991, p. 38)
  • Umiray Dumaget Agta: “where no people dwell” (source: Larson 1998, p. 98)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “where no house is” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
  • Amri Karbi: “waterless region/place” (source: Philippova 2021, p. 368)
  • Ocotlán Zapotec: “large empty place” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Pa’o Karen: “jungle” (denoting a place without any towns, villages and tilled fields) (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. )
  • Low German translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006: “steppe”
  • Yakan: “the lonely place” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a land where no people lived” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “the place with no inhabitants” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Matumbi uses various term: lubele (desert, sandy place without water) — used in John 11:54, lupu’ngu’ti (a place where no people live, can be a scrub land, a forest, or a savanna) — used in Mark 1:3 et al.), and mwitu (a forest, a place where wild animals live) — used in Mark 1:13 et al.) (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Chichewa Contemporary translation (2002/2016): chipululu: a place uninhabited by people with thick forest and bush (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Note that in Luke 15:4, usually a term is used that denotes pastoral land, such as “eating/grazing-place” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).

See also wilderness and desolate wilderness.

complete verse (Deuteronomy 4:43)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 4:43:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those cities were Bezer in the wilderness of the plateau in the land of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the land of Gad and Golan in Bashan which was in the land of Manasseh.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Those cities were: for the Reubenites, Bezer which is in the wilderness, for the Gadites, Ramoth which is in Gilead, and for Manasseh, Golan which is in Bashan.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “These are the towns: Bezer in the high valley/plain of the desert for the tribe of Reuben; Ramot in Gilead for the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manase.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “For the tribe of Reuben, Moses/I set apart Bezer city in the plateau/high level area. For the tribe of Gad, Moses/I set apart Ramoth city in the Gilead area. For the tribe of Manasseh, Moses/I set apart Golan city in the Bashan region.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 4:43

For the location of these cities, see the map, page xii. There is a city of refuge for each of the three tribes east of the Jordan, listed from south to north: For cities or “towns” see 1.22.

For the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the wilderness of the tableland: for wilderness see 1.1; tableland is plateau, flat country (see 3.10). Bezer was not far from Heshbon, the capital city of King Sihon (2.26).

For the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in the territory of Gilead.

For the tribe of (East) Manasseh, Golan in the territory of Bashan: see 3.1-7.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .