Text:

Instead of parakousas ‘ignoring’ of all modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus has eutheōs akousas ‘immediately hearing’; Kilpatrick has euthus parakousas ‘then ignoring.’

Exegesis:

parakousas (only here in Mark) ‘ignoring,’ ‘disregarding,’ or, ‘overhearing’; the meaning of the verb here is disputed, with the majority of translations favoring the sense ‘ignoring,’ ‘disregarding’ (American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, Translator’s New Testament, Goodspeed, Moffatt, The Modern Speech New Testament, Montgomery, Williams, Zürcher Bibel, Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale, O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada; among the lexicons and commentators, Abbott-Smith, Thayer, Swete, Taylor); others, however, favor the meaning of ‘overhearing’ (Berkeley, Manson); the meaning ‘pretending not to hear’ is favored by Field and Souter.

ton logon laloumenon ‘the message being delivered’: i.e. while they were still talking, Jesus interrupted and spoke to Jairus.

mē phobou (cf. 4.11) ‘do not be afraid,’ ‘quit being afraid’: the further injunction ‘only believe’ shows that ‘do not be afraid’ in this particular context has the meaning ‘do not be unbelieving,’ ‘do not doubt.’

monon pisteue ‘only believe’: a command.

monon (6.8) ‘only’: an adverb, modifying the verb ‘believe’ (for monos ‘only’ as an adjective cf. 6.47).

Translation:

The meaning of ignoring may be translated as ‘he paid no attention.’ Overhearing may be rendered as ‘he heard what the men had just said to the ruler.’

For ruler of the synagogue, see 5.22, though note that since this is a title, more than a specific designation of his role in a particular synagogue, it may be more correct to translate ‘the ruler of the synagogue.’

Fear must refer in this context to ‘fearful of the outcome’ or ‘doubtful.’

For believe, see 1.15, but in this context difficulties may arise if the verb ‘to believe’ requires an object. In such instances it may be better to adopt an alternative expression such as ‘have confidence’ or ‘keep your heart firm.’

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 humeis autoi kat’ idian eis erēmon topon ‘you yourselves come in private to an isolated spot.’

deute (cf. 1.17) ‘come.’

kat’ idian (cf. 4.34) ‘privately,’ ‘alone.’

eis erēmon topon (cf. 1.35, 45) ‘to a lonely place,’ ‘to an isolated spot.’

anapausasthe (14.41) ‘rest ye.’

oligon is adverbial ‘a little (while)’ expressing time (cf. 1.19 where it expresses distance).

hoi erchomenoi kai hoi hupagontes ‘those (who were) coming and those (who were) going.’

hupagō (cf. 1.44) ‘go,’ ‘depart.’

kai oude phagein eukairoun ‘and they [i.e. Jesus and his disciples] did not have time even to eat.’

eukaireō (only here in Mark; cf. eukairos 6.21) ‘have a favorable time,’ ‘have opportunity’: here used of time (cf. Moulton & Milligan). For a similar situation cf. also 3.20.

Translation:

Said must in some languages be translated as ‘commanded’ or ‘urged,’ since the following expression is not a declarative sentence, but in the form of a command.

Come away by yourselves may be very misleading if translated literally, for it might mean that the disciples were to gather as a group without Jesus. The meaning is that they were to go together with Jesus to an isolated place. This may be rendered in some languages as ‘come away with me so that we can be alone together.’ Cf. Javanese ‘You come here and go alone with me.’

Many must refer to the people in general, the crowds. One may translate, ‘for many people were coming and going’ (literally, in some languages, ‘coming to where the disciples were and later leaving,’ or ‘joining with the disciples and then departing’). Coming and going must not be translated in such a way as to refer to the passing of people on the thoroughfare, but the coming of people to talk with Jesus and the disciples.

Leisure to eat is really ‘an opportunity (or ‘a chance’) to eat.’

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 palin ‘again’ of the great majority of modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus and Taylor have panta ‘all.’

Exegesis:

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

sunete (cf. 4.12) ‘you must understand.’

Translation:

Hear me is ‘listen to me.’ Understand may be understood figuratively as ‘receive it in your 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 .

Exegesis:

anastenaxas tō pneumati autou ‘sighing deeply in his spirit,’ ‘groaning inwardly.’

anastenazō (only here in the N.T.; cf. stenazō 7.34) ‘sigh deeply,’ ‘groan.’

tō pneumati autou (cf. 2.8) ‘in his spirit,’ ‘in himself.’

ti ‘why?’: so most translations and commentators. Black takes it to mean ‘how?’

genea (8.38; 9.19; 13.30) ‘race,’ ‘kind,’ ‘generation’: here used of the contemporaries of Jesus.

ei dothēsetai … sēmeion ‘if a sign shall be given’: a Hebraism indicating strong denial, ‘no sign shall be given.’ As Arndt & Gingrich point out, an unexpressed wish, or oath, is implied: ‘may this or that happen to me if….’ Only here and in the quotation from Ps. 95.11 in Heb. 3.11, 4.3, 5 does this idiom appear in the N.T.

Translation:

Spirit must not be translated in such a way as to imply (1) the Holy Spirit, (2) the spirit which lives on after death, or (3) a familiar spirit, or demon. (This last meaning has been unfortunately entirely too frequent in translations.) In many languages one can use ‘heart,’ ‘liver,’ ‘stomach,’ or some other emotional center of the personality.

Sighed in his spirit in San Mateo del Mar Huave is ‘to let out the air from his heart.’ In Copainalá Zoque the opposite action forms the basis of the figure, ‘he drew a breath in his heart.’

This generation is ‘the people now’ (Chol) or ‘those who are in space now’ (Tzeltal). In some instances it must be made clear that the Pharisees who posed the question are included in this group, e.g. ‘you people now living.’

Truly is often translated with one of two different syntactic relations (1) ‘I tell you the truth; no sign shall be…’ or (2) ‘I tell you, Certainly no sign shall be….’ That is to say, the adverb is related to the verb of speaking, as an assertion of the truth of the utterance, or combined with the object of the verb of speaking, namely as a statement about the certainty of the event described. The ultimate results are practically the same, though the receptor languages in question may require one or the other syntactic relationship.

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:

ou gar ēdei ti apokrithē ‘for he did not know what he should answer’ (or ‘say’) (for this grammatical construction cf. ti phagōsin ‘what they should eat’ 6.36; ti aiteisthe ‘what you are asking for’ 10.38; ouk ēdeisan ti apokrithōsin autō ‘they did not know what they should answer him’ 14.40).

ekphoboi gar egenonto ‘for they became terrified,’ or ‘for they had become terrified’ (rather than ‘were’).

ekphobos (only here in Mark) ‘terrified,’ ‘very afraid.’

Translation:

The syntactic problems of this verse are complex because of the two uses of for. The first introduces the reason for the preceding action, namely, Peter’s remark, and the second indicates why Peter did not know what to say. In some languages this distinction may be indicated only by expanding the first causal conjunction, e.g. ‘the reason he said this was that he really didn’t know what to say, for they….’ In Navajo the sequence of clauses is shifted ‘since they were exceedingly afraid, he did not know what to say.’

They must be translated in such a way as to refer to the disciples, not to the entire group nor to the immediately preceding third person plural pronoun, they in verse 4, which refers to Elijah and Moses.

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:

There are three different ways in which the last part of this verse is read by modern editions of the Greek Text: (1) the Revised Standard Version reading kai ekōluomen auton hoti ouk akolouthei hēmin ‘and we were forbidding him because he does not follow us’ is the text preferred also by Westcott and Hort, Vogels, and Souter; (2) hos ouk akolouthei hēmin, kai ekōluomen auton, hoti ouk ēkolouthei hēmin ‘who does not follow us, and we were forbidding him, because he was not following us’ is the text preferred by Textus Receptus (with slight differences noted in Appendix), Tischendorf, Nestle, Kilpatrick, Merk, and Taylor; (3) hos ouk akolouthei hēmin, kai ekōluomen auton ‘who does not follow us, and we were forbidding him’ is preferred by Soden and Lagrange. The choice seems to lie between (1) and (2), the majority of editors preferring (2).

Exegesis:

Iōannēs ‘John’: presumably the apostle, son of Zebedee and brother of James (cf. 1.19; 3.17).

en tō onomati sou (cf. v. 37; 16.17) ‘in your name,’ ‘using your name’: cf. Arndt & Gingrich ‘with mention of the name, while naming or calling on the name.’

ēkoluomen (9.39; 10.14) ‘we were hindering,’ ‘preventing,’ ‘forbidding’: the imperfect tense in this case expresses attempt ‘we tried to stop him’ (cf. The Modern Speech New Testament, Montgomery, Manson).

The other words in this verse have already been dealt with: didaskale ‘teacher’ cf. 4.38; ekballein daimonia ‘cast out demons’ cf. 1.12, 34; akoloutheō ‘follow (as a disciple)’ cf. 1.18.

Translation:

For teacher see 2.13.

For casting out demons see 1.34.

In your name has a somewhat different meaning here from that in verse 9.37, for here the usage is more technical – more related to the concepts of “word magic,” in the sense that the man was evidently invoking the name of Jesus, whose reputation as an exorcist had attracted considerable attention, and had acquired evident “power.” One may translate this passage merely as ‘by using your name’ or ‘by calling out your name.’ However, even this use of ‘name’ may be utterly meaningless in a receptor language and in such instances one can use a more paraphrastic equivalent ‘as though on orders from you’ (Highland Puebla Nahuatl). It is not possible to say merely ‘on your orders,’ for obviously the man had not been commissioned by Jesus, and the use of Jesus’ name was evidently a prerogative assumed by the man without warrant. In Tzeltal the equivalent is ‘by your authority, so he said.’

Forbade him may be translated as ‘said, Don’t do that’ (Navajo).

Not following us involves unsuspected difficulties, for if translated literally, it would mean that the man was not coming along behind the other disciples, obviously not what was meant. The equivalent in many languages does not involve the use of a verb ‘to follow,’ but an identification of the adherence of the man to the group, e.g. ‘he was not one of us’ (Southern Subanen) or ‘he was not with us.’

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:

At the end of the verse Textus Receptus, Soden, Vogels, and Merk add aras ton stauron ‘taking up the cross,’ which is omitted by the majority of modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

emblepsas autō ēgapēsen auton ‘looking on him he loved him.’

emblepō (cf. 8.25) ‘see,’ ‘look at,’ ‘look on.’

agapaō (12.30, 31, 33) ‘love’: here Field suggests that perhaps it means ‘he caressed him,’ and gives examples of the verb used with this meaning.

hen se husterei literally ‘one thing lacks you’: the verb hustereō means ‘fail,’ ‘lack’ and is here used impersonally; the numeral hen ‘one thing’ is the subject, and the personal pronoun se ‘you’ is the object.

hosa echeis pōlēson ‘whatever you have sell.’

hosa (cf. 3.8) ‘everything that,’ ‘as many things as.’

pōleō (11.15) ‘sell.’

kai dos tois ptōchois ‘and give (the proceeds from the sale) to the poor’ (cf. The Modern Speech New Testament).

thēsauron en ouranō ‘treasure in heaven’: Arndt & Gingrich comment, “which is, as it were, deposited there and becomes available to men after death.” Or, as Taylor comments, ‘treasure in heaven’ means ‘treasure with God.’

ouranos (cf. 1.10) ‘heaven’ where God dwells.

deuro (only here in Mark; cf. deute 1.17) is an adverb ‘hither’ used as an imperative ‘come!’

akolouthei (cf. 1.18) ‘you follow,’ ‘become my disciple.’

Translation:

Loved should be translated in such a way as to indicate Jesus’ profound admiration and regard for this young man, but one must carefully avoid any suggestion of emotional attitude which would imply amorous instincts of homosexuality. In speaking of love, whether divine or human, there are a number of idiomatic expressions used in various languages, e.g. ‘his heart burned for’ (Guerrero Amuzgo), ‘he hurt in his heart’ (Tzeltal), ‘his heart went away with’ (Mitla Zapotec), ‘his abdomen died for him’ (Conob), ‘his thoughts were toward him’ (Cashibo-Cacataibo), and ‘put him in his heart’ (Toro So Dogon).

A literal rendering of you lack one thing may be quite misleading, if it refers essentially to the lack of possessions. The meaning here is that there is still one thing which he should do, e.g. ‘you still fail in one thing’ (in the sense of ‘action’ or ‘activity’).

Give to the poor must be understood in the sense of ‘distribute the proceeds (i.e. ‘the money’) to the poor people.’

And come must be rendered in some languages as involving some transitional element, since the last two imperative verbs are not completely coordinate with the first three. That is to say, the commands to go, sell and give represent one stage, followed by the commands, come, follow. Accordingly, one must sometimes translate as ‘then come, follow me.’

For follow see 1.17.

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 .