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 3:43)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 3:43:

  • Kupsabiny: “Any boy or man who had one month from when he was born and continuing were counted. That counting reached to 22,273.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The total number of first-borns, one month or older, was 22,273.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So Moises counted all the first-born male of the Israelinhon from a month old-of-age (and) above, according to what the LORD had-commanded him. Their number (was) 22,273.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The total of those who were at least one month old was 22,273.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on Numbers 3:42 - 3:43

So Moses numbered all the first-born among the people of Israel, as the LORD commanded him: Moses obeyed the LORD’s instructions given in the preceding verses. He registered all the firstborn males of Israel, except for the Levites. Numbered renders the Hebrew verb paqad, which is better translated “enrolled” (New Revised Standard Version) or “recorded” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; see 1.3). Instead of as the LORD commanded him, Good News Translation has simply “Moses obeyed.” Good News Translation leaves the LORD implied, which may detract from this repeated emphasis of the original text.

And all the first-born males refers to all the firstborn male Israelites whom Moses registered. According to the number of names refers to the number of their names registered (see verse 40).

For from a month old and upward, see verse 15.

As numbered were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three: The total number of registered firstborn Israelites was 22,273. Numbered renders the same Hebrew verb as in the previous verse.

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 .