Exegesis:

proskalesamenos (cf. 3.13) ‘calling to him,’ ‘summoning.’

hoi dokountes archein tōn ethnōn ‘those appearing to rule the Gentiles’ the exact force of hoi dokountes ‘those who seem’ (cf. 6.49) is not certain. Moffatt‘s ‘so-called rulers’ would seem too extreme: it does not appear that Jesus was intending to deny the fact of their authority in this case. Arndt & Gingrich have ‘those who are reputed to be rulers’; Manson ‘those who claim to be rulers’; The Modern Speech New Testament ‘those who are deemed rulers’; Translator’s New Testament has ‘those who consider themselves to be rulers’ and, in a footnote, the alternative ‘are considered to be rulers.’ Perhaps best of all is ‘those who are regarded as rulers’ (cf. Montgomery, Swete).

archō (only here in the active voice in Mark; elsewhere always middle archomai ‘begin’; cf. also the participle ho archōn ‘ruler’ in 3.22) ‘to rule.’

ta ethna (cf. 10.33) ‘the nations,’ ‘the foreigners,’ ‘the Gentiles.’

katakureuousin (only here in Mark) ‘they have the mastery over.’

katexousiazousin (only here in Mark) ‘they exercise authority over.’

Translation:

Called them must refer here to all the disciples, though in many translations the reference is erroneously understood to apply only to the two immediately preceding disciples, at whom the rest were angry.

To rule is translatable as ‘to command,’ ‘to boss,’ or ‘to govern.’

For Gentiles see 10.33.

Lord it over may be rendered as referring to exorbitant demands ‘make them run back and forth’ in the sense of constantly running errands (Copainalá Zoque) or to self-exaltation, e.g. ‘raise themselves up’ (Tzeltal).

Great is usually interpreted in terms of (1) physical strength, with metaphorical extensions: ‘Strong,’ ‘mighty,’ ‘powerful’ or (2) authority or position to command: ‘with much authority’ or ‘who says strong commands.’

Exercise authority may be rendered as ‘tell them exactly what to do’ or ‘constantly boss them.’

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 .

Exegesis:

echete is the imperative (not the indicative) ‘you must have.’

pistin theou ‘faith in God’ in which the genitive theou ‘of God’ indicates the object of faith, not its subject.

Translation:

For faith see 1.15.

The imperative form of Jesus’ statement does provide certain difficulties for the translator, especially in languages in which there are no corresponding forms of this verb. In such instances one may render the passage as ‘you should believe in God,’ ‘you must trust in God,’ or ‘it is necessary that you have confidence in God.’

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 .

Text:

Instead of kai hoi hepta ‘and the seven’ of most modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus and Kilpatrick have kai elabon autēn hoi hepta kai ‘and the seven took her and.’

Exegesis:

kai hoi hepta ‘and the seven’: this phrase summarizes the whole story, meaning ‘and thus all seven’ (cf. O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada de sorte que, Lagrange ainsi).

eschaton is an adverb ‘lastly,’ ‘last of all.’

Translation:

The shift to the seven left no children may not convey all the meaning, since in the previous verse what happened to the third brother is stated, though elliptically, but there is no specific indication that all seven were married to the woman. This is implied, but not stated. Because of the fact that the levirate practice may seem exceptionally strange – if not downright immoral to some peoples – it is important that the details be at least correctly stated. Accordingly, in Tzeltal this verse contains ‘she passed from one to another, the seven, and none of them had children by her.’

Last of all is translated as ‘after all the rest had died, the woman died.’

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 .

Exegesis:

eis panta ta ethnē ‘in all nations,’ ‘among all peoples,’ ‘to all the Gentiles.’

eis ‘in,’ ‘to.’ Moule calls the use of eis in this verse equivalent to a pure dative.

ta ethnē in a general sense ‘all nations’; it could, however, have the meaning ‘all the Gentiles.’

prōton ‘first’ is an adverb, modifying the verbal phrase dei kēruchthēnai ‘it is necessary (that) be preached.’ It is generally taken to indicate time, ‘first,’ that is ‘before’ (something happens: in this case, before the End comes): so most translations; by some, however, it is taken to indicate degree of rank or importance: cf. Manson, “the first essential”; Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale tout d’abord; Lagrange “avant tout, tout d’abord.”

For dei ‘it is necessary’ cf. 8.31; kērussō ‘proclaim,’ ‘preach’ cf. 1.4; euaggelion ‘the gospel’ cf. 1.1.

Translation:

For gospel see 1.1, and for preached see 1.4. A typical rendering is ‘the good news must first be announced.’

All nations may be ‘all peoples’ or ‘the people of all different places.’ In the first instance the point of view is the diversity of kinds and in the second the distinction in place, differences which must be carefully observed in some languages.

In the active form, as required by some languages, one may translate as ‘people must announce the good news to….’

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 .

Exegesis:

For the same combination of the three verbs erchesthai … heuriskein … katheudein ‘come … find … sleep’ cf. 13.36 and 14.40.

ouch ischusas…; ‘were you not able…?’ ‘could you not…?’: either (as Revised Standard Version) ‘be able’ (as in 9.18), or, literally ‘have the strength’ (as in 5.4), which Taylor prefers.

ischuō (cf. 2.17) ‘be strong,’ ‘be able.’

mian hōran ‘one hour’: here a period of time. Perhaps the sense is ‘even (as little as) one hour?’

grēgorēsai (cf. 13.34) ‘to watch,’ ‘to stay alert,’ ‘to keep awake.’

Translation:

Since the perspective of the previous section has been the activity of Jesus, it may be necessary to translate came as ‘went back.’

Said may require rendering by ‘asked.’

For watch see verse 34.

Where there is no equivalent for hour in the strict sense of a precise period of time, one can often translate as ‘for even a short period of time’ or ‘for even a while.’

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 .

Exegesis:

hē paidiskē ‘the (same) maid’: this is the same one referred to in v. 66; cf. Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale cette servante.

tois parestōsin (cf. v. 47) ‘to the bystanders,’ ‘to those present.’

hoti ‘that’ is recitative, introducing direct speech.

Translation:

Though one of them might be a little ambiguous, the context is generally quite sufficient to make the reference clear, and thus to avoid the necessity of saying ‘one of the disciples’ or ‘one of Jesus’ men.’ However, in some instances one must employ ‘his companion’ or ‘his associate’ (Tzeltal).

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 .

Exegesis:

sōson (cf. 3.4) ‘you must save (yourself)’: the verb here is used in the sense of rescuing or delivering from death.

katabas (cf. 1.10) ‘coming down’: the participle here is to be taken as indicating means, ‘by coming down (from the cross),’ rather than as an additional imperative. Cf. Lagrange en descendant.

For stauros ‘cross’ cf. 8.34.

Translation:

Save yourself is translatable as ‘rescue yourself,’ ‘prevent yourself from dying,’ ‘cause yourself to escape,’ or ‘cause yourself not to suffer.’

Come down may not be translatable in the literal form, since it would imply ‘walk down’ or ‘travel down.’ Hence, one may need to employ an expression such as ‘get down from,’ ‘climb down from,’ or ‘descend from.’

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 .