desert / wilderness

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The Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, 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 1:1)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 1:1:

  • Kupsabiny: “This book has the words that Moses spoke to all the people of Israel when they were in the wilderness on the East side of the river Jordan. They were in the valley of Jordan where it was near Suph. And there it was in between the city of Paran on one side and on the other side between these cities: Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizabab.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “These are the words that Moses spoke to all the Israelites in the wilderness east of the Jordan River in the Arabah which is opposite Zuph between Paran, Tophel, Laban Hazeroth and Dizahab.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “This book is about the messages that Moises spoke to all the Israelinhon while they (were) there in the desolate-place, east of the River of Jordan. They were-camping in the Valley of Jordan near Suf, in-the-midst-of Paran, Tofel, Laban, Hazerot, and Dizahab.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “In this book is written what Moses/I said to the Israeli people. He/I told them these things when they/we were in the desert, on the east side of the Jordan River. They/We had set up our tents near a place named Suph, between Paran town on the one side of the river and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab towns on the other side of the river.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

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).

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 Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with the sign that depicts the eye make up he would have worn as the adopted son of an Egyptian princess. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)


“Moses” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL

In Estonian Sign Language Moses is depicted with a big beard. (Source: Liina Paales in Folklore 47, 2011, p. 43ff. )


“Moses” in Estonian Sign Language, source: Glossary of the EKNK Toompea kogudus

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Moses .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 1:1

These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel: this can be rendered “This is a [written] report [or, record] of what Moses said to all the people of Israel.” The pronoun These must, of course, point forward, not backward. So the sentence may begin “What follows is…,” or even “In this book are the words…” (Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, German common language version [Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch]); Bible en français courant has “This book reports…,” and Contemporary English Version has “This book contains the speeches that Moses made….” And instead of the literal words, it will be better for translators to have something similar to “the long speeches” (Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Bible en français courant), or even “the discourses.”

To all Israel means, of course, “to all the people of Israel,” “to all the Israelites.” However, in some languages simply translating “to the Israelites” or “to the people of Israel” will mean that “all” are included.

Beyond the Jordan: the point of view of the writer is the land of Israel, so that “the other side of the Jordan River” means the east side, that is, Transjordan. More precisely Moses and the people of Israel are in the plains of Moab (Num 33.48; 36.13). Contemporary English Version makes this clear with “while Israel was in the land of Moab.” Jordan may be translated as “Jordan River” or “the river named Jordan.”

In the wilderness: this was an area without permanent human habitation, usually dry and rocky, unfit for cultivation of crops, but with occasional patches of moisture and vegetation. Translations have often used the term “desert” for wilderness, meaning that it had only sand; but this is not accurate, as this wilderness did have vegetation of various kinds. In cultures where very dry areas like this are unknown, we may translate wilderness with a descriptive phrase; for example, “rocky region with little vegetation,” “place where people don’t settle,” “a place where no house is,” and so on.

In the Arabah over against Suph: the Arabah is the deep depression that makes for the Jordan Valley, running to the Dead Sea and further south as far as the Gulf of Aqaba. Good News Translation “the Jordan Valley” accurately names the part of the Arabah that is spoken of here. The phrase against Suph modifies the Arabah, that is, “that part of the Arabah that faces [or, is opposite] Suph.” We do not know exactly what “opposite Suph” means, since the identity and location of Suph are unknown. The Hebrew preposition means “in front of”; in more general terms the phrase can be represented by “near a place named Suph.” New Jerusalem Bible has “facing Suph.” In languages that will have difficulty expressing “Jordan Valley,” it will be possible to combine the two phrases beyond the Jordan in the wilderness and in the Arabah over against Suph, and translate the first part of this verse as follows:

• This book contains the long speeches that Moses spoke to the Israelites while they were in the land of Moab. They were camped near the place called Suph in the wilderness east of the river named Jordan.

Between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab: Good News Translation and the Revised English Bible (Revised English Bible) make it clear that Paran is on one side, and the other four towns are on the other side of the Jordan. None of these localities has been identified. Since it is not clear whether Paran was to the west and the other towns to the east, translators should leave this ambiguous. Another way to express this is “The town of Paran was on one side of them and the towns of … on the other side.” Contemporary English Version resolves this problem with “The town of Paran was in one direction from their camp, and the towns of … were in the opposite direction.” In cultures where the only large human settlements are villages surrounded by fences, translators will need to use descriptive phrases for “towns”; for example, “large villages with high fences around them,” and in the case of “cities,” when this term occurs later in Deuteronomy (see 1.22), we may say “very large villages…” or something similar.

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 .