Translation commentary on Mark 14:31

Text:

After elalei ‘he said’ Textus Receptus and Kilpatrick add mallon ‘the more,’ which is omitted by all other modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

ekperissōs (only here in the N.T.; cf. perissōs 10.26, huperperissōs 7.37) ‘exceedingly,’ ‘vehemently,’ ‘emphatically.’

ean deē ‘even if it be necessary,’ ‘even if it must be’: for dei ‘it is necessary’ cf. 8.31.

sunapothanein (only here in Mark; cf. apothnēskō 5.35) ‘to die with,’ ‘to die together with.’

hōsautōs (cf. 12.21) ‘in the same way,’ ‘in like manner.’

Translation:

Said may need to be translated by some term which implies a response to a previous statement, e.g. ‘replied,’ or ‘said in return,’ or ‘spoke back.’

Vehemently is as strong a statement of assertion as can be used, e.g. ‘said very hard’ (Copainalá Zoque). In combination with the verb one may render this expression as ‘insisted strongly,’ ‘declared with strength,’ or ‘said very strong words.’

Die with you may imply in some languages only natural death. Accordingly, as in Kekchi, one must render the passage as ‘be killed with you,’ implying violent death.

If deny is translated as ‘say that one does not know,’ it may be impossible to use a double negative, e.g. ‘not say … not know.’ In this case the double negative not deny must be rendered as ‘I will always say that I know’ (Copainalá Zoque).

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 .

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments