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 (Judges 11:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Judges 11:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “from the river Arnon in the south to the river Jabbok in the north and from the wilderness in the east to the river Jordan in the west.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They took the whole area of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan river.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “from Arnon until Jabok, and from the desolate-place until the River Jordan.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The Israelis took all the land that belonged to the Amor people-group, from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and from the desert in the east to the Jordan River in the west.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Jordan

The Hebrew, Greek and Ge’ez that is translated as “Jordan” means “descending (rapidly),” “flowing down.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the river bordering Jordan and Israel, along with the general sign for river. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Jordan river” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jordan River .

Translation commentary on Judges 11:22

And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites …: This verse expands on and reinforces Jephthah’s argument. If the consequence in the last verse is introduced by “So,” the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And can be omitted here (Good News Translation). The pronoun they refers to the Israelites. For took possession of, see verse 11.21. The Hebrew word for territory (see verse 11.18) differs from the one rendered “land” in the previous verse, but they have the same meaning in this context.

From the Arnon to the Jabbok was the south-north axis of the land (see verse 11.13), and from the wilderness to the Jordan was its east-west axis. Here the wilderness refers to the desert east of the Amorites’ land. For the Jordan, see verse 3.28.

A translation model for this verse is:

• The Israelites took control of all the Amorite land from the Arnon River [in the south] to the Jabbok River [in the north]. Their land also extended from the desert [in the east] to the Jordan River [in the west].

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Judges 11:22

11:22a seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok

They took all the land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River,
-or-
from the Arnon River ⌊in the south⌋ to the Jabbok River ⌊in the north⌋ .

11:22b and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

and from the desert to the Jordan River.
-or-
It also goes from the desert ⌊in the east⌋ to the Jordan River ⌊in the west⌋ .

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