Text:

At the beginning of the verse Tischendorf, Nestle, Westcott and Hort, Soden, Vogels, Kilpatrick, Lagrange, and Merk add kai epoiēsen tous dōdeka “and he appointed the twelve”: this clause is omitted by Textus Receptus, Souter, American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, Taylor (cf. Taylor for arguments for omitting it). Although not decisive, the evidence for retaining the clause with Nestle and others, seems to outweigh the evidence for omitting it.

Exegesis:

kai ‘and’: here with the meaning ‘so’ (Translator’s New Testament, Manson).

tous dōdeka (4.10; 6.7; 9.35; 10.32; 11.11; 14.10, 17, 20, 43) ‘the Twelve’: not simply a number, as in v. 14, but a title: ‘the Twelve’ (Translator’s New Testament); Lagrange les Douze.

kai epethēken onoma tō Simōni Petron ‘and he added to Simon the name Peter.’

epitithēmi (3.17; 5.33; 6.5; 7.32; 8.23, 25; 16.18) ‘lay,’ ‘set,’ ‘place upon’: the phrase epitithenai onoma means ‘give a surname.’

Translation:

Verses 16 through 19 consist of a list of the names of the apostles, but this list is grammatically in apposition with the twelve, spoken of in verse 14. In most languages this type of apposition is so distant that without some clarification or more explicit reference, misunderstanding is likely to arise. For example, in one translation the list of names (all strange ones) was taken to be a list of the demons that were to be cast out, for the list immediately followed reference to the demons. Accordingly, verse 16 must often begin as ‘these men were…’ (Highland Oaxaca Chontal) or ‘the ones he appointed were…’ (Chicahuaxtla Triqui).

Surnamed is ‘to give an additional name to’ or ‘to give a second name to.’ This practice is a good deal more common in many cultures than in our own, and hence is not likely to be misunderstood.

For problems of transliteration of proper names and the adjustments which must be made in the case of certain familiar names see Bible Translating, 243-46. Note, however, that in many instances there are strong pressures for the adoption of arbitrary orthographic conventions in the case of well-known proper names (e.g. taking over spelling of French, Spanish, or Portuguese, despite the fact that the people do not pronounce the names according to such consonant-vowel representations). In most instances one must accede to these pressures and use the orthographically approved form of the prestige language of the area. This principle often applies to such names as Peter, James, John, Philip, and Thomas, but would not be likely to apply to Bartholomew, Alphaeus, or Thaddaeus.

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 .