Exegesis:
meta hēmeras hex (cf. meta treis hēmeras 8.31) ‘after six days,’ ‘six days later.’
paralambanei (cf. 4.26) ‘he takes,’ ‘he takes along,’ ‘he takes with.’
anapherei (only here in Mark; cf. pherō 1.32, ekpherō 8.23) ‘he takes up,’ ‘he leads up.’
kat’ idian monous ‘alone by themselves.’
kat’ idian (cf. 4.34) ‘privately,’ ‘apart,’ ‘alone.’
monous (cf. kata monas 4.10, autos monos 6.47) ‘alone,’ ‘by themselves.’
kai metemorphōthē emprosthen autōn ‘and he was transformed in their presence.’
metamorphoō (only here in Mark) ‘transform,’ ‘change in form’: the context indicates that this is a change outwardly visible in its effects.
emprosthen (cf. 2.12) ‘before,’ ‘in the presence of.’
Translation:
Jesus took with him Peter and James and John must be rendered in some languages as ‘Peter and James and John went along with Jesus.’ A verb such as ‘took’ may denote either ‘led along’ (as one does an animal or child) or ‘forced to go along’ (as one does a prisoner).
Led them up may be ‘went ahead of them up’ or ‘showed them the way up,’ if ‘led’ would denote leading of a child, an animal, or a blind or crippled person.
There is no way to know just how high the mountain was on which Jesus was transfigured, but tradition has associated this with Mount Hermon (note the reference to Caesarea Philippi in 8.27). However, any expression denoting ‘high mountain’ will be entirely relative, depending upon the region of the receptor language. For example, a high mountain in some regions of Southeast Asia or the Andean region of South America will be decidedly higher than any mountain which Jesus might have climbed in Palestine. Conversely, ‘high mountain’ as translated into Yucateco (an Indian language spoken on the flat peninsula of Yucatan) or Marshallese (the language of some of the low-lying atolls of the South Pacific) will be nothing more than a rather high mound or hill – regardless of the expression used in translating. As in all terms for such geographical objects a translation can only provide a basis for supplementary explanation. It is not possible to incorporate enough data into a translation so as to reconstruct an accurate image of the event.
Apart by themselves must mean that the four were together, not that the three disciples were led off to the side – as is implied in some translations.
Transfigured is not an easy term to translate, for it designates an event which is entirely outside the experience of people. In general, however, it is sufficient to say ‘was changed’ or ‘changed himself,’ but one must carefully avoid any suggestions of Jesus’ becoming a kind of werewolf. In Kizanaki one may say ‘changed his likeness’ (i.e. ‘his appearance’); in Copainalá Zoque the appropriate expression is ‘made himself different.’ The meaning here, it should be observed, is passive, not reflexive. In Southern Subanen one must say ‘his body was changed,’ for otherwise the verb would imply some basic change in personality or character.
Before them may be rendered as ‘in front of them’ or ‘there where they were.’
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 .