Text:

After apostellei ‘he sends’ Textus Receptus omits palin ‘again,’ which is retained by all modern editions of the Greek text (this omission sensibly alters the meaning of the phrase: cf. King James Version and Exegesis, below).

Exegesis:

ho kurios autou chreian echei ‘the Lord has need of it’: the majority of translations thus render the phrase, understanding ho kurios as meaning ‘the Lord,’ in the Christian sense of the word. Commentators, however, call attention to the fact that in Mark (and Matthew also) this would be the only place in the narrative of Jesus’ ministry where the title is applied to him. Some have tried to meet this difficulty by taking ho kurios as ‘the Master’ (cf. Goodspeed, The Modern Speech New Testament, Manson; Lagrange le Maître, but in his translation Le Seigneur). This would hardly seem correct in view of the use of the terms ho didaskalos (cf. 4.38 and references) and rabbi (cf. 9.5 and references) ‘the Teacher’ throughout the Gospel. Taylor, therefore, suggests that ho kurios is the owner of the animal, and the phrase means ‘the owner needs it.’ This interpretation has been further expanded by the suggestion that Jesus himself was the owner of the animal. McNeile points out that some Syriac versions and Ephraim join autou to ho kurios “as though Jesus claimed to be the real master of the animal.” So Translator’s New Testament translates, ‘Its owner needs it.’

If ho kurios in the sense of ‘the Lord’ be taken as the exact equivalent of what Jesus said to the two disciples, in the historical context of the incident the phrase could only mean, ‘God needs the animal.’ Commentators point out, however, that here, as often, we may not have the very words spoken by Jesus.

kai euthus auton apostellei palin hodē ‘and immediately he sends it back here’: part of the reply the disciples were to give to any who might raise objections to their taking the animal. The subject of apostellei ‘he sends’ is ho kurios of the preceding clause. The King James Version translation is based on the Textus Receptus omission of palin ‘again,’ with the meaning ‘and he (i.e. the man who might object) will send him here.’

apostellei palin ‘he sends again,’ i.e. ‘sends back,’ ‘returns.’

Translation:

Doing this may require a more specific reference, rather than this generic substitute, e.g. ‘untying the animal.’

The Lord is admittedly a difficult expression, but it is probably best to take this as a third person reference to Jesus. One difficulty is involved in the fact that this is put in the form of a direct statement, which in some languages would require ‘I, the Lord,’ as spoken by Jesus. However, Jesus is stating what the disciples should say, not what he himself is declaring to them. This problem can be resolved somewhat in certain languages by shifting the form into indirect discourse, e.g. ‘say that the Lord has need of it….’ In languages which require a possessive of ‘Lord,’ one can translate as ‘our Lord’ or ‘our Master’ (in the direct form) or as ‘your Lord’ or ‘your Master’ (in the indirect form of discourse).

Has need of it is translatable as ‘must use the animal’ or ‘has need to ride it.’

Send it back should not be translated with the connotation of letting the donkey come back alone, but ‘cause it to be led back.’

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .