Text:

Instead of tērēsēte ‘you may keep’ of the majority of modern editions of the Greek text, Lagrange, Taylor and Kilpatrick have stēsēte ‘you may establish.’

Exegesis:

kalōs (cf. v. 6) ‘how well!’: ironical. Arndt & Gingrich suggest ‘Are you doing the right thing in rejecting…?’

atheteite (cf. 6.26) ‘you are rejecting,’ ‘you set aside.’

tērēsēte (only here in Mark) ‘that you may keep,’ ‘observe,’ ‘fulfil.’

The reading preferred by Kilpatrick and others, stēsēte means ‘establish,’ ‘make firm,’ ‘set’; Lagrange pour établir.

Translation:

The irony of this statement should be made quite clear. A mark of punctuation is often not enough. Note what is done in Tabasco Chontal by beginning the verse as ‘You think you have done well in rejecting….’ Cf. also Toraja-Sa’dan ‘Your cleverness is without equal, in putting God’s commandment out of action.’

Rejecting may be variously rendered, e.g. ‘you say it is of no value to you’ (San Mateo del Mar Huave), ‘you have changed’ (Central Mazahua), ‘you have thrown away’ (Kekchi), ‘pretty you caused it to be lost’ (Copainalá Zoque), in which the word ‘pretty’ immediately marks the phrase as ironical.

The commandment of God in contrast with your tradition may be rendered as ‘what God has ordered … what your fathers have said.’

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:

auta ‘them’ is omitted by Textus Receptus, but included by all modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

ichthudia (only here in Mark) ‘little fish’: as in the parallel incident in 6.38 these are to be thought of as prepared fish, not fresh.

eulogēsas auta ‘blessing them,’ i.e. ‘invoking God’s blessing upon them’; ‘thanking God for them’: here only in Mark with a direct object (cf. the discussion of the verb in 6.41). Probably (cf. Taylor) the phrase means ‘thanking God for them’: it is highly doubtful that the evangelist meant to draw any distinction between eulogeō in this verse, concerning the fish, and eucharisteō ‘give thanks’ in the previous verse, concerning the loaves.

eipen kai tauta paratithenai ‘he told (them) to place these also before (the crowd).’

paratithēmi (cf. previous verse) ‘place before.’

Translation:

Some languages carefully distinguish between fish when they are alive and swimming about, or just recently caught, and those which are being sold in the market place or prepared as food (cf. Spanish pez vs. pescado). The latter meaning is, of course, intended in this verse.

For bless see 6.41.

If the receptor language requires an object of the verb ‘commanded,’ one may insert ‘disciples.’ Often, however, this context does not require the customary verb for ‘command,’ as this may be too strong. Hence, one may render the passage as ‘told his disciples to…,’ ‘ordered his disciples to…,’ or ‘said to his disciples, Distribute also the fish to the people.’

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:

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 .

Exegesis:

hoi de esiōpon (cf. 3.4) ‘but they kept silent’ (cf. Lagrange ils gardaient le silence).

dielechthēsan (only here in Mark) ‘they discussed’: more expressly ‘they had an argument,’ ‘they had entered into controversy.’ The aorist of the verb, in this context, is to be translated as a past perfect, ‘they had argued.’

tis meizōn ‘who is greater?’ i.e. ‘who is the greatest?’ For use of the comparative form with the superlative meaning cf. 4.31, 32.

Translation:

Were silent is often rendered as ‘said nothing,’ ‘did not reply.’

On the way, as in the preceding verse, should be translated in many languages as ‘when they were going along the road’ or ‘as they were walking along.’

Discussed may require the introduction of direct discourse, in which case the pronouns must be changed, e.g. ‘discussed with one another, Which one of us is the greatest,’ or ‘asked one another, Which of us, do you think, is the greatest’ (in the sense of ‘most important’).

Superlative expressions have a variety of forms, e.g. ‘surpasses all in being…’ (as in many Bantu languages), ‘finds more…’ (Copainalá Zoque), and ‘is the first in being….’

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:

ekporeuomenou autou eis hodon ‘as he was setting out on the journey,’ ‘as he was leaving for the trip.’

ekporeuomai (cf. 1.5) ‘go out,’ ‘proceed.’

eis hodon (cf. 6.8) ‘in the road,’ ‘on the way.’

prosdramōn heis kai gonupetēsas auton ‘a man running up and kneeling before him.’

prostrechō (cf. 9.15) ‘run to.’

heis ‘one’: here is the same as the indefinite pronoun tis ‘a certain one,’ ‘someone.’

gonupeteō (cf. 1.40) ‘kneel.’

didaskale agathe ‘good teacher’: the word ‘good’ here means ‘kind,’ ‘beneficent,’ ‘generous,’ not ‘efficient’ or ‘capable,’ as though the man were complimenting Jesus on his ability as a teacher; neither does it refer to the moral character of Jesus in the sense of ‘holy’ or something similar (cf. Lagrange).

hina zōēn aiōnion klēronomēsō ‘in order that I inherit eternal life?’

klēronomeō ‘inherit’: although the word may mean simply ‘obtain,’ ‘acquire,’ ‘possess,’ the literal meaning ‘to receive by lot,’ ‘to come into the inheritance of,’ better fits in with the Jewish concept of the people of Israel as God’s lot and eternal life as a gift, an inheritance, that man receives from God (cf. Ps. 37.11; Lagrange refers to Ps. Sol. 14.5, 10, which speak of Israel as the lot and inheritance of God, and of the just inheriting life).

zōē aiōnion (10.30) ‘eternal life’ (cf. 3.29 for aiōnion ‘age-long,’ ‘eternal’). It should be observed that the question is eschatological, from the point of view of Jewish theology of that time: “What must I do that in the resurrection from the dead eternal life be my lot?” The earliest expression of this eschatological concept is to be found in Dan. 12.2.

Translation:

Since this verse often begins an entirely new section, the use of ‘Jesus’ in place of ‘he’ may be required.

Where required by the cultural patterns, knelt before him may be expressed as ‘stooped down before’ or ‘bowed down before’ leaving implicit the exact position of the knees.

For teacher see 2.13.

Good Teacher as a phrase of direct address may not be permitted, since – though nouns as titles may be so used – they are often restricted in such a way that attributive adjectives cannot be used with them as modifiers. However, an expanded, attributive clause can often be employed, ‘Teacher, you who are good.’

Inherit cannot be translated literally in many languages since it would imply that someone has died and that the life which is inherited is the one which has just been given up, which has given some readers the impression that the Bible is talking about metempsychosis. In such instances one must use a verb meaning ‘receive,’ ‘come to possess,’ or ‘have.’

For certain problems related to eternal see 3.29, but in this context the difficulties are somewhat different because eternal is combined with life. Often eternal is translated as ‘lasting’ or ‘continuing,’ or by some idiomatic equivalent which indicates some type of continuity, e.g. ‘day with day’ (Laka) or ‘of all the years’ (Yaka). However, there are certain problems in this usage. For example, in Navajo the expression ‘continuous life,’ which had seemed for some time to be satisfactory, proved entirely erroneous, for the Navajos believe that all people possess ‘continuing life,’ in the sense that each succeeding generation is a demonstration of this continuing stream of life within the family unit. Accordingly, in Navajo it was necessary to translate ‘life without end.’ The same type of expression is used in Barrow Eskimo, Highland Puebla Nahuatl, Yucateco, Guerrero Amuzgo, and Pamona.

Inherit eternal life must undergo certain changes in languages in which life must be translated as a verb, e.g. ‘do in order to be able to live without end.’

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:

apobalōn (only here in Mark) ‘throwing off,’ ‘taking off’: so as to run faster (Lagrange; cf. Rawlinson).

to himation (cf. 2.21) ‘the cloak,’ ‘the mantle.’

anapēdēsas (only here in the N.T.) ‘jumping to his feet,’ ‘springing up.’

Translation:

Mantle is the outer garment, equivalent in other cultures to ‘coat,’ ‘blanket,’ ‘poncho,’ or ‘cloth.’

Came to can usually be translated literally, since the center of focus in the story is Jesus.

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 baptisma to Iōannou (cf. 1.4, 5) ‘the baptism (that) of John’: the reference is to the whole ministry of the Baptist, and, if necessary, the phrase may legitimately be expanded to read ‘the baptism which John preached and administered.’

ex ouranou ‘from heaven’: of divine origin, as opposed to ‘from men’ (cf. Manson ‘by divine appointment’).

Translation:

The baptism of John must be translated as subjective, not objective (as has been done in a number of translations). That is to say, this phrase must often be rendered as ‘the baptism that John performed’ (Eastern Highland Otomi) or ‘the baptism which John gave’ (Copainalá Zoque).

However, if one uses a verb in translating ‘baptize,’ then the problem of adding ‘heaven’ may become a problem. For example, if translated literally in Sayula Popoluca this expression would mean ‘throw water on him from heaven.’ To avoid this and to translate heaven in its proper meaning as a substitute for ‘God,’ the passage was rendered as ‘who sent John to baptize, God or men?’

In Central Mazahua, however, one can say ‘was John’s baptizing one which belongs to heaven.’ In San Mateo del Mar Huave much the same kind of expression may be used in speaking of heaven, but the last phrase must be translated as ‘or did people tell him to do it.’

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:

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 .