Translation commentary on Mark 12:42

Exegesis:

mia ‘one’: the pronoun is here equivalent, as often in Mark, to the indefinite pronoun tis ‘a’ (only here, however, does it function as an adjective: elsewhere it is a pronoun – cf. 5.22; 9.17; 10.17; 12.28).

ptōchē (cf. 10.21) ‘poor.’

lepta duo ‘two small copper coins’: the lepton was the smallest coin in circulation. It is impossible precisely to determine the actual value of the coin. Manson estimates it to have been worth 1/96 of a denarius (cf. 6.37 for the denarius).

ho estin kodrantēs ‘which is a quadrans’: this is added for the benefit of Graeco-roman readers, who would not have been acquainted with the lepton. The word kodrantēs is a Latin loan word quadrans, i.e. ‘one-fourth’ of an assarion (the assarion was estimated to be one-sixteenth of a denarius). As may be seen, the equivalence between two lepta and one kodrantēs is not exact.

Translation:

The relationship between the two copper coins and a penny is described in Inupiaqas ‘put in two little copper pieces of money which is equal to only the cheapest kind of money.’ In Cashibo-Cacataibo one may say ‘two little pieces of money which have the value of a centavo,’ in which case centavo is borrowed from Spanish.

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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