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 (Hosea 13:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 13:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “I guarded you in the wilderness
    when you were in a land without water.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I took care of you in the dry wilderness,
    in that place that had no water.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I took-care of you (plur.) in the desert, a very dry place.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It was I who took-care-of you in the place with no inhabitants that has no water.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “I took care of your ancestors when they were in the desert,
    where it was extremely hot and dry.” (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”.

Translation commentary on Hosea 13:5

It was I who knew you is literally “I, I knew you in the wilderness.” “I” is repeated for emphasis in Hebrew, occurring first as an independent pronoun and then as an affix on the verb. Revised Standard Version expresses this emphasis well by saying It was I who.

Knew renders the same Hebrew verb as in the previous verse (see comments there). Here it refers to deep and intimate knowledge. As in the previous verse, it also provides a link with the story of Hosea and Gomer, since it can refer to sexual relations.

Instead of It was I who knew you, the Septuagint and the Peshitta have “I shepherded you” or “I fed you,” a reading that fits well in this context. Some scholars assume that these ancient versions are based on a slightly different earlier Hebrew text. Many modern translations are based on this emended text (so New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Living Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling). The Hebrew Old Testament Text Project committee did not cover this textual problem. We prefer the emended text.

In the wilderness, in the land of drought refers to the desert that the Israelites wandered in for forty years after they escaped from Egypt. Wilderness and land of drought form a typical Hebrew parallel in which the first term is the general description of the land, and the second term gives further information about the first term. The Hebrew word for wilderness can include places where some plants and wild animals may live (see comments on 2.3). But the phrase land of drought shows that there could not be vegetation in this place since there was no rain. Good News Translation‘s “in a dry, desert land” combines the two phrases into a single expression, thereby diminishing the poetic flavor of the original text.

A translation model for this verse is:

• I fed you in the desert,
in the land of drought.

Quoted with permission from Dorn, Louis & van Steenbergen, Gerrit. A Handbook on Hosea. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Hosea 13:5

13:5

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

5a
I knew you in the wilderness,

5b
in the land of drought.

There is an ellipsis (deliberate omission) of the first four words in 13:5b. In many languages, these words will need to be supplied from 13:5a. For example:

5b
⌊ I knew you⌋in the land of drought.

In these lines, the LORD reminds the people of Israel of his gracious care for them when he brought them out of Egypt through the desert of Sinai.

13:5a

I knew you: In Hebrew, this clause is more literally “I, I knew you.” The explicit pronoun I at the front of the clause indicates emphasis. For example:

It was I who knew you in the wilderness (English Standard Version)

This emphasis reinforces the statements in 13:4 that the LORD alone is their God. Many versions leave this emphasis implied. Translate this emphasis in a natural way in your language.

There is a textual issue concerning the Hebrew word knew here:

(1) The LXX and Peshitta have “cared-for/fed.” For example:

It was I who fed you in the wilderness (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
I cared for you in the wilderness (NET Bible)

(2) The Masoretic Text has the word knew. For example:

It was I who knew you in the wilderness (Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions.

in the wilderness: This phrase refers here to the desert or wilderness of Sinai during the period of the exodus.

13:5b

in the land of drought: This line describes the same location as 13:5a using different words. The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as drought occurs only here in the Old Testament. The meaning is derived from an Arabic cognate that means “aridity” or “drought.”

Here are some other ways to translate this line:

where it was hot and dry (New Century Version)
-or-
in the land of burning heat (New International Version)

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