The Greek in Mark 10:22 that is translated as “countenance fell” (Revised Standard Version) or “became sad” is translated into Tase Naga as “his face was transformed” (source: Gam Sheng Sae) and in the WelshBeibl Cymraeg Newydd Diwygiedig 2004 idiomatically as “his countenance clouded” (source: Iwan Rhys Jones in The Bible Translator 2003, p. 240ff. ).
Avaric uses the so-called evidential verbal forms. Such forms are used when the speaker himself has not witnessed a given action or event, but has come to know about it indirectly or by report.
So, for example, when in the episode of the rich young man it is said that “he had great wealth,” this information, which was acquired by the teller from hearsay rather than from actual experience, can be expressed by means of these evidential verb forms. In addition, evidential verbs are used in the text of parables, being the standard form for reported speech in texts describing what the teller has not actually witnessed.
A man ran up to Jesus, knelt down before him and said:
— You are a good teacher! I want to have eternal life! What do I have to do to get it?
Jesus:
— Why do you call me “good teacher”? In the whole world, God alone is good. You know God’s commandments, don’t you? Don’t murder. Don’t violate marital fidelity. Don’t steal. Don’t cheat other people. Respect your father and mother.
That man said:
— Master! I have been practicing all these commandments since my childhood. I obey all the commandments.
Jesus looked at him. He liked the man. Jesus said:
— One thing is lacking in you. Go and sell everything you have. Give all the money you have to the poor. Your wealth will be in heaven. And when you have distributed everything, come and follow me.
The man was very sad and went away sad. This man had many houses, much land, much livestock. He had a great deal of wealth.
Jesus said to the disciples:
— It’s very hard and difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
The disciples were confused.
Jesus said:
— My children, it is very hard and difficult for such a man to enter the kingdom of God. You know that it takes effort to thread the eye of a needle. Imagine that you have to thread a camel with its two big humps into the eye of a needle. It is very hard and difficult to do such a thing. And it is even more difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
The disciples were confused and began to say:
– Who then can be saved?
Jesus said to them:
The disciples were confused and began to say:
— Who then can be saved?
Jesus said to them:
— If you try to enter the kingdom of God by yourselves, it is impossible. God alone can provide the way there.
Peter said:
— We have left everything and are ready to follow you.
Jesus said:
— I tell you precisely that the person who will leave his brothers, his sisters, mother and father, children, and fields and will be ready to follow me, who is ready to testify about Jesus in front of everyone, such a person even in his lifetime will receive a hundred times more houses, brothers, sisters, more fields, mothers, children, but will also receive many sufferings, but such a person will have eternal life.
And Jesus also said:
— He who now holds a high position, will therefore be humbled. And he who is now humbled will be exalted!
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Один человек подбежал к Иисусу, пал перед ним на колени и сказал:
— Ты — добрый учитель! Я хочу получить жизнь вечную! Что нужно сделать для этого?
Иисус:
— Зачем ты называешь меня «добрый учитель»? Во всем мире один только Бог добрый. Ты ведь знаешь заповеди Бога? Не убивай. Не нарушай супружескую верность. Не воруй. Не обманывай других людей. Уважай отца и мать.
Тот человек сказал:
— Учитель! Я исполняю все эти заповеди с детства. Я повинуюсь всем заповедям.
Иисус посмотрел на него. Этот человек ему понравился. Иисус сказал:
— Одной вещи недостает тебе. Иди и все, что у тебя есть, продай. Все полученные деньги раздай бедным. Твое богатство будет на небе. И когда ты все раздашь, приходи и следуй за мной.
Этот человек сильно огорчился и грустный ушел. У этого человек было много домов, много земли, много домашнего скота. У него было очень много богатства.
Иисус сказал ученикам:
— Богатому человеку войти в Царство Божье очень тяжело и трудно.
Ученики смутились.
Иисус сказал:
— Дети мои! Такому человеку войти в Царствие Бога очень тяжело и трудно. Вы знаете, что нужно постараться, чтобы вдеть нитку в ушко иголки. Представьте, что вы должны вдеть верблюда с его двумя большими горбами в такое ушко иголки. Очень тяжело и трудно сделать такое. А богатому человеку войти в Царство Бога еще труднее.
Ученики смутились и стали говорить:
— Кто же тогда может спастись?
Иисус им сказал:
— Если вы сами стараетесь войти в Царство Бога, это невозможно. Только Бог один может дать путь туда.
Пётр сказал:
— Мы оставили все и готовы следовать за тобой.
Иисус сказал:
— Точно говорю вам, что человек, который оставит братьев своих, оставит сестер своих, мать и отца, детей, поле и будет готов следовать за мной, кто готов свидетельствовать об Иисусе перед всеми, такой человек еще при своей жизни получит в сто раз больше домов, братьев, сестер, больше полей, матерей, детей, но также получит множество страданий, но будет у такого человека жизнь вечная.
И еще Иисус сказал:
— Кто сейчас занимает высокое положение, потому будет унижен. А кто сейчас унижен, будет превознесен!
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Jesús estaba al punto de irse cuando un hombre rico lo vio y vino corriendo, se arrodillo y dijo: “Maestro, tú eres bueno, ¿qué voy a hacer para que obtenga la vida eterna?”
Jesús dijo: “Ahorita me dijiste que soy bueno, ¿porqué? Solamente Dios es bueno.
Tu sabes los mandamientos: No mates, no comites adulterio, no robes, no mientas contra otra persona, no engañes, respeta a tus padres.”
(El hombre) dijo: “Maestro, desde que crecí he cumplido y obedecido todos los mandamientos.”
Jesús lo miró y sintió cariño (y dijo): “Te falta una cosa: Vende todas tus cosas y reparte el dinero entre los pobres, y ven y sigueme, te advierto que Dios en el cielo te dará cosas más válidas.”
El hombre lo miró y en su mente se volvió desanimado y triste, y se paró y se fue y Jesús lo miró yendo.
Jesus was about to leave when a rich man saw him and came running up to him, knelt down and said: “Teacher, you are good, what shall I do to obtain eternal life?”
Jesus said: “Just now you told me I was good, why? Only God is good.
“You know the commandments: Don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie against another person, don’t deceive, respect your parents.”
(The man) said: “Teacher, since I grew up I have fulfilled and obeyed all the commandments.”
Jesus looked at him and felt compassion (and said): “You lack one thing: sell all your things and hand out the money to the poor, and come and follow me, and I tell you that God will give you more valuable things in heaven.”
The man looked at him and became discouraged and said in his mind and got up and walked away, and Jesus watched him going.
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 10:22:
Uma: “Hearing those words of Yesus, his heart hurt [anger or sadness]. He went away from there with a sad heart, for he had much stuff.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “When he heard those words of Isa, his face was sad and he left grieved/sad, for he had very much wealth.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then that person, when he heard that which Jesus said, his breath became very painful, and he left there very sad for he had great wealth.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “When he heard that-aforementioned which Jesus had said, it could be seen in his face/eyes that he was sad, and he left them mourning, because he was extremely rich.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When that man heard, his face fell/clouded-over(fig.). He went being grieved, because he was really wealthy.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
stugnasas (only here in Mark) ‘becoming gloomy’: Arndt & Gingrich suggest possibly ‘shocked,’ ‘appalled.’
epi tō logō ‘at the word,’ ‘with the saying.’
epi ‘upon’: after verbs which express feeling the preposition means ‘at,’ ‘because,’ ‘with’ (cf. 1.22; 3.5).
lupoumenos (14.19) ‘sorrowing,’ ‘sad,’ ‘distressed.’ Manson translates ‘in annoyance.’
ktēmata (only here in Mark) in general means ‘property,’ ‘possessions’; specifically it means ‘lands,’ ‘estates’ (cf. Moulton & Milligan; Swete).
Translation:
Countenance fell can only rarely be translated literally. In Navajo one must say ‘his face drew together’ and in Amganad Ifugao the equivalent is ‘his feeling changed.’
At that saying may be translated as a verb expression in the form ‘when Jesus said that.’
Sorrowful must in some languages be carefully handled in order to avoid the meaning of ‘sorrow’ as an emotional response to death or bereavement. In this passage the meaning is one of emotional distress and disturbance, and as in so many instances of such psychological reactions the ways of speaking about these experiences are quite varied and often highly metaphorical, e.g. ‘his stomach died’ (Mezquital Otomi), ‘he was heavy in his stomach’ (Uduk), ‘his heart was pained’ (Kpelle), ‘he was sick in his mind’ (Amganad Ifugao), ‘his heart hung’ (Loma (Liberia)), and ‘his heart was spoiled’ (More).
The cultural equivalent of great possessions is in many languages ‘many farms’ and in others ‘many houses.’ In some languages the closest corresponding expression is ‘he was very rich.’
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 .
But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But indicates a contrast. The contrast is between what Jesus told the man to do and what the man did.
Here is another way to translate this:
However
Other translations leave the contrast implicit. Express this contrast in a natural way in your language.
the man was saddened: The phrase the man was saddened means that the man was disappointed at what Jesus said. Use an expression with that meaning. Also, this is a passive clause. If a passive clause is not natural in your language here, you may use an active clause.
Here are some other ways to translate this expression:
gloom spread over his face (Good News Bible) -or-
the man immediately went from happy to sad
by these words: The phrase by these words indicates that the man was responding to what Jesus said.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
at this statement (NET Bible) -or-
When he heard this (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
by Jesus’ response
10:22b
and went away in sorrow: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as went away in sorrow means that as the man left Jesus, he felt sad. He felt sorrowful or disappointed because Jesus had not told him that he would easily obtain eternal life. He was not willing to sell all his possessions.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
and he went away sorrowful (Revised Standard Version) -or-
He went away sad (New International Version) -or-
and he left unhappily
10:22c
because he had great wealth: The conjunction because introduces the reason that the man went away sad. But there is some implied information here. The man did not want to sell all he had because he loved his possessions. He wanted to keep them more than he wanted to receive eternal life with God. In some languages it may be necessary to suggest this or make some of this explicit. For example:
because he did not want to give away his great wealth -or-
because it was hard for him to think of selling his many valuable possessions
he had great wealth: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as great wealth is literally “many possessions” (as in the New Revised Standard Version). The Greek word meaning “possessions” is general and includes land, houses, money, jewels, and other goods.
Here are some other ways to translate he had great wealth:
he had many possessions (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
he was rich (New Century Version) -or-
he owned many things
General Comment on 10:22b–c
In these verses, 10:22c expresses the reason for the result in 10:22b. In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of these clauses. For example:
22che had great wealth, 22bthat is why he went away in sorrow. -or- 22che had great wealth, 22bso he went away in sorrow.
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