Text:

After ōmosen ‘he swore’ Taylor and Kilpatrick add polla ‘much,’ which is omitted by all other editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

ōmosen (14.71) ‘swore,’ ‘vowed,’ ‘took an oath.’

heōs hēmisous ‘up to one-half,’ ‘as much as one-half.’

Translation:

Vowed means ‘swore an oath,’ a practice which in its so-called proper sense is more common in other cultures than in ours. In English to swear usually implies cursing and indiscriminate use of names of Deity. But in this passage one has an instance of a culturally common practice of making a promise while calling on God to witness and implying that failure to perform an oath would invoke divine sanctions. Such an action is describable in quite different ways, e.g. ‘God sees me, I tell the truth to you’ (Tzeltal), ‘he loaded himself down’ (Huichol), ‘to speak-stay,’ implying permanence of the utterance (Sayula Popoluca), and ‘to say what he could not take away’ (San Blas Kuna).

Half of my kingdom may be ‘half of the land I rule over’ (Sayula Popoluca) or ‘half of my land’ (Shipibo-Conibo).

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 kai ‘and’ at the beginning of the verse, of the majority of editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus, Soden, and Vogels have epeita ‘then.’

Instead of koinais ‘common’ of all modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus has aniptois ‘unwashed.’

Exegesis:

eperōtōsin (cf. 5.9) ‘they ask.’

peripatousin (cf. 2.9) ‘they walk’: here, figuratively, ‘they live,’ ‘they proceed.’

kata tēn paradosin ‘in accordance with the tradition’: this is the only place in Mark in which the preposition kata is used with this meaning.

esthiousin ton arton ‘they eat bread,’ i.e. ‘they eat, they eat food’ (in general).

Translation:

Asked him may be ‘asked Jesus,’ if the reference is otherwise not clear in the receptor language.

For scribes see 1.22 and for disciples 2.15.

Not live…, but eat may cause complications, unless translated with care, e.g. ‘not live according to what their fathers told them; rather, they eat with hands….’

Defiled is the same word as used in 7.2.

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:

apekrithēsan ‘they answered’: the verb apokrinomai ‘answer’ is used in the aorist passive, with active meaning, here and at 9.6, 17; 11.29, 30; 12.28, 29, 34; 14.40; 15.5, 9; it appears with legei ‘he says’ in 7.28, and is used in the middle voice in 14.60, 61; 15.4 (for its use as a participle with legei ‘he says’ or eipen ‘he said’ cf. 3.33).

hoti ‘that’: introducing direct speech.

pothen toutous dunēsetai tis hōde chortasai artōn ep’ erēmias; ‘where can any one here in the desert (get the food to) feed these (people)’; Translator’s New Testament ‘From where shall anyone be able here in a wilderness to satisfy these with bread?’

pothen (cf. 6.2) ‘whence,’ ‘from where’: it may also be used with the meaning ‘how’ as in 12.37, and that is the meaning assigned to it here by Revised Standard Version; Lagrange comment.

hōde (6.3; 9.1, 5; 11.3; 13.2, 21; 14.32, 34; 16.6) ‘here.’

chortasai artōn (cf. 6.42) ‘feed with bread,’ i.e. ‘feed,’ ‘satisfy (their hunger),’ ‘fill.’

ep’ erēmias (only here in Mark) ‘in (this) uninhabited place,’ ‘in this isolated spot’ (cf. erēmos ‘wilderness’ 1.3): this phrase defines the character of hōde ‘here.’

Translation:

Answered is not to be understood in reply to a question, though it may have been implied. The basic meaning is ‘replied,’ but in languages which require the introduction of a question by the appropriate verb, one may use ‘asked in reply.’

Feed must be carefully translated in instances in which a distinction is made between providing food for people and giving food to animals. Feed … with bread may be most naturally rendered in some instances as ‘give them bread to eat.’

While the Greek uses an indefinite tis ‘any one,’ some languages require either a noun ‘any man’ or a first person plural ‘we.’ In this latter instance one must then determine in some languages whether the inclusive or exclusive first person plural must be used, that is to say, were the disciples thinking only of their own inability to feed the people, in contrast with Jesus’ presumed ability? It is probably better, however, to use the inclusive form, implying the complete inability, as far as the disciples could determine, to provide food for such a large group in this desert place.

For desert see wilderness 1.3.

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:

antallagma tēs psuchēs autou ‘as an exchange for his life.’

antallagma (only here in Mark) ‘purchasing price,’ ‘exchange.’ The answer to this rhetorical question is that there is nothing which a man can give to compensate for the loss of his psuchē ‘(real) life,’ i.e. the loss of his very self. Cf. Lagrange: “a life which is his true life, his soul, himself.”

Translation:

Give in return for is in some languages equivalent to ‘pay as a price for keeping’ or ‘pay to get back,’ or ‘pay in exchange for.’

Life should be translated the same in this verse as in 8.36.

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 the whole verse see 8.31.

edidasken gar ‘for he was teaching’: this clause should receive the necessary emphasis as explaining the reason why Jesus did not want anyone to know of his trip through Galilee.

Most of the words in this verse have already been dealt with: for ho huios tou anthrōpou ‘the Son of man’ cf. 2.10; apokteinō ‘kill’ cf. 3.4; meta treis hēmeras ‘after three days’ cf. 8.31; anistēmi ‘rise’ cf. 1.35; 8.31.

paradidotai eis cheiras anthrōpōn ‘he is delivered into the hands of men’: with most commentators it is reasonable to presume that the present tense of the verb in this instance has a future force, ‘will be delivered into the hands of men’ (see Lagrange, however, for arguments against this position, and cf. Translator’s New Testament ‘is being delivered’).

paradidōmi (cf. 1.14) ‘hand over,’ ‘deliver,’ ‘arrest.’

eis cheiras anthrōpōn (cf. 14.41) ‘into the hands of men,’ i.e. ‘into the power of men’ who are to be regarded as hostile.

Translation:

Was teaching … saying may be translated as a single verb expression in introducing indirect or direct discourse, e.g. ‘he was teaching … that the Son of man…’ or as two verbs, often in paratactic arrangement, e.g. ‘he was teaching his disciples; he was saying, The Son of man….’ The choice between a single or double verb expression must depend upon the requirements of the receptor language.

For Son of man see 2.10, and for other syntactic problems refer to 8.31. Translations should consistently reflect whatever degree of parallelism there is in the original texts – making sure to translate in the same way what is the same in Greek and at the same time not to force conformity in the translation, where the original is not identical.

Into the hands of men is an idiom standing for men’s power or control. In some languages hands become ‘arms,’ ‘power,’ ‘control,’ or ‘beneath,’ e.g. ‘he will be put beneath men,’ in the sense of under their power.

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:

ēganaktēsen (10.41; 14.4) ‘he grew indignant,’ ‘he got angry,’ ‘he was aroused.’

aphete (cf. 2.5) ‘allow,’ ‘permit,’ ‘let.’

mē kōluete auta ‘stop forbidding them,’ ‘quit hindering them.’

kōluō (cf. 9.38) ‘hinder,’ ‘forbid,’ ‘restrain.’

tōn gar toioutōn estin hē basileia tou theou ‘for of such as these is the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Translator’s New Testament).

ho toioutos ‘one of this kind,’ ‘one of this sort,’ ‘one such as this’: the proper force of this correlative demonstrative pronoun of quality should be observed, and not be reduced simply to, a demonstrative, as though it meant only ‘this one.’ Cf. Goodspeed ‘such as they’; Moffatt ‘such as these’; Manson ‘such as them’; Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale ceux qui leur resemblent. As seen in the next verse hōs paidion ‘as a child,’ Jesus is speaking of the characteristics or qualities of children, not of the children themselves (so most commentators; Lagrange, however, supposes that both meanings à ceux qui resemblent aux enfants, and à ces enfants eux-mêmes are not mutually exclusive).

eimi ‘to be’ with the genitive may mean ‘belongs to,’ indicating possession, or quality.

hē basileia tou theou (cf. 1.15) ‘the Kingdom of God.’

Translation:

It is in some languages ‘what had happened’ or ‘what they were doing.’

Said to them refers to the statement to the disciples, e.g. ‘said to the disciples,’ In some languages this third person plural object tends to be related to the immediately preceding pronoun of the same type, which refers to those bringing the children to Jesus.

For kingdom of God see 1.15 and 4.11.

To such belongs implies a very difficult relationship in some languages, especially where kingdom is translated as ‘rule’ or ‘government,’ as a process rather than an object. In such instances one cannot speak of a person possessing such a process. In Copainalá Zoque the entire construction is recast as ‘God will rule over such as these.’ In Tzeltal an entirely different perspective is employed, e.g. ‘persons like these will reach God’s government.’

It is possible to interpret the Greek expression tōn … toiautōn estin ‘of such is’ as referring to the quality of the participants, rather than to possession. In this case, the relationship of the kingdom to the participants becomes somewhat easier to express, especially in languages in which kingdom is translated as ‘rule’ or ‘government’ (i.e. as a process rather than an object). For example, in Inupiaqthis passage is rendered as ‘the kingdom of God is full of people who are as children,’ a close equivalent of one possible meaning of the Greek expression.

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:

Nazarēnos (1.24; 14.67; 16.6) ‘of Nazareth,’ ‘Nazarene.’

krazein (cf. 3.11) ‘to cry.’

huie Dauid (10.48; 12.35) ‘Son of David’: a messianic title.

eleēson (cf. 5.19) ‘have mercy,’ ‘be merciful.’

Translation:

It was … may require readjustment, e.g. ‘when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there.’

Cry out is in this context ‘shout.’

Son of David can usually be translated literally, since ‘son’ often permits expansion in the sense of anyone’s belonging to the lineage of such and such a person. However, in some languages an alternative term, roughly equivalent to our grandson may be necessary, so as to avoid a serious misunderstanding. On the other hand, there are often generic terms such as ‘offspring’ or ‘descendant,’ which can be used in such instances, if ‘son’ includes entirely too narrow a range of meaning.

For mercy see 5.19.

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 .