Translation commentary on Mark 12:41

Exegesis:

Some words in this verse have already been dealt with: for kathizō ‘sit’ cf. 9.35; katenanti ‘opposite,’ ‘in front of’ cf. 11.2; chalkos ‘copper,’ ‘money’ cf. 6.8; plousios ‘rich’ cf. 10.25.

gazophulakeion (12.43) ‘treasury’: presumably one of the thirteen contribution boxes, or receptacles, in the form of trumpets, with broad bases and narrow openings at the top, which were placed under the colonnade in the Court of the Women. It may be that the particular area, in which the thirteen boxes were placed, was known popularly as the ‘treasury.’

etheōrei pōs ‘he was watching how’: for similar constructions cf. 5.16 diēgēsanto … pōs ‘they explained … how’; 11.18; 14.1 ezētoun pōs ‘they were seeking how’; 14.11 ezētei pōs ‘he was seeking how.’

eballon polla ‘they were putting in much (money)’: Burton calls attention to the imperfect here, describing the repeated acts, and the aorist ebalon ‘they put’ in v. 44, a summary statement of the incident.

Translation:

The treasury is often translatable as ‘the place where the money was received (or ‘kept’),’ or ‘the place where the people put in the money.’

Watched the multitude putting … must in some languages be broken up into two clauses, e.g. ‘watched while the crowd of people put their money…,’ or ‘watched the many people; they were putting money….’

Rich people may often be rendered as ‘those who possess much money’ and in this context, therefore, one may translate as ‘those who had much money put in a lot of money.’

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 .

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