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)
  • Cherokee: inage or “far away downstream” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)
  • 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)
  • Adioukrou: loj or “savannah” — “land that is not village, nor forest, nor field (source: Hill 2006)

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.

apple of one's eye

The now commonly-used English idiom “apple of one’s eye” (meaning to be a cherished person) was first coined in 1382 in the English translation by John Wycliffe (in the spelling apple of his iye) (source: Crystal 2010, p. 289). For other idioms in English that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

In Russian, the phrase хранить/беречъ как зеницу ока (khranit’/berech’ kak zenitsu oka) or “to keep/ guard as an apple of the eye” is also very widely-used with a whole range of meanings, much beyond just a cherished person. The wording of the quote originated in the Russian Synodal Bible (publ. 1876). (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 5)

In the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) it is translated with the idiom ngati mwanadiso which means “pupil of the eye” — a poetic expression which signifies something that is very delicate and valuable just as the eye pupil. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (Deuteronomy 32:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 32:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “He found/met you in a land of wilderness,
    where the storm is fierce.
    He guarded you and fed you there,
    he took well care of you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “He found them in the desert
    that was full of desolation and the dreadful sound of the wind.
    He rescued them, and
    He cared for them
    like one cares for the pupil of one’s own eye.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He found them in the desert, in the place that almost there is no plant that grows.
    He looked-after them and took-good-care like the caring of a man of his eye.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘e saw our ancestors when they were in a desert,
    wandering in a land that was desolate/where no people lived.
    He protected them and took care of them,
    as every person takes good care of his own eyes.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("protect")

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, mamo-rare-ru (守られる) or “protect” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 32:10

He found him in a desert land: this is a picturesque way of talking about Yahweh and the people of Israel during the Israelites’ forty-year trek through the wilderness on their way to the land of Canaan. The language should be retained, meaning that God happened to find the people on their way to Canaan. In many languages him should be changed to “them.” However, it is also possible to change him to “you [plural]” and say “Israel, Yahweh found you [plural] wandering in the desert,” or even “People of Israel, Yahweh found you….”

The howling waste of the wilderness: see a description of the wilderness in 8.15. The howling waste is an expression meaning uninhabited, desolate, dreary territory. It is possible to take howling waste to refer to a desolate wilderness with howling winds sweeping through it. So Good News Translation has “a desolate, wind-swept wilderness,” and Contemporary English Version translates “a barren desert, filled with howling winds.”

He encircled … he cared: the verb encircled does not indicate a threatening move to capture, but a gesture of love. BÍBLIA para todos Edição Comum has “surrounded with care,” New Revised Standard Version “shielded,” Good News Translation “protected,” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “embraced him in his arms.” Cared translates a form of the verb which appears only here in the Old Testament; some, like Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, understand it in the light of the Septuagint, “he instructed him.” The more general term “care for,” however, seems preferable.

He kept him as the apple of his eye: indicating the worth of Israel to God. The phrase the apple of his eye (also Pro 7.2; Psa 17.8) is literally “the little man” in the eye. Different languages have their own expression for this; Spanish and Portuguese say “the girl of the eyes.” The English word “pupil” (of the eye) comes from Latin pupilla, “little doll.” A more general translation is “just as he takes care of his own eyes,” or “just as though you were his own eyes.”

A possible alternative translation model for this verse is:

• People of Israel, Yahweh found you [plural]
wandering through a desolate wilderness,
filled with howling winds.
He protected you, and cared for you
just like he takes care of his own eyes.

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 .