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 .

Exegesis:

idōn auton hoti ‘seeing him that’: by a construction fairly common in Greek, the subject of the clause which begins with hoti (in this case autos ‘he’) is drawn into the main clause as its object. Therefore, idōn auton hoti ‘seeing him that’ is the equivalent to idōn hoti autos ‘seeing that he.’ As Black points out, this lends emphasis to the displaced word.

nounechōs (only here in the N.T.) ‘wisely,’ ‘thoughtfully,’ ‘discreetly.’

ou makran ei apo tēs basileias tou theou ‘you are not far from the Kingdom of God’: here the Kingdom of God is thought of as a condition, or relationship, into which one enters here and now. Lagrange: “he almost has the necessary disposition to receive the Gospel.” Cf. Arndt & Gingrich: “you are almost ready to enter it.”

makran (only here in Mark) is an adverb ‘far (away).’

oudeis ouketi ‘no one any longer,’ ‘no one any more’ (for similar phrases cf. 5.3; 9.8).

etolma (15.43) ‘dared,’ ‘had the boldness,’ ‘ventured.’

Translation:

Saw is a normal type of verb from the standpoint of Greek and English, but in other languages one may be required to translate ‘realized’ or ‘recognized,’ to imply a mental reaction, not just a visual perception.

The rendering of he must refer to the scribe mentioned in verse 32. In some instances a noun will need to be substituted for this pronoun.

Wisely is translatable in some languages only by relating ‘wise’ to the person, e.g. ‘he was wise when he answered’ or to the words, e.g. ‘he answered with wise words.’

For kingdom of God see 1.15, 4.11, and 10.15.

No one dared to ask is equivalent in some languages to saying ‘everyone was afraid to ask’ (Tzeltal, South Bolivian Quechua).

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:

Before sēmeia ‘signs’ Tischendorf, Nestle, and Kilpatrick have poiēsousin ‘they will perform’; all other editions of the Greek text, however, have dōsousin ‘they will give’ (presumably Revised Standard Version ‘show’ translates dōsousin).

Exegesis:

egerthēsontai (cf. 1.31) ‘they will arise,’ i.e. ‘will appear,’ ‘will arrive on the scene.’

pseudochristoi (only here in Mark) ‘false Christs,’ ‘pseudo Messiahs.’

pseudoprophētai (only here in Mark) ‘false prophets’: the saying about false prophets and their signs and wonders recalls the language of Deut. 13.2.

dōsousin sēmeia kai terata ‘they will give signs and wonders,’ in the sense of ‘causing (signs and wonders) to appear.’

sēmeion (cf. 8.11) ‘sign.’

terata (only here in Mark) ‘wonders,’ ‘portents,’ ‘prodigies’: in the N.T. used only in the plural and always with sēmeia ‘signs.’

pros to apoplanan ‘for the purpose of deceiving,’ ‘with a view to leading astray.’

pros here means ‘with the purpose of,’ ‘in order to.’

apoplanaō (only here in Mark; cf. planaō 13.5) ‘deceive,’ ‘lead astray.’

ei dunaton (14.35) ‘if possible’: for dunatos ‘possible’ cf. 9.23.

Translation:

False is often translatable only by some verb phrase which describes the activity of the person in question, e.g. ‘those who pretend to be Christ’ (Amganad Ifugao, Copainalá Zoque), ‘deceiving christs’ (Tzeltal), ‘christs who really are not’ (Highland Puebla Nahuatl), ‘men who say they are Christ’ (San Mateo del Mar Huave), and ‘people will come, one will say, I am Christ; another will say, I am a prophet’ (Yaka). In Mitla Zapotec false prophet has to be completely recast because of the phrasal form of the expression for prophet e.g. ‘speak lies as if speaking for God.’ In all these expressions the concept of falseness, pretence, and deceit are clearly indicated, despite the rather radical syntactic and lexical divergencies from the Greek expression. Such adaptations are quite common in languages in which activities or behavior implied by Greek (and English) adjectives plus nouns are describable only by verbs, which require a full complement of subject and object components.

Will arise may be ‘will stand,’ ‘will come into existence,’ ‘will appear,’ or ‘will become.’ It is only rarely that arise can be translated literally.

For signs see 8.11.

Wonders are different from miracles in that they usually involve some unusual phenomena in nature which are a portent of dire woe or extraordinary blessing. In Huichol these are ‘awe-inspiring things.’ In Yucateco they are ‘things which show what is coming,’ but in Eastern Highland Otomi the expression must be cast into the form of a verb phrase ‘they will amaze the people.’

Lead astray is sometimes translated in such a way as to reflect this same English metaphor, but usually one must employ some other more generic term as ‘deceive’ or ‘cause to believe a lie.’

If possible may require some expansion because of the essentially elliptical form, e.g. ‘if they can do so’ or ‘if they are able.’

The elect are ‘the chosen ones’ or where an agent is required, ‘the ones God has chosen’ (see 13.20).

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:

opsias genomenēs (cf. 4.35) ‘when it was evening,’ i.e. after sunset on Thursday, and by now (according to Jewish reckoning) the 15th Nisan.

meta tōn dōdeka (cf. 3.16) ‘with the Twelve’: a title, not a number.

Translation:

Because of the distance of he from the closest specific noun antecedent, it may be necessary to translate ‘Jesus came with the twelve disciples.’

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 .