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 1:40)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 1:40:

  • Kupsabiny: “But you, you shall turn around and start going into the wilderness and head towards the Red Sea.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “As for you, turn around and go on the path of the wilderness that goes toward the Red Sea."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But you (plur.) (plur.) on-the-other-hand, [you (plur.) pl] return to the desolate-place going-towards the Red Sea.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But as for you, turn around and go back into the desert, toward the Red Sea/Gulf of Aqaba.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 1:40

But as for you, turn, and journey into: this order is very much like the one in verse 7. The people are to turn back from Kadesh Barnea and return to the wilderness; so New Revised Standard Version “journey back.”

For wilderness see 1.1.

In the direction of the Red Sea: or “on the road to the Red Sea” (compare Good News Translation; see 2.1; Num 14.25). The literal meaning of the name of this body of water seems to be “Sea [or, Lake] of Reeds,” and the Good News Translation footnote at Exo 13.18 provides a brief statement of how it is used:
RED SEA: (in Hebrew literally “Sea of Reeds”) evidently referred to (1) a series of lakes and marshes between the head of the Gulf of Suez and the Mediterranean, the region generally regarded as the site of the events described in Exodus 13, and was also used to designate (2) the Gulf of Suez, and (3) the Gulf of Aqaba.

Most Bibles in English follow the traditional “Red Sea” in all occurrences of the name; Good News Translation has “Red Sea” when the name appears in the context of the exodus from Egypt, and elsewhere “Gulf of Aqaba” (Exo 23.31; Num 14.25; 21.4; Deut 1.40; 2.1; Judges 11.16; 1 Kgs 9.26; 2 Chr 8.17; Jer 49.21) or “Gulf of Suez” (Exo 10.19; Num 33.10; Isa 11.15), as required by the context. Here Moffatt, Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible (footnote) have “Gulf of Aqaba”; Bible en français courant, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have “Sea of Reeds.” A translator must decide how this name is to be translated in each instance, whether to try to let the context determine the meaning assigned, or simply to translate by the traditional “Red Sea” in all passages.

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 .