Exegesis:

enagkalisamenos (cf. 9.36) ‘embracing,’ ‘taking into (his) arms.’

kateulogei titheis ‘he blessed laying’: most translations have it simply, ‘he laid (his hands upon them) and blessed.’ The participle titheis ‘laying’ may indicate means ‘by laying (his hands upon them),’ or accompanying circumstances ‘as he laid (his hands upon them)’ (cf. Williams, Zürcher Bibel).

kateulogeō (only here in the N.T.; cf. eulogeō 6.41) ‘bless’: in accordance with the customs of the time, we are to understand that Jesus invoked God’s blessings upon them (‘May God bless you’) rather than pronounced a blessing himself (‘I bless you’). Some commentators and translators understand the preposition kata in this compound verb to have the meaning ‘tenderly,’ ‘warmly,’ ‘lovingly.’ The imperfect of the verb describes Jesus blessing the children one by one, not all at the same time.

tithenai tas cheiras (cf. 5.23 for epitithenai tas cheiras) ‘to lay hands,’ ‘to place (his) hands’: as Lagrange points out, this imposition of hands is the mode of the benediction.

Translation:

Them must refer specifically to the children.

In his arms probably refers to a position on his lap rather than to his simply lifting them up from the ground while he was in a standing position (as a Rabbi he was probably teaching in a seated position). This difference is important in some languages.

For bless see 6.41, but in this instance persons are the object of the blessing, and hence certain adjustments may be required.

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 .