desert / wilderness

Click here to view graphically

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)
  • Wantoat: “cold windy place where no one lives” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2-20)
  • 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 (Joshua 12:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 12:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “That country/area enveloped the highland of the north, slopes, valley of Arabah and Negev in the south. The Hittites, Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites lived in that country.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “These were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites of the hill country, the western foothills, the Arabah, and the eastern slopes that go down to the Arabah, the wilderness, and the Negev in the south.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Josue and the Israelinhon also subjected/brought-under-(their)-jurisdiction the land in the west of Jordan, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon up-to the Mountain of Halak going-up to Seir. Josue gave these lands to the Israelinhon as their inheritance. They divided/partitioned this according-to their tribes. These lands were the mountains, the hills/[lit. something-like-mountains] in the west, the Valley of Jordan, the areas-below/lower-regions-of the mountains, the desert in the south, and the Negev. These (areas) were- formerly -dwelled-in before by the Hithanon, Amornon, Canaanhon, Periznon, Hivhanon, and Jebusnon. These were the kings in those places whom Josue and the Israelinhon defeated:” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “That land included the mountains, the western hilly area, the Jordan River Valley, the western slopes of the mountains, the desert in Judea, and the Negev desert in the south. That whole area was the land where the Heth, Amor, Canaan, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus people-groups lived. The Israeli army defeated the armies of the kings of each of these cities:” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 12:8

This portion included may be translated “The land that Joshua divided among them included….”

For the Good News Translation language of verse 8a see verses 10.40 and 11.16. One word occurs here which is not used in the two other passages: the eastern slopes (Revised Standard Version “the wilderness”); as Bright says, this is “the desert to the south and east, not sharply distinguishable from the Arabah and the Negeb.”

For the list of peoples mentioned in this verse, see 3.10.

This land had been the home of may be rendered “Before Joshua and the people of Israel took this land, the Hittites … and the Jebusites had lived there.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 12:8

12:8a

Verse 12:8a-b lists all the geographical areas of Israel on the west side of the Jordan River.

the hill country: The phrase the hill country indicates the central mountain range on the west side of the Jordan River. This word was used in 9:1 and you should translate it the same way in both places.

the foothills: The phrase the foothills refers to the western side of the central mountain range, between the mountains and the coastal plain. This word was used in 9:1 and you should translate it the same way in both places.

the Arabah: The term Arabah refers to the valley of the Jordan River. This word was used in 8:14 and you should translate it the same way in both places.

12:8b

the slopes: The phrase the slopes refers to the steep slopes that go down from the hill country eastward to the Dead Sea. This word was used in 10:40 and you should translate it the same way in both places.

the wilderness: The term wilderness indicates the wilderness of Judah. This is a deserted area that lies between the Judean hill country and the Dead Sea.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

the Judean wilderness (New Living Translation (2004))

and the Negev: The word Negev indicates the southern wilderness area. This word was used in 10:40 and you should translate it the same way in both places.

General Comment on 12:7b-8c

Verse 12:7b described the land of Israel by naming its northern and southern points. In 12:8a-b the same land is described again by naming its geographical regions. 12:8c describes this land a third time by naming the Canaanite peoples who lived there.

12:8c

the lands of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites: These are names of peoples who lived in the land of Israel before the Israelites conquered the land. These names occurred in 3:10, but in a different order.

Here is another way to translate this list of peoples:

The people who lived in this region were the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. These are the kings Israel defeated: (New Living Translation (2004))

General Comment on 12:9-24

Verses 12:9-24 is a list of the kings that the Israelites defeated. The Berean Standard Bible translates the words literally according to the Hebrew text. In some languages this may not be natural.

You should translate this list in a way that your language naturally arranges a list. It may be clearer to begin the list with an introduction stating that these are the kings the Israelites defeated. This information was in verse 12:7a and the readers may not make the connection. You can include this introduction at the end of verse 8, as New Living Translation (2004) and New Century Version have done, or at the beginning of verse 9, as Good News Translation has done.

These notes on verses 9-24 include only issues which need explanation.

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.