Exegesis:

epi tō onomati mou (cf. 9.37) ‘in my name’: some difficulty arises from the fact that the phrase ordinarily means ‘on my account,’ ‘for my sake,’ ‘in my behalf’; here, however, it seems to demand the meaning, ‘representing to be me,’ ‘as though they were I,’ since they will say, “I am he.” Arndt & Gingrich suggest ‘using my name’; ‘in my name’ is the reading of most English translations (cf. Vulgate in nomine meo); Lagrange has sous mon nom. Notwithstanding the difficulty, some such translation as Revised Standard Version ‘in my name,’ or ‘under my name,’ will probably convey the meaning without involving the statement in any contradiction.

hoti ‘that’ introduces direct statement.

egō eimi literally ‘I am’ or ‘It is I’ (cf. 6.50); here, clearly, a claim to be the Messiah – ‘I am He’ (cf. 14.62), or, in accordance with Marcan language, ‘I am the Son of man’ (cf. v. 26).

Translation:

For the use of in my name see 9.37, but in this context a special rendering is often required, e.g. ‘making use of my name,’ ‘calling themselves by my name,’ or ‘applying my name to themselves.’

I am he is sometimes very ambiguous, especially as this expression is spoken by Jesus. Hence, ‘I am the Christ’ or ‘I am the Son of man’ is a much closer equivalent. In languages which generally prefer an indirect form of discourse, this statement may be less ambiguous, e.g. ‘they will say that they are I,’ or ‘they will say that they are what I am.’

A further complication may be found in the shift from plural to singular in the form of the direct discourse, e.g. ‘many will come…, each will say, I am he.’ Moreover, the plural of ‘many’ must be interpreted as distributive, not as collective, for each person claims for himself the Messiahship.

For lead many astray see the previous verse.

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:

paralambanei (cf. 4.36) ‘he takes,’ ‘he takes with him.’

ērxato (cf. 1.45) ‘he began’: the verb here has its proper force, and should be included in translation (as done by Revised Standard Version).

ekthambeisthai kai adēmonein ‘to be extremely distressed and troubled’: the two verbs together describe an extremely acute emotion, a compound of bewilderment, fear, uncertainty and anxiety, nowhere else portrayed in such vivid terms as here. Rawlinson: ‘shuddering awe, amazement, deep distress’; Swete: ‘amazed awe … overpowering mental distress.’ Cf. the following translations: ‘distress and dread’ (Goodspeed); ‘appalled and agitated’ (Moffatt); ‘full of terror and distress’ (The Modern Speech New Testament, Montgomery); ‘dismay and distress’ (Manson); ‘appalled and sorely troubled’ (Translator’s New Testament); ‘surprised and terrified’ (Lagrange); ‘fright and anguish’ (Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale, O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada).

ekthambeō (9.15; cf. thambeomai 1.27) ‘to amaze,’ ‘to alarm’: the word denotes a distress which is the result of surprise, i.e. a dread caused by something unexpected. ‘Dismay,’ ‘distress’ or ‘dread’ would seem best to characterize the emotion indicated by the verb here.

adēmoneō (only here in Mark) ‘be in anxiety,’ ‘be troubled’: the emphasis of this verb seems to be on the element of anguish caused by uncertainty and bewilderment as to what to do. Moulton and Milligan give examples from the papyri in which the word indicates distress and bewilderment. Therefore, ‘anguish,’ or perhaps ‘despondency’ (cf. Lagrange) would convey the meaning here.

Translation:

There is almost inevitably a minor problem of interpretation in verses 32 and 33, namely, the identity of the persons to whom the command of sitting down was directed. Did Jesus, for example, tell all the disciples to sit down, and then ask the three disciples to arise and go with him? There is no way of knowing and, moreover, it does not seem particularly necessary to try to resolve such an obscurity, since the overall meaning is quite certain.

Took with him must be translated with care or the results may imply that Jesus was leading the disciples along like children. A proper equivalent in some languages is ‘caused them to go along with him’ or ‘had them accompany him.’

Distressed and troubled is not easily translated, for unless one is quite careful, the rendering will seem to refer only to purely physical trouble and hardship. However, any terms which are used to express such severe mental distress will in many instances be expressed in ways which suggest other kinds of symptoms or activity e.g. ‘began to groan and began to suffer’ (Tzeltal) or ‘began to feel trouble in his heart and his stomach.’

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 elabon ‘they received’ of all modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus has eballon ‘they struck.’

Exegesis:

emptuein (cf. 10.34) ‘to spit upon.’

perikaluptein (only here in Mark) ‘to cover,’ ‘to cover over.’

kolaphizein (only here in Mark) ‘to strike,’ ‘to beat’: this verb is used of beating with the closed fist, or the back of the hand (cf. Lagrange).

prophēteuson (cf. 7.6) ‘prophesy!,’ ‘guest!’ ‘reveal it!’: the meaning, of course (as the parallels Mt. 26.68, Luke 22.64 make explicit), is ‘reveal who it is that struck you!’

hoi hupēretai (cf. v. 54) ‘the servants,’ ‘the guards.’

rapismasin autōn elabon ‘treated him to blows’: this is a Latin colloquialism, verberibus eum acceperunt, describing the way in which the guards dealt with Jesus.

rapisma (only here in Mark) ‘blow’: although it may mean a blow with a club or whip , here it would almost certainly mean a blow with the open hand, a slap.

Translation:

Cover his face could have been either with a cloth or with their hands; the text does not specify.

Prophesy must in this text be understood in a very specific sense, e.g. ‘tell who hit you’ (Tzeltal) or ‘say who did it’ (Amganad Ifugao). The technical meaning of prophesy must generally be avoided in this context or the real meaning of the passage is likely to be lost.

Only rarely can the phrase received him with blows be translated literally. The meaning is ‘beat him up,’ a common enough practice among bullies, whether in or out of military uniform.

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:

epigraphē (cf. 12.16) ‘inscription,’ ‘superscription’ (Latin titulus).

aitias (only here in Mark) ‘charge’: a legal technical term, indicating the charge for which the death sentence was passed (cf. Latin causa capitalis ‘reason for the capital punishment’).

ēn … epigegrammenē ‘was … inscribed,’ ‘was … written on’: it is not necessary to suppose that the verb here indicates ‘written over Jesus,’ i.e. affixed to the cross above his head. Rather the verb epigraphō means simply ‘written on the tablet,’ and is thus rendered by Revised Standard Version (cf. Gould).

HO BASILEUS TŌN IOUDAIŌN (cf. v. 2) ‘THE KING OF THE JEWS.’

Translation:

The inscription of the charge is often a difficult expression to translate, since though an actual object is referred to, the phrase includes two distinct processes: (1) the writing of the accusation and (2) the charge which was made against Jesus. In Tzeltal this phrase is translated as ‘thus written what said he had done.’ In Tabasco Chontal the charge can only be described in terms of the reasons for the crucifixion, e.g. ‘writing as to why they crucified him.’ In Copainalá Zoque the phrase is ‘paper which accused him,’ a more or less technical reference to any written type of charge.

It is quite easy for us to understand read in this specialized sense of the content of the writing, but in other languages one must say ‘said’ or ‘these were the words.’

For King of the Jews see 15.2.

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:

kakeinoi (= kai ekeinoi; cf. v. 10) ‘and they.’

etheathē (not in Mark; cf. v. 14) ‘he had been seen.’

ēpistēsan (not in Mark; cf. v. 16) ‘they were unbelieving,’ ‘they disbelieved (it).’ Cf. apistia in Mk. 6.6.

Translation:

Had been seen by her may be transposed into an active form as ‘she had seen him.’

He was alive must be very carefully rendered, for in some translations the form of this phrase has been such as to deny that Jesus ever died. To avoid such a misinterpretation the rendering in Copainalá Zoque is ‘that Jesus just existing one,’ thus avoiding the use of the verb ‘to live’ which would imply continued living and that Jesus had merely suffered a coma when he was put into the tomb.

Not believe it may be equivalent to saying ‘they doubted 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:

deute (6.31; 12.7) ‘come!’ ‘come here!’ is used as the plural of the adverb deuro ‘here!’ ‘come!’ which is regarded as an imperative. The meaning of the word in this context is not simply that of a physical going after, but of discipleship.

poiēsō … genesthai ‘I will make … to become’: the full force of the verbal phrase is ‘I will make you become in the future,’ after a course of preparation (as Grant says). The verb takes a double accusative: humas ‘you’ and haleeis anthrōpōn ‘fishers of men.’

haleeis anthrōpōn ‘fishers of men’: for the figure cf. Jer. 16.16, Ezek. 29.4-5. The genitive anthrōpōn ‘of men’ is not possessive, of course: the meaning is ‘fishers who fish (or catch) men.’

Translation:

Fishers of men is such a well-known phrase to us that we seldom suspect that it can provide the basis for considerable misunderstanding in translations. However, it does, for if the expression used for ‘catching fish’ contains the same verb as is used in speaking of those who round up forced labor (as in parts of Africa) or who arrest people, there will inevitably be misunderstanding. In one language ‘I will make you catchers of men’ implied that Jesus was going to make his disciples into policemen. In still another language the word for ‘getting men’ implied that the disciples would become assassins. One of the difficulties is the bold form of the metaphor which does not provide a linguistic clue to the reader that this expression is not to be taken literally. However, by changing the metaphor into a simile most of the trouble is avoided, e.g. ‘you will catch men as if you were catching fish’ (Barrow Eskimo) and ‘just like you catch fish, I will make you catch men’ (San Blas Kuna). In some instances some of the metaphorical power of the expression is lost but the essential truth can be preserved, e.g. ‘give power to bring men’ (Southern Bobo Madaré) or ‘make you become ones who are men bringers’ (Mossi ).

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:

kai idōn ‘and seeing’ is temporal, ‘when he saw.’

tēn pistin autōn ‘the faith of them’: the phrase refers primarily to the four who were carrying the paralytic, but does not necessarily exclude the paralytic himself (cf. Gould, Lagrange).

pistis (4.40; 5.34; 10.52; 11.22) ‘faith,’ ‘belief,’ ‘confidence’: in this context, faith in Jesus’ ability to cure the man.

teknon (7.27; 10.24, 29, 30; 12.19; 13.12) ‘child,’ ‘(my) son’: a term of endearment. Nothing may be inferred as to the age of the paralytic from the use of this term; he could have been a lad (Luke 5.18, 20 specifically calls him a man). Moulton & Milligan quote examples from the papyri of the word used as it is in this verse, and some English translations stress the meaning of the term by adding “my son” (cf. Zürcher Bibel Mein Sohn).

aphientai sou hai hamartiai ‘your sins are forgiven’: the Gospels record no instance of Jesus’ saying “I forgive your sins.” In this particular instance it is noteworthy that the Gospel writer has employed the passive ‘your sins are forgiven’ without defining the subject of the action of the verb ‘forgive,’ even though he goes on to relate that the scribes charge Jesus with blasphemy in assuming the prerogative that belongs to God alone. Again, in v. 10, Jesus says, with reference to himself, “the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”: he does not say, “I forgive sins.” Both the title ‘the Son of man’ and the qualifying phrase ‘upon the earth’ are significant. The present tense aphientai ‘are forgiven’ should not be translated ‘are being forgiven’: this is an example of what is called an aoristic present.

aphiēmi ‘send forth,’ ‘go away’ (from apo ‘from’ and hiēmi ‘go’): the verb is used in Mark with three main meanings: (1) ‘let,’ ‘allow,’ ‘permit’: 1.34; 5.19, 37; 7.12, 27; 10.14; 11.6, 16; 15.36; (2) ‘forgive,’ ‘remit,’ ‘pardon’: 2.5, 7, 9, 10; 3.28; 4.12; 11.25; (3) ‘leave’: 12.19, 20, 22; 13.2 (‘leave alone’ 14.6); with the sense of ‘go away from,’ ‘abandon,’ ‘forsake’: 1.18, 20, 31; 4.36; 7.8; 8.13; 10.28, 29; 12.12; 13.34; 14.50; with the sense of ‘let loose’: 15.37.

Translation:

Rather than translate their to mean only the faith of the carriers (as is often the case), it would seem better to say ‘the faith of these men,’ so that the paralytic himself might be included in that group, since undoubtedly his confidence that Jesus could help him was an important factor in his having been brought.

For terms for ‘faith’ and ‘believe’ see 1.15, but note that in this instance the faith is not in a declaration, as in 1.15, but in what a particular person, namely, Jesus could do. Hence, the expression used here must imply confidence.

The Greek term teknon ‘child,’ which is rendered by the more appropriate “my son” in the Revised Standard Version, cannot be translated literally into other languages. In the first place, people would immediately question why four men would be required to carry a child and furthermore the statement of Jesus relative to the forgiveness of the paralytic’s sins would seem to imply an adult (compare Luke). However, any literal rendering of my son is equally subject to trouble, since in many languages one cannot speak in this manner except to one’s own offspring. Several different types of expression can be employed: ‘young man’ (Piro, Highland Puebla Nahuatl), in which ‘young’ has been used to represent something of the value of teknon; ‘friend’ (Copainalá Zoque), ‘my friend’ (Huautla Mazatec).

Are forgiven is a passive expression, which, if it can be reproduced without reference to a logical subject, should be retained. However, in languages where passive expressions simply do not exist or where a passive such as this one cannot occur without the agent of the action, one must make certain modifications by employing the most logical subject ‘God,’ i.e. ‘God forgives your sins’ or ‘May God forgive your sins.’

For forgive see 1.4. In this context, however, certain special adaptations of this expression for forgiveness may be required because of the use in some languages of ‘I’ as the subject and the immediacy of the act. For example, in Southern Bobo Madaré the rendering is ‘I command your sins be cast away from you.’ In Tzeltal the appropriate formula is ‘your sins are lost.’

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 .