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.

Zechariah

The name of the father of John the Baptist that is transliterated as “Zechariah” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “beard (the sign for a patriarch)” + “mute.” (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


“Zechariah” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In French Sign Language it is “temporarily mute.” (Source: Lexique – Explications en langue des signes)

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

The following is a stained glass window depicting Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth. It was created by Ateliers Maréchal de Metz between 1848 and 1860 for the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Luxembourg. Zechariah is shown on the right:

Photo by Marcin Szala, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

More information on Zechariah (New Testament figure) .

John the Baptist

The name that is transliterated as “John (the Baptist)” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language and Mexican Sign Language as “baptize” (source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. ).


“John the Baptist” in Mexican Sign Language (source: BSLM )

In German Sign Language (Catholic) it is translated with the sign for the letter J and the sign signifying a Catholic baptism by sprinkling on the head.


“John” in German Sign Language (catholic), source: Taub und katholisch

In American Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the letter J and the sign signifying “shout,” referring to John 1:23. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“John” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

Similarly, in French Sign Language, it is “prepare the way.” (Source: Lexique – Explications en langue des signes)

In Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with the sign for leaping in the womb (see Luke 1:41) and baptism. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)


“John” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL

A question of cultural assumptions arose in Tuvan. The instinctive way to translate this name denotatively would be “John the Dipper,” but this would carry the highly misleading connotation that he drowned people. It was therefore decided that his label should focus on the other major aspect of his work, that is, proclaiming that the Messiah would soon succeed him. (Compare his title in Russian Orthodox translation “Иоанн Предтеча” — “John the Forerunner.”) So he became “John the Announcer,” which fortunately did not seem to give rise to any confusion with radio newsreaders! (Source: David Clark in The Bible Translator 2015, p. 117ff. )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

In Noongar it is translated as John-Kakaloorniny or “John Washing” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

A new oral translation into Yao / Ciyawo, spoken in Mozambique, uses John the one who ceremoniously washes/pours water, using a term (kusingula) that “indicates a ceremonial washing or pouring of water on a person in the Yawo’s expression of Islam which can be used for an act done in repentance of sin.” (Source: Houston 2025, p. 236)

See also John the Baptist (icon) and learn more on Bible Odyssey: John the Baptist .

the word of God came to John

The English translation “the word of God came to John” of the Greek original uses the verb “come.” Javanese translates “John was-commissioned with God’s word,” Kituba as “God made-known his message to him” (Kituba) and in Nyakyusa-Ngonde the verb for “found” is used and in Tzeltal “arrived in the heart of.” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

John the Baptist (icon)

Following is a Syriac Orthodox icon of John the Baptist from the 18/19th century (found in the Cathedral of Saints Constantine and Helen, Yabrud, Syria).

 
The wings are often depicted in icons of John the Baptist because of his status as a messenger. The scroll that John the Baptist holds quotes John 1:29 and reads (translated into English): “I saw and witnessed concerning him, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.’”

Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )

See also John the Baptist.

John the Baptist Preaching in the Desert

Following is a 1973 painting of the JESUS MAFA project, a response to New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings:

John the Baptist dramatically preaches by the water’s edge to his audience that consists of common people as well as religious leaders. He appears to be in the middle of his harsh pronouncement on the Pharisees and Sadducees, calling them a “brood of vipers.” They stand at the right-hand side of the painting, arms folded, seemingly indignant at John’s words. The rest of the crowd watches and listens intently to John, curious and enthralled by the scene before them. In the distance there are some figures approaching the group. Could it be Jesus on the way to his baptism?

From Art in the Christian Tradition , a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Image retrieved March 23, 2026. Original source: librairie-emmanuel.fr.

complete verse (Luke 3:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 3:2:

  • Noongar: “Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. Now in the desert, God spoke to John, son of Zechariah.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Who were High Priest at that time, Hanas and Kayafas. In that year, God sent his word to Yohanes son of Zakharia in the desert.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When Tiberus, the leader king of the tribe of Roma had ruled for 15 years already, the word of God arrived, coming to Yahiya the child of Jakariya. Yahiya was there in the lonely place. At those times Pontiyus Pilatus was governor in the place Yahudiya, Herod was governor in the place Jalil and his sibling Pilip was governor in the place Ituriya and the place Tarakuniti, and Lisani was governor in the place Abilen. The chief priests were Annas and Kayapas.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “At the fifteenth year of the rule of King Tiberius in the town of Rome there was that which God told John, the son of Zechariah. Now John was in a land where no people lived. At that time the governor of the province of Judea was Pontius Pilate, and Herod was governor over the province of Galilee. And as for Philip, the younger brother of Herod, he was governor over the provinces of Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias, he was governor over the province of Abilene. And as for Annas and Caiaphas, they were the high priest in the town of Jerusalem.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The highest priests were Annas and Caifas. At that time, there was that which God told Juan the child of Zekarias who was staying in the place with no inhabitants.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Anas and Caifas were the Most-important Priests. Well, at that time, the word of God came to Juan who was that son of Zacarias and spouse, he being there in the wilderness place.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Annas

The name that is transliterated as “Annas” in English means “grace of Yahweh,” “humble.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) it is translated with a sign that combines the letter A and a combination of the letter C (for “cetro,” Portuguese for “scepter”) and the sign for “scepter,” indicating power. (Source: Aline Martins and Paul Fahnestock)


“Annas” in Libras (source )

More information on Annas .

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .