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 (Numbers 10:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 10:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “So, The Israelites got up from the wilderness of Sinai and that cloud went ahead of them until they arrived in the wilderness of Paran.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “So the Israelites set out from the Sinai wilderness. They travelled from place to place till the cloud stopped, having arrived in the wilderness of Paran.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then the Israelinhon left from the desert of Sinai and they traveled moving-from-one- place -to-another, until the cloud stopped above the desert of Paran.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So we/the Israelis traveled from the Sinai Desert, and we/they continued traveling north until the cloud stopped in the Paran Desert.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 10:11 - 12

This paragraph gives a summary of what is to come in 10.13–12.16, as explained above. So 10.13–12.16 does not follow chronologically after this opening paragraph, but overlaps it. If this is not understood, the reader will draw the wrong conclusion that the Israelites arrived in Paran (10.12) before they came to Kibroth-hattaavah and Hazeroth (11.35) and somehow went back to Paran again (12.16). Verse 11 begins with the Hebrew word wayehi (literally “And it came to pass” King James Version), which marks the beginning of a new discourse unit.

In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month: See the comments on 1.1, where the first day of this month is mentioned. This date refers to the second year since the Exodus from Egypt. Good News Bible makes this explicit by saying “the second year after the people left Egypt.” It is only here in 10.11, after the major section on rituals and the system of worship has been completed (7.1–10.10), that the narrative returns to the second month of the second year. A footnote may be necessary to clarify the chronology, the connection with 1.1, and the fact that the people had not moved from the desert of Sinai since that time.

The cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony: The cloud did not rise by its own power. As mentioned at 9.17 (see the comments there), it may give that wrong impression to render the cloud was taken up as “the cloud … lifted” (Good News Bible) or “the cloud … moved on” (Contemporary English Version). For the tabernacle of the testimony, see the comments on 1.50.

And the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai: For the Hebrew verb rendered set out, see the comments on 2.9. Here it may be rendered “moved on,” “journeyed further,” or “marched.” By stages is literally “by their marches/departures.” The Hebrew refers to a series of regular marches, journeying further and further away from the desert of Sinai, to the wilderness of Paran. This is why Good News Bible translates set out by stages as “started on their journey.” New Living Translation is even clearer with “set out … and traveled on from place to place.” For the wilderness of Sinai, see 1.1.

And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran refers to the end of this part of Israelites’ journey, which took some time. For the cloud settled down, see 9.17. It is implied in 12.16 that the wilderness of Paran was in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula. It was probably just south of Canaan and west of Midian (see 1 Kgs 11.18). Under normal circumstances it should have taken the people only a few months to journey to Canaan, their final destination. Contemporary English Version expresses this clause clearly, saying “And some time later, the cloud stopped in the Paran Desert.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “The cloud led them to the desert of Paran; there it settled down.” Another possible model is “The cloud led them to the wilderness of Paran, where it stopped.” It may be helpful to place this clause in parentheses to indicate that it refers to an event after the events in 10.13–12.16.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .