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 (Exodus 13:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 13:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “And/But after leaving Succoth, they went and stretched their tents in Etham at a place where it was close to the wilderness.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “After leaving Succoth, they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When- they -left Sucot, they camped at Etam, on the border of the desert.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “It came about that the Israel people left Sukot village and then went and made camp at the area of Etam. That area was at the edges of the desolate area.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “When they had left [body] from Succoth, they went encamped Etham which be present edge of wilderness.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “The Israeli people left Succoth and traveled to Etham, at the edge of the desert, and they set up their tents there.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 13:20

And they moved on from Succoth uses the same verb as in 12.37, meaning to pull up stakes or to break camp. And encamped at Etham uses the verb to set up camp. Another way to express this is “set up their tents at a place called Etham.” Neither Etham nor Succoth (see 12.37) can be located with certainty, but the context suggests that the Israelites were moving in a southeasterly direction. On the edge of the wilderness means near the border or “on the outskirts of the desert” (Durham). The problem of wilderness, or “desert” (Good News Translation), is discussed at 3.1.

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 .