deserted / desolated place

In Gbaya, the notion of desertion or desolation is emphasized in the referenced verses with kéŋgéŋgé, an ideophone that describes a deserted, silent, empty place.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

covenant

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The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that are translated as “covenant” in English are translated in a variety of ways. Here are some (back-) translations:

  • Mossi: “helping promise”
  • Vai: “a thing-time-bind” (i.e. “an arrangement agreed upon for a period of time”)
  • Loma (Liberia): “agreement”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “agreement which is tied up” (i.e. “secure and binding”)
  • Chol: “a word which is left”
  • Huastec: “a broken-off word” (“based on the concept of ‘breaking off a word’ and leaving it with the person with whom an agreement has been reached”)
  • Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “a death command” (i.e. “a special term for testament”)
  • Piro: “a promised word”
  • Eastern Krahn: “a word between”
  • Yaka: “promise that brings together” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Nabak: alakŋaŋ or “tying the knot” (source: Fabian 2013, p. 156)
  • Kâte: ʒâʒâfic or “tie together” (source: Renck 1990, p. 108)
  • Nyamwezi: ilagano: “agreement, contract, covenant, promise” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Bariai: “true talk” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Q’anjob’al: “put mouths equal” (representing agreement) (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
  • Manikion, Indonesian: “God’s promise” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Natügu: nzesz’tikr drtwr: “oneness of mind” (source: Brenda Boerger in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 164)
  • Tagalog: tipan: mutual promising on the part of two persons agreeing to do something (also has a romantic touch and denotes something secretive) (source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
  • Tagbanwa: “initiated-agreement” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Cherokee: “that which is told” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)
  • Guhu-Samane: “The concept [in Mark 14:24 and Matthew 16:28] is not easy, but the ritual freeing of a fruit and nut preserve does afford some reference. Thus, ‘As they were drinking he said to them, ‘On behalf of many this poro provision [poro is the traditional religion] of my blood is released.’ (…) God is here seen as the great benefactor and man the grateful recipient.” (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
  • Chichewa: pangano. This word can also be translated as a contract, agreement, or a treaty between two parties. In Chewa culture, two people or groups enter into an agreement to help each other in times of need. When entering into an agreement, parties look at the mutual benefits which will be gained. The agreement terms are mostly kept as a secret between the parties and the witnesses involved. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Law (2013, p. 95) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew berith was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):

“Right from the start we witness the influence of the Septuagint on the earliest expressions of the Christian faith. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of his blood being a kaine diatheke, a ‘new covenant.’ The covenant is elucidated in Hebrews 8:8-12 and other texts, but it was preserved in the words of Jesus with this language in Luke 22:20 when at the Last Supper Jesus said, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Jesus’s blood was to provide the grounds for the ‘new covenant,’ in contrast to the old one his disciples knew from the Jewish scriptures (e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34). Thus, the earliest Christians accepted the Jewish Scriptures as prophecies about Jesus and in time began to call the collection the ‘Old Testament’ and the writings about Jesus and early Christianity the ‘New Testament,’ since ‘testament’ was another word for ‘covenant.’ The covenant promises of God (berith in Hebrew) were translated in the Septuagint with the word diatheke. In classical Greek diatheke had meant ‘last will, testament,’ but in the Septuagint it is the chosen equivalent for God’s covenant with his people. The author of Hebrews plays on the double meaning, and when Luke records Jesus’ announcement at the Last Supper that his blood was instituting a ‘new covenant,’ or a ‘new testament,’ he is using the language in an explicit contrast with the old covenant, found in the Jewish scriptures. Soon, the writings that would eventually be chosen to make up the texts about the life and teachings of Jesus and the earliest expression of the Christian faith would be called the New Testament. This very distinction between the Old and New Testaments is based on the Septuagint’s language.”

See also establish (covenant) and covenant (book).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Covenant in the Hebrew Bible .

complete verse (Isaiah 33:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 33:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “The big streets are empty
    so that no one is passing by there.
    Every agreement that has been made is broken/killed
    and the oaths that were made are despised.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The main roads have become desolate,
    no one even goes on the road [anymore].
    Agreements have been broken,
    evidence has been scorned.
    There is not even any respect for people.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “No one passes-by now in the street/road; no more people are-walking there. The covenant is broken and its witnesses are considered-as-nothing. No more man is respected.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 33:8

This verse refers to the collapse of society due to the oppression.

The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceases: The people of Judah no longer use the roads because of the oppressing army in their land. The highways lie waste means the roads are abandoned (compare Lev 26.22). For highways see the comments on 7.3. The wayfaring man ceases means nobody travels anymore. The wayfaring man is literally “the one who goes along the path.” This phrase refers to a person who travels. In Old Testament times people traveled by walking or riding donkeys. Translators need to be careful not to give the impression that the text is talking about modern highways or modern means of travel. Good News Translation combines these two parallel lines, making explicit why the people don’t travel anymore: “The roads are so dangerous that no one travels on them.”

Covenants are broken, witnesses are despised, there is no regard for man: These three lines describe a complete breakdown in human relationships. In the Hebrew text all the terms are singular, except the word for witnesses. The text is literally “someone has broken a treaty, someone has despised witnesses, no one has valued humankind.” In this general context about the breakdown of society the singular terms have a plural sense. However, Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch maintain singulars in their translation. They believe the text is referring to a certain tyrant who disrupts the social order. Bible en français courant has “The tyrant has broken the covenant, he has moved its witnesses out of the way, he has only contempt for the people.” We recommend a plural sense here.

Covenants are broken means people everywhere are breaking their contracts. The Hebrew word for covenants is a key term in the Old Testament, often referring to the relationship between Yahweh and his people (see 24.5). However, it can also refer to any contract or arrangement between individuals; see, for example, 1 Sam 23.18 for the covenant between David and Jonathan.

Witnesses are despised has a textual problem. Masoretic Text has “cities” rather than witnesses. A scribe could have accidentally changed the Hebrew word for witnesses (ʿedim) to the one for “cities” (ʿarim), since it was easy to confuse the Hebrew letters r and d. Some translations have followed a suggestion that the word rendered witnesses should be understood as an Aramaic term meaning “treaty.” This view is found in Good News Translation and Revised English Bible. Dead Sea Scrolls confirms that witnesses is the correct reading, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project cautiously recommends it. So this line means that people everywhere ignore or disbelieve those who witness oaths being taken or who give evidence as witnesses. For the Hebrew verb rendered are despised, see the comments at 30.12.

There is no regard for man describes a society in which people do what suits them, without regard for others. This line may also mean that there is no longer any regard for human life in the broadest sense.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Highways are desolate and travelers have ceased.
People do not keep agreements,
they do not believe witnesses,
they do not care about others.

• Roads are abandoned, nobody travels on them.
Contracts are dishonored,
testimony is ignored,
there is no regard for human life.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .