Translation commentary on Mark 8:31

Exegesis:

dei (9.11; 13.7, 10, 14; 14.31) ‘it is necessary,’ ‘it is needed’: the verb denotes compulsion of some sort. What this compulsion is only the total context can indicate. A translation should not convey the idea that an impersonal fate or destiny is the determining factor, as though ‘the Son of man is fated to….’ Rather this is the God-appointed mission of the Son of man. Lagrange: une nécessité, imposée d’en haut.

ton huion tou anthrōpou (cf. 2.10) ‘the Son of man.’

polla pathein (cf. 5.26) ‘to suffer much’ (Translator’s New Testament) or ‘to suffer many things’ (Revised Standard Version).

apodokimasthēnai (12.10) ‘be rejected,’ ‘be spurned.’

hupo tōn presbuterōn kai tōn archiereōn kai tōn grammateōn (cf. 7.3) ‘by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes’: the three groups which composed the Sanhedrin (cf. Lagrange).

hoi presbuteroi (cf. 7.3) ‘the elders’: these were laymen.

hoi archiereis (10.33; 11.18, 27; 14.1, 10, 43, 53, 55; 15.1, 3, 10, 11, 31; cf. 2.26) ‘the chief priests’: high priests, present and past, and members of the high-priestly families in Jerusalem.

hoi grammateis (cf. 1.22) ‘the scribes,’ ‘the interpreters of the Law.’

apoktanthēnai (cf. 3.4) ‘to be killed.’

meta treis hēmeras (9.31; 10.34; cf. dia triōn hēmerōn 14.58; en trisin hēmerais 15.29) ‘after three days’: as Field has abundantly demonstrated meta treis hēmeras means ‘on the third day after this one,’ what we should call ‘the day after tomorrow,’ meaning exactly the same thing as tē tritē hēmera ‘on the third day’ in Matthew and Luke.

anastēnai (cf. 1.35) ‘rise’: here meaning ‘rise again,’ ‘rise from the dead.’ With this meaning the verb anistēmi appears in the active voice further in 9.9, 10, 31; 10.34; 12.23; 16.9 (for egeirō ‘rise’ with this meaning in Mark – 7 times – cf. 1.31).

Translation:

Teach them that … may require adjustment to the direct form, ‘teach them, The Son of man….’

For Son of man see 2.10, but note also that in languages in which one cannot speak of himself in the third person, it is usually necessary to add ‘I,’ e.g. ‘teach them, I who am the Son of man….’ Without such an addition the only alternative for the reader is to assume that Jesus was speaking about someone other than himself.

Suffer many things may be, as in Tzeltal, ‘go through much trouble.’ In other languages the equivalent may be ‘endure much pain’ or ‘hurt much’; cf. Toraja-Sa’dan ‘feel much pain’; Indonesian ‘taste much suffering’; Batak Toba ‘his suffering would be great.’

In some languages there are problems resulting from the fact that the shifts from active (suffer) to passive (be rejected and be killed) and back again to active (rise again) cannot be employed in a single sentence. This may mean either changes from passives to actives, with resulting problems of shifts in subject expressions, or the splitting of this sentence into several clause units, e.g. ‘he began to teach them, The Son of man must suffer much. The elders and the chief priests and the scribes will repudiate him and kill him. On the third day he will come to life again.’

The elders are either ‘the old men’ or ‘the important men.’ In most languages there are convenient terms for the elder statesmen – the counselors of the tribes and henchmen of the chief; so Toraja-Sa’dan ‘those to whom one says father.’

For priests see 1.40. The chief priests are ‘the important priests,’ ‘the big priests,’ or ‘the priests who have the power.’ For scribes see 1.22.

Rejected may be translated as ‘repudiated,’ ‘denounced,’ or ‘refused,’ depending upon the closest cultural equivalent.

Rise again cannot be translated literally in many languages, for the meaning is essentially figurative, i.e. ‘to come to life again,’ ‘to live again,’ or ‘to arise from among the dead.’

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 .

Translation commentary on Mark 9:25

Exegesis:

episuntrechei ochlos ‘a crowd was coming together’; perhaps, ‘a mob was gathering’ (cf. Berkeley).

episuntrechō (only here in the N.T.; cf. prostrechō 9.15) ‘come together,’ ‘run together’: there may be an indication of mob action of one sort or another (cf. Manson ‘the crowd closing in upon them’; cf. Black who suggests the verb may mean ‘attack,’ the boy being the object of the crowd’s hostile mood).

The other words in this verse have already been dealt with; for epitimaō ‘rebuke’ cf. 1.25; to pneuma to akatharton ‘the unclean spirit’ cf. 1.23; alalon ‘dumb’ cf. 7.37; kōphon ‘deaf’ cf. 7.32; epitassō ‘command’ cf. 1.27.

Translation:

A crowd refers to a still larger group of people, or at least additional persons, not merely the ones identified in verse 14.

Rebuked should here be translated in the sense of ‘scold’ or ‘speak very sternly to.’

For unclean spirit see 1.26.

Dumb and deaf spirit, on the analogy of dumb spirit (verse 17), may be translated as ‘spirit (or ‘demon’) which causes a person not to be able to speak or hear.’

For expressions equivalent to come out and enter, see 1.23, 34.

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 .

Translation commentary on Mark 10:7 – 10:8

Text:

The clause kai proskollēthēsetai pros tēn gunaika autou ‘and he shall be joined to his wife,’ is omitted by Tischendorf, Nestle, Westcott and Hort, Lagrange, and Taylor, but included by Textus Receptus, Soden, Vogels, Souter, and Merk.

Exegesis:

heneken toutou kataleipsei ‘on account of this (he) will leave,’ ‘because of this (he) will forsake.’

heneken ‘on account of,’ ‘because’ (at 8.35; 10.29 it has the specific meaning ‘for the sake of,’ ‘in behalf of’).

kataleipō (12.19, 21; 14.52) ‘leave behind,’ ‘forsake.’

The quotation is from Gen. 2.24, Adam’s statement that because the woman was made from his bone and his flesh, on this account a man will leave his father and mother, etc.

proskollēthēsetai (Eph. 5.31) ‘shall be joined to’: the verb proskollaō means literally ‘to glue to.’

kai esontai hoi duo eis sarka mian ‘and the two shall become one flesh.’ The rather unusual construction esontai … eis ‘shall be … into’ is the Septuagint literal translation of the Hebrew hayah le and means simply ‘shall become,’ ‘shall be.’

sarx (13.20; 14.38) ‘flesh’: the phrase ‘one flesh’ denotes a relationship more intimate and binding than any other (cf. Lagrange, Rawlinson). In the O.T. when appeal is made to loyalty springing from family relationships the phrase ‘my bone and my flesh’ is used (cf. Gen. 29.14; 37.27; Judges 9.2).

Translation:

For this reason is often translatable simply as ‘because of this,’ referring back to the previous statement.

Leave must not be understood as ‘abandoning’ or ‘forsaking,’ but as ‘leaving the house of his father and mother’ or ‘no longer living with his father and mother.’

Joined to his wife should be translated with care or the connotations of sexual intercourse are likely to be introduced. Though of course this relationship is implicit in the statement, any explicit reference is likely to be regarded as vulgar. In some translations the equivalent expression is merely ‘will live with his wife.’

Two shall become one, if rendered literally, is an impossible expression in many languages. For example, in most Bantu languages the element ‘two’ requires a plural prefix and the unit ‘one’ in the predicate of the expression would need to have this same prefix, but a plural prefix simply cannot be used with the numeral one. There are, however, quite proper ways of saying essentially the same thing, e.g. ‘the two different people shall be just as though they are one person.’ This introduces noun expressions (required in many languages) and changes the metaphor to a simile, but in many languages this is a distinct gain in intelligibility – in fact, the only type of expression which can convey the meaning of the original.

In some translations attempts have been made to render the Greek term sarx literally. In certain instances the results have been ludicrous. For example, in one language the meaning was literally ‘beefsteak.’ In other instances, the use of ‘body’ has been attempted, but in certain cases even this has proved awkward, and at times vulgar. Sometimes the bare numeral ‘one’ can be used, e.g. ‘become just one’ (Copainalá Zoque, San Mateo del Mar Huave). In other cases the languages already possess an idiomatic equivalent, e.g. ‘become one blood’ (Mitla Zapotec) and ‘become the complement of each other’s spirit’ (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 .

Translation commentary on Mark 10:41

Exegesis:

aganaktein (cf. 10.14) ‘to be indignant,’ ‘to be angry’: the preposition peri ‘about’ indicates the object of the indignation – ‘to be angry at.’

Translation:

The ten is often translatable as ‘the ten other disciples,’ since in many instances a numeral cannot be used as a substantive, and ‘other’ must contrast the two sets of disciples: the ten versus the two.

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 .

Translation commentary on Mark 11:21

Exegesis:

anamnēstheis (14.72) ‘being reminded,’ ‘recalling,’ ‘remembering.’

rabbi (cf. 9.5) ‘Master,’ ‘Teacher.’

katērasō (only here in Mark; elsewhere in N.T., Mt. 25.41, Lk. 6.28, Rom. 12.14, Jas. 3.9) ‘you cursed.’

Translation:

In languages in which ‘remembered’ is a transitive verb, one may translate as ‘remembered what had happened.’

Him may require substitution by ‘Jesus,’ depending upon the receptor language usage.

In most languages there is a technical term meaning ‘to curse,’ but many translators have hesitated to employ this term because it usually implies the use of black magic and the motivation would be almost inevitably a case of jealousy. In Inupiaqfor example, rather than use the technical term a substitute is found in the expression ‘punished with his words.’ In Navajo a rather generic expression ‘to speak against’ has been employed.

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 .

Translation commentary on Mark 12:21

Exegesis:

mē katalipōn ‘not leaving’: the participle may be that of manner or accompanying circumstances.

hōsautōs (14.31) ‘in like manner,’ ‘similarly,’ ‘in the same way.’ The third brother married the woman and died childless also.

Translation:

The second is ‘the second brother’ or ‘the younger brother.’ Took her is ‘married her’ (see the preceding verse).

Leaving no children may often be placed after the verb ‘died’ if the meaning is quite clear. In some instances, however, it is necessary to say ‘without leaving any children.’ In other languages one must say ‘the younger brother married the woman; they did not have children; and he died.’

The third likewise may require some expansion to fill out the elliptical expression, e.g. ‘the same thing happened to the third brother’ or ‘the third brother did the same.’

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 .

Translation commentary on Mark 13:9

Exegesis:

blepete de humeis heautous (cf. v. 5) ‘but you watch out for yourselves.’ The personal pronoun humeis is emphatic (cf. Gould).

paradōsousin (cf. 1.14) ‘they will deliver up to trial.’

eis sunedria kai eis sunagōgas ‘to councils and in synagogues’: the majority of commentators and translations divide these two clauses as does Revised Standard Version, joining ‘to councils’ with the verb ‘deliver up,’ and ‘in synagogues’ with the verb ‘beat.’ Some, however (cf. Gould, Rawlinson) join both clauses to the first verb, thus: ‘they will deliver you up to councils and synagogues,’ and take darēsesthe ‘you shall be beaten’ independently.

sunedria (here only in plural in Mark; in 14.55; 15.1 the singular refers to the Sanhedrin of the Jews in Jerusalem) ‘councils’: the local councils of the various Jewish cities.

sunagōgē (cf. 1.21) ‘synagogue.’

darēsesthe (cf. 12.3) ‘you shall be beaten.’

epi hēgemonōn kai basileōn stathēsesthe ‘before rulers and kings you shall stand.’

epi ‘upon’ means here ‘before,’ in the language of law courts.

hēgemones (only here in Mark) ‘rulers,’ ‘governors’: in the Roman system the word was used of the imperial governors of provinces.

basileis (cf. 6.14) ‘kings’: in a general sense, such as used in 6.14 of Herod Antipas.

histēmi (cf. 3.24) ‘stand’ on trial, in judgment.

heneken (cf. 10.7) ‘on account of,’ ‘because’: in this verse heneken emou is to be understood as ‘on my account,’ ‘because of me,’ and not ‘on my behalf’ (as Revised Standard Version ‘for my sake’ may be understood).

eis marturion autois (cf. 1.44; 6.11) ‘for a witness to them,’ ‘for a testimony before them.’

G. D. Kilpatrick, following earlier suggestions made by Burkitt and Turner, proposes a change in punctuation and re-arrangement of the clauses in vv. 9-11, as follows:
“But take heed to yourselves;
For they will deliver you up to councils and synagogues,
and you will be beaten before governors and kings,
for my sake you will stand for a testimony to them and among all the Gentiles.
The gospel must first be preached, and then when they bring you to trial and deliver you up, etc.”

As seen, the greatest difference between this punctuation and that normally followed, is that v. 10 is so completely altered as to say nothing about the gospel being preached in all nations. The other changes affect in a smaller measure the traditional reading of these verses. Kilpatrick’s proposal has been subjected to analysis and rejected by Austin Farrer.

Translation:

Take heed to is likely to be mistranslated since in some languages there are two quite different ways of translating such an expression: (1) ‘watch out for,’ in the sense of being solicitous for yourselves and watching out for your own interests, and (2) ‘be aware of the danger to which you will be exposed.’ The latter meaning is, of course, the correct one here, but a number of translations have used the former, with obvious contradiction with what occurs in the following verse.

They is an indefinite subject, meaning ‘persons’ or ‘some people,’ not ‘the people,’ as referring to the masses, who maintained a relative sympathy for the followers of Christ.

Deliver you up is equivalent to ‘hand you over to’ or ‘grab you and turn you over to trial.’

Councils is translatable in Copainalá Zoque as ‘where the rulers are’; in Piro a rather involved term meaning ‘where judgments are heard’ is employed. However, ‘councils,’ whether formal or informal, are known in all societies.

For synagogues see 1.21.

You will be beaten may be made active as ‘they will beat you.’

Governors and kings cannot be easily distinguished in some languages where the different classes of rulers are not parallel to classical usage. However, in some instances governors has been translated as ‘rulers’ (who are appointed by some central government or authority) and ‘chiefs’ (who are hereditary rulers).

Bear testimony may be rendered ‘to tell the truth’ (Barrow Eskimo) or ‘to tell what has happened.’

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 .

Translation commentary on Mark 14:4

Exegesis:

aganaktountes (cf. 10.14) ‘indignant,’ ‘angry.’ The Greek verbal phrase ēsan … aganaktountes ‘were … angry’ must be given some sense such as Revised Standard Version gives it, ‘were saying indignantly.’

pros heautous (cf. 9.10; 10.26; 11.31; 12.7; 16.3) literally ‘to themselves,’ meaning ‘to one another,’ ‘among themselves,’ as in the other passages where the phrase occurs. Black suggests this represents the Aramaic ethical dative, meaning ‘some were indeed vexed.’

eis ti (15.34) ‘for what reason?,’ ‘for what purpose?,’ ‘why?.’

hē apōleia (only here in Mark) ‘destruction,’ ‘waste.’

gegonen ‘has happened,’ ‘took place.’ Literally the question reads: ‘For what purpose did this waste of the ointment occur?’

Translation:

To themselves must be understood as reciprocal, not reflexive, e.g. ‘they were saying to each other.’

Indignantly must often be treated as a separate verb expression, e.g. ‘some of the people there were angry and they said to each other.’

Wasted may be translatable in terms of (1) discard, i.e. ‘thrown away’ or ‘used for no good purpose,’ or (2) failure to use properly, e.g. ‘not used for a good purpose.’

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 .