Exegesis:

agapēseis (cf. 10.21) ‘you shall love’: the future tense is volitive, expressing a command.

ex holēs tēs kardias sou ‘with all your heart’: cf. 2.6 for the Hebrew concept of ‘heart’ as the center of man’s intellectual activity.

ek ‘from’: indicates “the inner source from which something proceeds.”

ex holēs tēs psuchēs sou ‘with all your soul’: cf. 3.4 for the Hebrew concept of ‘soul’ as ‘the seat of the will, desires and affections’ (Abbott-Smith).

ex holēs tēs dianoias sou ‘with all your understanding’: this clause has no equivalent in the O.T. passage quoted (Deut. 6.5), which speaks only of levav ‘heart,’ nefesh ‘soul,’ and meʾod ‘might.’

dianoia (only here in Mark) ‘mind,’ ‘understanding,’ ‘intelligence’: often, in the Septuagint, it is used interchangeably with kardia ‘heart’ as a translation of the Hebrew levav

ex holēs tēs ischuos sou ‘with all your strength’: it is to be noticed that the passage in Mark does not follow the Septuagint here, which translates the Hebrew meʾod ‘might’ by dunamis. The two Greek words, ischus and dunamis, however, are close enough in meaning to become synonymous in certain contexts, as is the case here.

ischus (12.33) ‘strength,’ ‘might,’ ‘power.’

Translation:

For love see 10.21.

Lord your God, an appositional construction, must in some languages be changed to a type of dependent expression, consisting of a relative clause, e.g. ‘the Lord, who is your God.’

In many languages one cannot ‘love with the heart.’ For example, in Laka one must love with the liver; in Conob the equivalent expression is ‘abdomen’; in the Marshallese one can love with the throat. The heart is thus translated by a number of other terms which represent the emotional center or focus of the personality.

Soul is generally translated in two ways: (1) by means of words which identify that part of the personality which lives on after death, often called the ‘shadow’ or ‘the counterpart’ and (2) by means of terms for ‘life,’ ‘insides,’ or ‘person.’ In this context the latter meaning is involved, e.g. ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your life’ (Yaka). In Navajo the living soul is ‘that which stands inside of one.’

Mind may be translatable in some languages only as ‘thoughts,’ since the mind as separate from thoughts is not recognized.

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:

After genetai ‘happen’ Textus Receptus adds hē phugē humōn ‘your flight,’ which is omitted by all modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

proeuchesthe (cf. 1.35) ‘you must pray.’

hina ‘that’: as often in Mark it here denotes the content of the prayer, not its purpose.

mē genētai ‘it may not happen’: if a subject is needed, the word thlipsis ‘affliction,’ ‘tribulation’ of the next verse may be supplied, or else ‘flight’ from v. 14.

ginomai ‘become’: here in the sense of ‘happen,’ ‘come about,’ ‘occur.’

cheimōnos (only here in Mark) ‘of a winter’: the genitive here expresses time – ‘in winter time.’ At such time flight would become difficult and dangerous because of the torrential rains, and inclement weather in general.

Translation:

Contrary to what might seem to be the case, there are numerous difficulties in translating winter. If for example, one employs a term which identifies a particular time of the year, e.g. from December to March, this may prove to be precisely the best time to travel, as in the case of Copainalá Zoque. In tropical areas in the southern hemisphere it is usually possible to speak of ‘the rainy season,’ for this is often a difficult period in which to travel, but again this often depends upon the mode of travel. Some translators, accordingly, have rendered winter as ‘the cold time,’ employing for ‘cold’ a word which would imply a difficult, inclement season. In other languages it has been possible to use ‘the bad months’ or ‘the hard season,’ as an indirect means of describing the difficulties involved.

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 apostellō ‘send’ cf. 1.2; hupagō ‘go’ cf. 1.44; akoloutheō ‘follow’ cf. 1.18.

tēn polin ‘the city’ is Jerusalem, wherein the Passover feast must be celebrated (Deut. 16.5-7).

apantēsei (only here in Mark) ‘he will meet.’

keramion hudatos ‘a jar of water,’ i.e. ‘a jar filled with water’ (cf. alabastron murou in v. 3).

keramion (only here in Mark) ‘jar’ or ‘jug’ made of earthenware.

bastazōn (only here in Mark) ‘carrying,’ ‘bearing.’

Translation:

Sent is often rendered by two quite distinct terms: one which means ‘to be sent away’ without destination and another which means ‘to be sent to accomplish a particular task.’ The latter meaning is, of course, appropriate at this point.

Carrying may require some specific indication of the manner employed. Where meaningful, ‘carried on the head’ would be appropriate.

Meet corresponds to two different terms in many languages: (1) meet by accident or without intention and (2) meet by design or advance planning. The Greek text does not specify, but many translators have chosen the fist alternative.

Follow here bears the meaning of ‘accompany’ or ‘go along with,’ not ‘track down.’

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:

After rabbi ‘Master’ Textus Receptus and Soden add another rabbi, which is omitted by all other editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

proselthōn (cf. 1.31) ‘approaching,’ ‘drawing near.’

rabbi (cf. 9.5) ‘Rabbi,’ ‘Teacher.’

katephilēsen (only here in Mark) ‘he kissed’: this would seem to be the normal way in which a Rabbi was greeted. Lagrange cites a passage which speaks of one Rabbi greeting another affectionately by kissing him on the forehead. As distinguished from the simple phileō of the preceding verse, kataphileō is taken to mean ‘kiss warmly,’ ‘kiss affectionately’ (cf. The Modern Speech New Testament, Goodspeed). The meaning ‘kiss much’ (American Standard Version margin) is styled “very doubtful” by Moulton & Milligan, on the basis of the papyri evidence. It has been suggested that the “sense of intense emotion” present in the verb is to be identified, in this passage, as that of repentance, on the part of Judas.

Translation:

The pronouns he … he … him are not always clear in reference. Therefore, one may have to make certain substitutes, e.g. ‘Judas … he … Jesus.’

Master, as a translation of rabbi, means much more than merely ‘teacher.’ The irony of this event is brought out more forcibly and accurately if some term meaning ‘master,’ ‘honored leader,’ or ‘respected teacher’ is employed.

For kiss see verse 44.

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:

kata de heortēn ‘now at every (Passover) feast,’ ‘now at each feast (of the Passover)’: the preposition kata is distributive (cf. kath’ hēmeran ‘every day’ 14.49), indicating every feast, and not just this particular one.

heortē (cf. 14.2) ‘feast.’

apeluen (cf. 6.36) ‘he released’: Revised Standard Version correctly gives the force of the imperfect ‘he used to release,’ indicating habitual action (cf. also epoiei in v. 8).

hena desmion ‘one prisoner,’ ‘any prisoner’: the cardinal ‘one’ is here used as an indefinite pronoun, ‘any one’ or ‘some one.’

desmios (only here in Mark; cf. deō 3.27) ‘prisoner.’

parētounto (only here in Mark; cf. aiteō 6.22) ‘they asked (for),’ ‘they requested.’

Translation:

Now is not to be interpreted as a temporal adverb, but as a transitional particle, equivalent in many languages to ‘but’ or ‘however.’

At the feast must not be translated in such a way as to men that Pilate released a person at the place where the people were gathered together eating. It is better to treat this as a temporal reference, e.g. ‘at the time when the people feasted’ or ‘at that time when the people were feasting.’ When, however, feast is translated as a verb, it should agree in aspect (or tense) with the verb ‘used to release,’ for the meaning here is an habitual, repeated action, which occurred each year.

Release … one prisoner is translatable in some languages as ‘to make go free … one person in jail’ or ‘to let go out from jail … a person.’

Whom they asked may require some expansion, e.g. ‘whom they asked Pilate for’ or ‘whom they asked Pilate to set free.’

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:

to katapetasma tou naou ‘the veil of the sanctuary,’ ‘the curtain of the temple’: it is generally assumed that the katapetasma (only here in Mark) was the veil separating the holy place from the holy of holies. This curtain is described by Edersheim as being sixty feet long, thirty feet wide, and the thickness of the palm of a man’s hand.

naos (cf. 14.58) ‘sanctuary.’

eschisthē (cf. 1.10) ‘was rent,’ ‘was torn.’

ap’ anōthen heōs katō ‘from top to bottom.’

Translation:

Curtain is not always easily translated, since in many societies such objects are not known. In Copainalá Zoque the closest equivalent is ‘cloth-closure,’ literally equivalent to ‘cloth door.’ In a number of languages curtain has been rendered by a borrowed form. It is important, however, to avoid a literal translation of veil, since this may apply only to veils worn by women, and accordingly the veil of the temple would be quite meaningless.

Was torn is a passive construction without the mention of a specific agent; nor would it be justifiable to introduce a specific grammatical subject of a transitive expression, e.g. ‘God tore the curtain.’ Accordingly, it is best, in such instances, to shift the verb expression to an intransitive equivalent, e.g. ‘the curtain split into two pieces,’ or ‘divided into two parts.’

From top to bottom is a highly elliptical expression, requiring some fuller statement in some languages, e.g. ‘the curtain began to split first at the top and then continued to split to the bottom.’

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:

exelthōn ēlthen ‘he left and came’ of the Revised Standard Version is the text preferred by Swete, Merk, Taylor; the reading exelthontes ēlthon ‘they left and came’ is preferred by the majority. Turner is of the opinion that the plural is correct since it would be easier for scribes to change the plural to the singular than vice-versa.

Exegesis:

meta Iakōbou kai Iōannou ‘with James and John’ goes with ‘they left and came.’ Cf. The Modern Speech New Testament: “They came at once, with James and John, to the house….”

Translation:

Immediately in this kind of context is in many languages equivalent to ‘and then’ or ‘and next.’

Because this verse begins a new section, which is often set off by some sort of section heading or title, it may be advisable to employ ‘Jesus’ rather than ‘he,’ since the reference tends to be ambiguous, especially when four other persons are specifically named in this verse.

With James and John must be so translated that it does not mean that these two men were also co-owners of the house with Simon and Andrew, a meaning which has been inadvertently implied in a number of translations. In order to avoid the difficulty one may (1) combine James and John with the subject, ‘Jesus, accompanied by James and John, …’ (Chol, San Blas Kuna) or ‘he besides James and John they went into…’ (Kpelle), (2) set off James and John as a separate clause or sentence at the end of the verse, ‘… James and John went along’ (Central Mazahua), ‘followed by James and John’ (Balinese).

In order to specify that a house belongs to two different people, it is necessary in some languages to be quite specific, e.g. ‘house of Simon; he owned it with Andrew’ (Sayula Popoluca).

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:

After hamartōlous ‘sinners’ Textus Receptus adds eis metanoian ‘to repentance’ (assimilated from the parallel passage Lk. 5.32): all modern editions of the Greek text reject eis metanoian.

Exegesis:

autois ‘to them’: that is, to those who asked the question.

chreian (2.25; 11.3; 14.63) ‘need,’ ‘necessity’: echein chreian means ‘be in need,’ ‘lack something’ .

iatrou (5.26) ‘of a physician.’

hoi ischuontes ‘those who are strong,’ ‘those who are healthy’: the verb ischuō ‘be strong,’ ‘be able’ occurs further in 5.4; 9.18; 14.37. In contrast, in this verse, with hoi kakōs echontes (cf. 1.32) ‘those who are ill,’ hoi ischuontes are ‘those who are well,’ ‘those who are in good health.’

ēlthon ‘I came’: the meaning here is more than merely local and temporal (cf. the same use of the verb in 10.45). There is reference here to the whole mission and purpose of Jesus’ ministry (whether or not we understand, with Lagrange, that ‘I came’ means ‘I came into the world’ with a reference to his preexistence).

kalesai ‘call’: the word in this passage carries theological content, and does not mean ‘invite to eat.’

dikaious … hamartōlous ‘righteous … sinners’: the words reflect the attitude of the Pharisees toward themselves (cf. Lk. 16.15) and others (cf. John 7.49). There is, perhaps, a tinge of irony in Jesus’ use of these words (cf. Rawlinson).

Translation:

Heard it may be in some languages best translated as ‘heard what they said,’ in order to make the reference precise.

To them, referring to the scribes, must often be made quite explicit, for there are three other intervening third person plural referents: the sinners, the tax collectors, and the disciples.

Well is often ‘strong,’ ‘healthy’ or just ‘not sick.’

To have no need may be variously rendered: ‘do not go looking for’ (Southern Subanen), ‘do not have to consult’ (Barrow Eskimo), ‘do not go in search of a physician’ (Pamona).

Physician should be translated by a respectful term applied to the medical profession. This may be either the word used for the foreign mission doctor (if there is a special usage applied to this type of person) or the name of the indigenous medicine man, who may not be highly regarded by foreigners but who may enjoy a great deal more prestige among the local people than a translator may suspect.

The extent of ellipsis which may be employed in translating the clause but those who are sick depends upon the syntactic requirements of the receptor language. In some instances the full form must be given, ‘but those who are sick need a doctor.’

In order that came may mean more than simply ‘to come to this banquet,’ it may be useful to employ the most generic expression possible, which would also be used in phrases referring to ‘the coming of the Lord.’ This would then permit this phrase to express more of its theological content.

There is a tendency to translate righteous merely as ‘the good ones.’ This may be all that can be done in some languages, but wherever possible it is advantageous to attempt to find some word which will indicate more of the idea of conformity to standard, so that a differentiation may be made between ‘good’ and ‘righteous.’ On the other hand, it is not advisable to translate righteous as ‘to have no sin,’ for this involves many theological problems which are better not introduced in such a general word as ‘righteous.’

The most common expression for righteous involves the concept of ‘straightness,’ though this may be expressed in a number of ways: ‘to be straight’ (Bambara, Southern Bobo Madaré, Chokwe, Amganad Ifugao, Chol, Maninka, Toraja-Sa’dan, Pamona, Batak Toba), ‘to follow the straight way,’ ‘to straight-straight,’ a reduplicated form (Laka), and ‘to have a straight heart’ (Highland Puebla Nahuatl, Kekchi). Some languages imply conformity to truth, e.g. ‘to do the truth’ (Kipsigis), ‘to do according to the truth’ (Mesquital Otomi), and ‘to have truth’ (Huautla Mazatec). The sense of obligation is highlighted in other instances, e.g. ‘to fulfill what one should do’ (Piro), ‘people who are true’ (Indonesian), ‘to do just so’ (Navajo), and ‘to do as it should be’ (Anuak). In some languages, of course, certain highly figurative expressions are used, e.g. ‘to have a white stomach’ (Mossi ).

In Nuer there is a complex concept of ‘right’ vs. ‘left,’ in which ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.

But sinners may need expansion into its fuller implied form, i.e. ‘but I came to call sinners.’

If the translation in question must follow a text having to repentance, see 1.4 for comments on the lexical problems involved in repentance. The syntactic problems often require an expansion, e.g. ‘call sinners so that they would change their hearts.’

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 .