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 (Numbers 21:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 21:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “They again left there and went to set up their tents on one side of the river Arnon which is in that wilderness near the country of the Amorites. Arnon is at the border of Moab and the country of the Amorites.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Moving on from there they set up tents toward the far side of the Arnon river which is in the wilderness that comes from the land of the Amorites. The Arnon river is the boundary between Moab and the Amorites.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And from Zered they set-out again and camped at the other-side of Arnon which is the passageway of water, which is there at the desolate-place/desert which is near the territory of the Amornon. Arnon is the border between the land of the Moabnon and the land of the Amornon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then they traveled to the north side of the Arnon River. That area is in the desert next to the land where the Amor people-group lived. The Arnon River is the boundary between Moab and where the Amor people-group lived.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 21:13

From there they set out, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon: From the Wadi Zedek the Israelites went to the northern side of the Arnon River. The Arnon River flowed from east to west into the east side of the Dead Sea, and marked the border between Moab and the Amorites. The territory of the Amorites was north of Moab on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. Since the Israelites were traveling from the south to the north, Good News Translation correctly renders on the other side of the Arnon as “on the north side of the River Arnon.” The Israelites circumvented Moab and now reached its northern border.

Which is in the wilderness that extends from the boundary of the Amorites describes the northern side of the Arnon River. It was in the desert that extended into the territory of the Amorites. New International Readers Version says “It’s in the desert that spreads out into the territory of the Amorites.” For the Amorites, see 13.29.

For the Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites: Good News Translation places parentheses around this sentence since it clearly provides background information. The Hebrew particle ki rendered for is not a logical connector here, but it introduces supplementary material. However, in many languages the past tense verb “was” in Good News Translation will not be necessary since the Hebrew does not locate this sentence in earlier times, before the text was written. New Living Translation provides a more helpful model here, saying “The Arnon is the boundary line between the Moabites and the Amorites.”

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 .