Miriam

The name “Miriam” or “Abataza” means “bitterness,” “rebellion” and “star of the sea.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In some Semitic languages, the transliteration for “Miriam” is identical to “Mary,” testifying to the fact that these names are identical (Arabic and the many translations that are reliant on Arabic: مَرْيَم, Hebrew: מִרְיָם, Ge’ez / Amharic and related languages: ማርያም).

It is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “tambourine” referring to Exodus 15:20. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


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

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 part of an artwork by Indian-German artist Lucy D’Souza-Krone (b. 1949):

“D’Souza’s painting of Miriam dancing at the river is one of a series of ‘Biblical Women’ reproduced as the 1990 Lenten veil of Misereor, Germany. Miriam, the prophetess and sister of Moses and Aaron, celebrated the liberation of her people from their Egyptian oppressors. Her dance was supported by other women who joined with her in an act of celebration. Writing of the story the artist adds that ‘water is a predominant element in the scene reminding us also of the physical hardship facing women in India as they often have to walk many miles for a pot of water.'” (Source for this and the image: The Bible Through Asian Eyes by Masao Takenaka and Ron O’Grady 1991)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Miriam .

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 20:1)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 20:1:

  • Kupsabiny: “All the people of Israel arrived to the wilderness of Zin in the first month. When they arrived, they set up their tents where it is called Kadesh. When they were there, Miriam died and was buried.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “In the first month, the whole community of Israel arrived in the wilderness of Zin and took shelter at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “In the first month, the whole community of Israel arrived at the desert of Zin, and they camped at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was-buried.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “In March/April of the next year, the Israeli people traveled/walked to the Zin Desert and camped/set up their tents near Kadesh town. While they/we were there, Moses’/my older sister Miriam died and was buried there.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 20:1

And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month: A new and distinct section of the discourse begins here and should be marked appropriately in the target language. Good News Translation, for example, places the phrase “In the first month” at the beginning of this verse. The phrase the whole congregation may be included here with the phrase the people of Israel to emphasize that a whole new generation of Israelites was now getting ready to enter the land of Canaan. Good News Translation combines the two phrases, saying “the whole community of Israel.” For the Hebrew word rendered congregation (ʿedah), which is better translated “community,” see the comments on 1.2. For the wilderness of Zin, see 13.21. The chronological signal in the first month is incomplete; it is not followed by the year. It is probably the fortieth year that is meant, which was the last year of the Israelites’ journey through the desert (so Ashley, page 380). The Jewish medieval commentator Rashbam expressed this view. In 33.38 it is mentioned that Aaron died on Mount Hor forty years after Israel’s exodus from Egypt. According to 33.36, Mount Hor was the first stop after Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, which is the same location as here in 20.1. It is also clear from 20.28 that Aaron died shortly after Miriam. So it seems most likely that from chapter 20 onward the narrative takes place in the fortieth and last year of the Israelites’ journey through the desert. Since this is such an important point in time (the end of the old generation of Israel), it may be helpful to translate in the first month as “in the first month of the fortieth year of their journey.” If this is not done, then the following footnote should be added on this phrase: “Probably the fortieth and last year of the Israelites’ journey through the desert. Aaron died in that same year (33.38), probably shortly after Miriam (20.28).”

Stayed in Kadesh: Stayed renders the Hebrew verb yashab, which often refers to a short period of residence. Here it may be translated “stayed some time” (Revised English Bible) or “camped” (Good News Translation). For Kadesh see 13.26 and the introductory comments on 20.1–21.35.

And Miriam died there, and was buried there: The repetition of the adverb there, which refers to Kadesh, emphasizes the site of Miriam’s death (as is the location of Aaron’s death at Mount Hor in verse 28), in contrast to the unknown place where Moses died and was buried by the LORD (see Deut 34.6).

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 .