Text:

There are three different ways in which the last part of this verse is read by modern editions of the Greek Text: (1) the Revised Standard Version reading kai ekōluomen auton hoti ouk akolouthei hēmin ‘and we were forbidding him because he does not follow us’ is the text preferred also by Westcott and Hort, Vogels, and Souter; (2) hos ouk akolouthei hēmin, kai ekōluomen auton, hoti ouk ēkolouthei hēmin ‘who does not follow us, and we were forbidding him, because he was not following us’ is the text preferred by Textus Receptus (with slight differences noted in Appendix), Tischendorf, Nestle, Kilpatrick, Merk, and Taylor; (3) hos ouk akolouthei hēmin, kai ekōluomen auton ‘who does not follow us, and we were forbidding him’ is preferred by Soden and Lagrange. The choice seems to lie between (1) and (2), the majority of editors preferring (2).

Exegesis:

Iōannēs ‘John’: presumably the apostle, son of Zebedee and brother of James (cf. 1.19; 3.17).

en tō onomati sou (cf. v. 37; 16.17) ‘in your name,’ ‘using your name’: cf. Arndt & Gingrich ‘with mention of the name, while naming or calling on the name.’

ēkoluomen (9.39; 10.14) ‘we were hindering,’ ‘preventing,’ ‘forbidding’: the imperfect tense in this case expresses attempt ‘we tried to stop him’ (cf. The Modern Speech New Testament, Montgomery, Manson).

The other words in this verse have already been dealt with: didaskale ‘teacher’ cf. 4.38; ekballein daimonia ‘cast out demons’ cf. 1.12, 34; akoloutheō ‘follow (as a disciple)’ cf. 1.18.

Translation:

For teacher see 2.13.

For casting out demons see 1.34.

In your name has a somewhat different meaning here from that in verse 9.37, for here the usage is more technical – more related to the concepts of “word magic,” in the sense that the man was evidently invoking the name of Jesus, whose reputation as an exorcist had attracted considerable attention, and had acquired evident “power.” One may translate this passage merely as ‘by using your name’ or ‘by calling out your name.’ However, even this use of ‘name’ may be utterly meaningless in a receptor language and in such instances one can use a more paraphrastic equivalent ‘as though on orders from you’ (Highland Puebla Nahuatl). It is not possible to say merely ‘on your orders,’ for obviously the man had not been commissioned by Jesus, and the use of Jesus’ name was evidently a prerogative assumed by the man without warrant. In Tzeltal the equivalent is ‘by your authority, so he said.’

Forbade him may be translated as ‘said, Don’t do that’ (Navajo).

Not following us involves unsuspected difficulties, for if translated literally, it would mean that the man was not coming along behind the other disciples, obviously not what was meant. The equivalent in many languages does not involve the use of a verb ‘to follow,’ but an identification of the adherence of the man to the group, e.g. ‘he was not one of us’ (Southern Subanen) or ‘he was not with us.’

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 .