Translation commentary on Mark 4:20

Text:

Instead of en … en … en ‘in … in … in’ read by Tischendorf, Nestle, Westcott and Hort, Soden, Vogels, Merk, and Souter, hen … hen … hen ‘one … one … one’ is read by Textus Receptus, Lagrange, Kilpatrick, and Taylor (cf. v. 8).

Exegesis:

ekeinoi … hoi … sparentes ‘those … who … (were) sown’: probably some distinction should be made between ekeinoi ‘those’ and houtoi ‘these’ of vv. 15, 16 (alloi ‘others’ v. 18); some difference, likewise, is probably intended by the use of the aorist participle sparentes ‘sown’ in the present verse, instead of the present participle speiromenoi ‘sown’ of vv. 16, 18.

hoitines (9.1; 12.18; 15.7) ‘those who,’ i.e. ‘the very ones who’ (referred to in the previous clause).

paradechontai (only here in Mark) ‘they receive,’ ‘they accept’: here used as a synonym for lambanousin ‘they receive’ of v. 16.

karpophorousin (4.28) ‘they bear fruit,’ ‘they produce a crop.’

Translation:

Accept it must mean more than simply ‘receive it’ or ‘hear it.’ The implication here is that people believe the word, e.g. ‘put it in their hearts’ (Tzeltal), ‘take the word with truth’ (Loma (Liberia)), or ‘to hear and understand’ (Tumbuka).

Bear fruit is all right when speaking of plants, but the figure may not be acceptable when speaking of persons. Hence, one must often substitute a phrase meaning ‘to produce results’ or ‘to cause blessing.’

For an analysis of thirtyfold, and sixtyfold and a hundredfold see 4.8.

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
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments