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.

complete verse (Ezekiel 20:35)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 20:35:

  • Kupsabiny: “I shall drive you into the wilderness of nations and condemn you while you see it with your eyes.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “and bring (you) to the desert of the peoples. And there, I will-face you and will-judge.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “and I will bring you to a desertthat is surrounded by other nations. There, while I am looking at you, I will judge you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

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. )

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 20:34 - 20:36

Verses 34-36 talk about a new Exodus. The Israelites hoped that God would lead them out of exile in Babylonia in the same way that he led their ancestors out of Egypt. The references to bring you out, a mighty hand, an outstretched arm and wilderness are very familiar from the story of the Exodus, and God uses them deliberately to paint a picture of a new Exodus. But this Exodus will be different. The people will not just come from Egypt; God says I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, that is, God will bring them back from wherever they had been taken into exile (see 11.17). Peoples and countries refer to the nations where they were living.

With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out: See verse 33. These references to God’s great power and anger are ambiguous, that is, it is not clear if they refer to the Israelites or to their enemies. Translators need to maintain this ambiguity if possible.

And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples …: In the first Exodus God brought the Israelites to the wilderness of the land of Egypt, that is, “the Sinai Desert” (Good News Translation). This time he will bring them to the wilderness of the peoples. Some scholars think this phrase refers to a desert where nobody lives. Others think it refers to the Arabian Desert, which is “surrounded by [many] nations” (Contemporary English Version). This is the better interpretation, so it is acceptable to translate this phrase as “the desert among many nations.” As elsewhere, the verb bring may be rendered “lead” (Contemporary English Version) or “take” (Moffatt). For wilderness see 6.14.

And there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers…, so I will enter into judgment with you: The Hebrew verb rendered enter[ed] into judgment means to conduct legal activity or go to court with someone. God uses this word three times here, but not with exactly the same meaning. When God entered into judgment with Israel’s ancestors in the desert after the first Exodus, it involved the legal activity of giving the covenant and laws to them through Moses. In the new Exodus the legal activity will involve bringing the people to court to punish them. In the first Exodus only Moses met God face to face (see Exo 33.11). The next time God will meet the people face to face, so that the punishment will be direct.

Says the Lord GOD: See Ezek 20.3.

Models for verses 34-36 are:

• 34 You went into exile in many different countries and nations. I will bring you out from all of those places. I will be very angry as I do this and I will do it with all my great power. 35 I will bring you out into the desert around which there are many nations, and there I will take you to court. I will meet you face to face. 36 When I led your ancestors out of Egypt into the Sinai Desert, I gave them all my laws and commands, but I will punish you in this legal court. I am your Lord Yahweh. This is my official statement.

• 34 You are living among many nations, but in my great anger, with my great power, I will take you out of the places where you are scattered, 35 and I will lead you into the desert among different peoples. There I will declare you guilty to your face. 36 In the Sinai Desert I gave your ancestors the laws they should obey, but now I will declare you guilty of breaking my laws. I am the Lord Yahweh, and I declare this to you.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .