Translation commentary on Mark 10:27

Exegesis:

emblepsas (cf. 10.21) ‘looking at,’ ‘looking on.’

para anthrōpois … para theō ‘with men … with God’: para with the dative has, in this construction, the force of the dative – ‘for men … for God.’ The implied subject is touto ‘this’ (i.e. to sōzesthai ‘the being saved’).

adunaton (only here in Mark) ‘impossible.’

“All things are possible with God” is an O.T. phrase (Gen. 18.14; cf. Job 42.2; Zech. 8.6).

dunata (cf. 9.23) ‘possible.’

Translation:

With men it is impossible is a highly elliptical phrase, quite understandable, but quite difficult to reproduce in certain languages, where it is impossible to use an indefinite pronoun such as ‘it’ referring to a process of being saved and to employ ‘impossible’ without specifically stating what is impossible. Accordingly, one must translate in some instances ‘people cannot cause saving’ or ‘people cannot save themselves’ (in which case a reflexive may be necessary if an object of the verb ‘save’ is required). The following clause is then combined with the first as ‘but God can save them.’

In some languages a generic type of verb can be used, e.g. ‘men cannot do this, but God can do so,’ in which case ‘do’ is a type of substitute verb for ‘save,’ employed in the previous verse.

All things are possible with God must often be changed, as in the case of Tzeltal, to a direct active expression, e.g. ‘God can do anything’ (or ‘all things’).

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 .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 10:27

10:27a

Jesus looked at them: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as looked at means “look intently at” or “fix one’s gaze upon.” This is the same word as in 10:21a. This action adds emphasis or seriousness to the words that follow. Translate in a way that indicates that the following words (10:27b–c) are serious.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Jesus looked straight at them (Good News Bible)
-or-
Jesus looked at them intently. (New Living Translation)

The verb looked does not imply anger or any bad emotion. If “look intently” implies anger or a bad emotion in your culture, you should use a different expression that implies seriousness.

10:27b–c

With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God: In this context the clause With man this is impossible means “human beings cannot do this,” that is, “human beings cannot save themselves.” The clause but not with God means “it is not impossible for God to do this,” that is, “God is able to save them.”

Here are some other ways to translate this:

This is something people cannot do, but God can. God can do all things. (New Century Version)
-or-
This is impossible for human beings but not for God; everything is possible for God. (Good News Bible)
-or-
It’s impossible for people [to save themselves], but it’s not impossible for God to save them. Everything is possible for God. (God’s Word)

this: The word this refers to the act of saving people from being excluded from the kingdom of God, as in 10:26b. If this meaning will not be clear to people in your area, you may translate this in a similar way as you translated “saved” in 10:26b. For example:

For human beings, saving themselves is impossible.
-or-
As for people, they are not able to rescue themselves from judgment so that they can enter the kingdom of God.

all things: In this context the phrase all things refers to any deed that God approves of. God can do anything that he desires to do, including saving people.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

all deeds
-or-
everything (Good News Bible)

© 2008 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.