complete verse (Mark 2:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 2:2:

  • Uma: “that is why many people assembled wanting to see him. They assembled, with the result that it was crowded in the house, even to the doorway it was full of people. He preached the Word of God to them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Many people gathered there to the house where Isa was. Therefore nobody else could fit in/there was no more room for them, even in the doorway. Isa proclaimed God’s word/message to them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “and they gathered there. They were very many, and because of this there was no longer any room for them even under the eaves near the door. Jesus preached to them the Word of God” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Right then the many-people gathered there until there was no place for others, even around the doorway. Then as Jesus was preaching the word of God to them,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That’s why very many again were the people arriving there, even outside the house having no more room even to stand in. Without anything further, Jesus taught them.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Isthmus Mixe: “Then many people gathered together. The house filled up, even around the door. There Jesus was inside preaching the word.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Kim text for oral translation: “People gathered around him many such that no one found a place to put his foot on the ground, even outside the door. Jesus was announcing the word of God.” (Source: Bayamy Tchande Awakde in The Bible Translator 2025, p. 23ff.)
  • English translation by Michael Pakaluk (2019): “So many men gathered there that it became impossible to move. There were not even any open spaces around the door. So he was speaking his message to them.”

complete verse (Mark 12:27)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 12:27:

  • Uma: “So, from those words of God, we clearly know that Abraham, Ishak and Yakub were alive. For it is not people who are dead who worship God, it is people who live who worship him. How wrong that thinking of yours is.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “God is God of the living not God of the dead. (That means that even though Ibrahim and Isahak and Yakub have died long-ago, they live there in heaven because they still worship God.) You are really mistaken/at-fault in your thinking.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “which is to say, they were still worshipping God for the one who worships him, even if he dies, he still has life. That’s why you are very much mistaken.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “What this means to say is that the dead live again, because God, he is not the God of dead people but rather the living. Therefore it is true that you are thoroughly mistaken.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Of course he is not the God of people who are dead but on the contrary, alive. Therein it’s clear that Abraham and company (i.e. Isaac and Jacob) are alive again even though they had already died. Your understanding really is very wrong.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Mezquital Otomi: “Because God says he is the God of those three men who have died, we all know that they still live and worship him. …”
  • Tzotzil: “Well then, I say to you, even though the forefathers of Moses are dead people, God spoke about them as if they were living people. Therefore you should know they are still living because God spoke thus. …”
  • Ocotlán Zapotec: “If God is God of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, he is God of those who are alive, even though they have died. …”
  • Quiotepec Chinantec: “God is the God of the living. He is also the God of the dead because they are not dead to Him, they also are living.”
  • Ocotlán Zapotec: “If God is God of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, he is God of those who are alive, even though they have died.” (Source for this and four above: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

complete verse (Mark 4:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 4:20:

  • Uma: “‘There are also people who can be compared to seeds that fall in rich ground. They hear God’s Word, they immediately receive it. In those people God’s Word really does have fruit. There are some who have a little fruit, there are some who have much fruit, there are some who have very much fruit.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But the other people, (they are) figuratively like good soil. They hear the message of God and they believe it. If in the figure of what was planted, the message of God which they heard bears fruit in their livers. Some have enough fruit, some much and some very much.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “That which was planted which falls on good ground, that is like people who hear the word of God and believe, and the word does good in them. For some, the word does a little bit of good in them. And others, the word does a large amount of good in them. And others, the word does very much good in them.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “As-for the ones-that-fell on the good soil, they are those who are listening to God’s word while-simultaneously also they understand it, and the word has results in their lives. There are those with few results, there are (those with) measurably-more and there are also (those with) many.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And as for this, what is meant by the good soil/ground which was scattered on, it’s the people who truly believe/obey the word of God which they heard. Well since it is taken to heart (lit. stored in their heads), that’s why their(emphatic) believing bears fruit, like those full-headed grain-stalks with thirty, sixty and a hundred grains each.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Mopán Maya: “As many as are planted in the good ground, these are like those told the word of God by the man. They are believing/obeying the word. They begin to become good men. It is exactly the same as a good plant. There are some whose goodness is coming out like a plant that is giving thirty fruits, etc.” (The phrasing here was changed because “bearing fruit” meant “bearing children”)
  • Korku: “Some people are like the seed sown in good ground. They hear (obey) the word and follow it and are like plants that bring forth grain. In the way that the seed sown in good ground gave birth to thirty grains, sixty grains, or a hundred grains, in that same way the ones who acknowledge (follow obey) God’s word do very good work.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

complete verse (Mark 8:36)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 8:36:

  • Uma: “What is the use of us gathering all the world’s wealth, if we don’t get good life in the future.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For a person, even if he has all the treasures/possessions/wealth in the world, there is no use in it if he has not everlasting life.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Even if a person can come to own the whole world, it’s no use to him if he is not given eternal life.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because what do-you-suppose will be the benefit to a person if he comes-to-own the entire world and then his life is lost and he is punished forever? None!” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For what does a person gain, even supposing all the wealth here in the world would be his, if his soul/spirit will be lost-permanently because it will have to go there to hardship/suffering which is without ending?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tlahuitoltepec Mixe: “What does it profit if a man gains the world for himself and his soul gets lost?”
  • El Nayar Cora: “When someone will lose his life it will not help him the one who has everything in this world.”
  • San Mateo Del Mar Huave: “What if someone owns everything in the world. What will it serve him if he fails to get life from God.” (Source for this and two above: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)