The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “blind” in English is translated as “(having) eyes dark/night” in Ekari or “having no eyes” in Zarma. (Source: Nida 1964, p. 200)
See also blind (Luke 4:18) and his eyes are darker than wine.
Καὶ ἔρχονται εἰς Ἰεριχώ. καὶ ἐκπορευομένου αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ Ἰεριχὼ καὶ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ ὄχλου ἱκανοῦ ὁ υἱὸς Τιμαίου Βαρτιμαῖος, τυφλὸς προσαίτης, ἐκάθητο παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν.
The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus
46They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside.
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “blind” in English is translated as “(having) eyes dark/night” in Ekari or “having no eyes” in Zarma. (Source: Nida 1964, p. 200)
See also blind (Luke 4:18) and his eyes are darker than wine.
The Greek that is often translated as “disciple” in English typically follows three types of translation: (1) those which employ a verb ‘to learn’ or ‘to be taught’, (2) those which involve an additional factor of following, or accompaniment, often in the sense of apprenticeship, and (3) those which imply imitation of the teacher.
[Chouraqui] uses the noun “adept,” which is as uncommon in French as it is in English. It’s an evocative choice on several levels. First, linguistically, it derives — via the term adeptus — from the Latin verb adipiscor, “to arrive at; to reach; to attain something by effort or striving.” It suggests those who have successfully reached the goal of their searching, and implies a certain struggle or process of learning that has been gradually overcome. But it’s also a term with a very particular history: in the Middle Ages, “adept” was used in the world of alchemy, to describe those who, after years of labor and intensive study, claimed to have discovered the Great Secret (how to turn base metals like lead into gold); it thus had the somewhat softened meaning of “someone who is completely skilled in all the secrets of their field.”
Historians of religion often use the term adept with reference to the ancient mystery religions that were so prevalent in the Mediterranean in the centuries around the time of Jesus. An adept was someone who, through a series of initiatory stages, had penetrated into the inner, hidden mysteries of the religion, who understood its rituals, symbols, and their meaning. To be an adept implied a lengthy and intensive master-disciple relationship, gradually being led further and further into the secrets of the god or goddess (Isis-Osiris, Mithras, Serapis, Hermes, etc.) — secrets that were never to be revealed to an outsider.
Is “adept” a suitable category in which to consider discipleship as we see it described in the Gospels? On some levels, the link is an attractive one, drawing both upon the social-religious framework of the ancient Mediterranean, and upon certain aspects of intimacy and obscurity/secrecy that we see in the relationship of Jesus and those who followed him. The idea that disciples are “learners” — people who are “on the way” — and that Jesus is portrayed as (and addressed as) their Master/Teacher is accurate. But the comparison is unsatisfactory on several other levels.
First, the Gospels portray Jesus’s ministry as a largely public matter — there is relatively little of the secrecy and exclusiveness that is normally associated with both the mystery cults and medieval alchemy. Jesus’s primary message is not destined for a small, elite circle of “initiates” — although the Twelve are privy to explanations, experiences and teachings that are not provided to “the crowds.” For example, in Matthew 13:10-13:
Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to [the crowds] in parables?” He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’”
Etymologically, adeptus suggests someone who “has arrived,” who has attained a superior level of understanding reserved for very few. However, what we see in the Gospels, repeatedly, is a general lack of comprehension of many of Jesus’s key teachings by many of those who hear him. Many of his more cryptic sayings would have been virtually incomprehensible in their original context, and would only make sense in retrospect, in the wake of the events of Jesus’s passion, death, and resurrection. The intense master-student relationship is also lacking: the Gospels largely portray “the disciples” as a loose (and probably fluctuating) body of individuals, with minimal structure or cohesion. Finally, there seems to be little scholarly consensus about the degree to which the mystery cults had made inroads in Roman-ruled Palestine during the decades of Jesus’s life. According to Everett Ferguson in his Backgrounds of Early Christianity.
Although Christianity had points of contact with Stoicism, the mysteries, the Qumran community, and so on, the total worldview was often quite different….So far as we can tell, Christianity represented a new combination for its time…. At the beginning of the Christian era a number of local mysteries, some of great antiquity, flourished in Greece and Asia Minor. In the first century A.D. the vonly mysteries whose extension may be called universal were the mysteries of Dionysus and those of the eastern gods, especially Isis.
And Norman Perrin and Dennis C. Duling note, in their book The New Testament:
Examples of such mystery religions could be found in Greece… Asia Minor… Syria-Palestine… Persia… and Egypt. Though the mysteries had sacred shrines in these regions, many of them spread to other parts of the empire, including Rome. There is no clearly direct influence of the mysteries on early Christianity, but they shared a common environment and many non-Christians would have perceived Christians as members of an oriental Jewish mystery cult.56
Given the sparse archaeological and literary evidence from this period regarding mystery cults in Roman Palestine, and the apparent resistance of many Palestinian Jews to religious syncretism, Chouraqui’s use of the noun adept implies a comparison between the historical Jesus and mystery cults that is doubtful, on both the levels of chronology and religious culture. Personally, I believe this choice suggests a vision of Jesus that distances him from the religious world of ancient Judaism, thus creating a distorted view of what spiritually inspired him. But the idea of the disciples as “learners” on a journey (as the Greek term suggests) is a striking one to consider; certainly, the Gospels show us the Twelve as people who are growing, learning, and developing…but who have not yet “arrived” at the fullness of their vocation.
Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as apprentice.
In Luang several terms with different shades of meaning are being used.
Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.
In American Sign Language it is translated with a combination of the signs for “following” plus the sign for “group.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“disciples” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In British Sign Language a sign is used that depicts a group of people following one person (the finger in the middle, signifying Jesus). Note that this sign is only used while Jesus is still physically present with his disciples. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Disciple in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
See also disciples (Japanese honorifics).
Following is the translation of Mark 10:46-52 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath:
© La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios
Jacobo y Juan fueron (a Jesús) y dijeron: “Maestro nosotros dos queremos pedir algo, por favor dinos que sí.”
Jesús (dijo): “¿Qué es lo que quieren decirme?”
Dijeron: “Cuando tú llegues a ser el rey superior sentado en el trono ¿podemos nosotros dos estar sentados a ambos lados de ti?”
Jesús (dijo): “No saben lo que me dicen. Mira, por ejemplo, un poco adelante yo beberé una copa amarga. ¿Uds lo pueden?
Otro ejemplo: yo bajaré en el agua del mar, quiere decir que sufriré fuertemente. ¿Uds lo aceptarían?” Los dos (dijeron que) sí podrían.
Jesús dijo: “yo sufriré e igual en el futuro uds dos sufrirán, pero antes Dios ya ha elegido dos personas que estarán sentados a ambos lados de mi, yo no puede elegirlos.”
Los diez discípulos estaban furiosos y pensaban que Jacobo y Juan eran malos.
Jesús se volteó (hacia los diez) y los llamó y los discípulos vinieron. (Jesús dijo): “Uds saben que en otros países los líders abusan a todas las personas simples, y los mandan.
Uds, los discípulos, no copien esta mentalidad, apartense.
Si uds quieren ser líderes deben servir y ayudar, el líder más importante debe ser humilde y servir y ayudar a las personas.
El hijo de hombre ha venido, ¿y todas las personas lo sirven? No, el opuesto, el hijo de hombre sirve a todas las personas.
El hijo de hombre acepta morir en lugar de ellos para salvar a muchas personas.”
Jesus and the disciples went to Jericho and afterwards Jesus and the disciples left together.
Many people walked alongside them and there was a man, Bartimaeus, who was blind, sitting there, he was poor and was begging.
He heard the multitude walk by and said: “What’s happening?” The people said: “Jesus of Nazareth is there.”
Bartimaeus shouted: “Jesus, you descendant of the family of David, take pity on me and help me!” The people walking in the crowd said: “Be quiet!”
Bartimaeus shouted again, more strongly: “Jesus, you descendant of the family of David, take pity on me and help me!” Jesus stopped and turned around and said: “Call the man to come.”
The people said: “Jesus is calling you, be pleased and happy, get up, let’s go.”
Bartimaeus got up, took off his cloak and walked up to Jesus.
Jesus said: “How do you want me to help you?”
He said: “Teacher, a long time ago I could see well, and now I’m blind. I want my eyes to be opened again, that I may see.”
Jesus (said): You have already been healed because of your faith, you can go.”
Instantly the eyes of Bartimaeus were opened and he saw, and he followed Jesus accompanying him in the crowd.
Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios
<< Mark 10:35-45 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 11:1-11 in Mexican Sign Language >>
Following is the translation of Mark 10:46-52 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:
Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество
Jesus and his disciples came to the city of Jericho. After a while they left the city. Jesus was followed by a large crowd of people. By the side of the road where Jesus was walking with the crowd behind him, a man named Bartimaeus was sitting. He was blind, a poor beggar, and he was sitting there begging for alms. He heard that a crowd was passing by, and in it came Jesus from the city of Nazareth. Then he began to shout:
— Jesus, descendant of King David! Please have mercy on me!
The people around him forbade him to shout. But the beggar shouted even louder: “Jesus, descendant of David! Please have mercy on me!”
Jesus stopped and said: “Bring the blind man to me.” The men came to the blind man and said, “Get up, Jesus is calling you.”
The blind man got up, took off his cloak, and came to Jesus.
Jesus asked:
— What do you want me to do for you?
The blind man answered:
— Teacher! I want to see.
Jesus said:
— Your faith has saved you! Go!
The blind man’s eyes opened and he began to see clearly. He was very happy. Jesus went on and the blind man followed Jesus.
Иисус вместе с учениками пришли в город Иерихон. Спустя какое-то время, они ушли оттуда. За Иисусом следовала большая толпа народу. Возле дороги, по которой шел Иисус, а за ним толпа народа, сидел человек по имени Бар-Тимай. Он был слепой, бедный нищий, он сидел и просил милостыню. Он услышал, что мимо проходит толпа, а в ней идет Иисус из города Назарета. И тогда он стал кричать:
— Иисус, потомок царя Давида! Прошу, помилуй меня!
Люди вокруг стали ему запрещать кричать. Но нищий кричал еще громче: «Иисус, потомок Давида! Прошу, помилуй меня!»
Иисус остановился и сказал: «Приведите ко мне слепого». Люди подошли к слепому и сказали: «Вставай, тебя зовет Иисус».
Слепой встал, снял с себя накидку и подошел к Иисусу.
Иисус спросил:
— Что ты хочешь, чтобы я сделал для тебя?
Слепой ответил:
— Учитель! Я хочу видеть.
Иисус сказал:
— Твоя вера спасла тебя! Ступай!
Глаза слепого прозрели и он начал все хорошо видеть. Он очень обрадовался. Иисус продолжил идти дальше, а слепой последовал за Иисусом.
Back-translation by Luka Manevich
<< Mark 10:35-45 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 11:1-11 in Russian Sign Language >>
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 10:46:
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, ik-are-ru (行かれる) or “go” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Exegesis:
The use of erchontai eis ‘they come to’ and ekporeuomenou autou apo ‘as he was leaving from’ indicates that Jesus and his disciples passed through the city on the way to Jerusalem.
ochlou hikanou ‘a large crowd,’ ‘a sizeable multitude.’
hikanos (cf. 1.7) here means ‘large,’ ‘considerable’ (cf. Moulton & Milligan).
prosaitēs (only here in Mark) ‘beggar.’
The other words have already been dealt with: for tuphlos ‘blind’ cf. 8.22; kathēmai ‘be seated’ cf. 2.6; para tēn hodon either ‘alongside (by) the road’ or ‘on the road’ (cf. 4.4).
Translation:
They, as subject of the first verb, is contextually clear, but syntactically confusing in many languages. Since, however, they refers to the same group as are indicated later in the verse, namely, ‘Jesus … with his disciples and a great multitude,’ it may be possible to change the order of elements so that the passage may be less misleading, e.g. ‘Jesus with his disciples and a great crowd of people arrived at Jericho town, and as they were leaving, Bartimaeus….’
Beggar may be rendered ‘a man who was always asking for money,’ for though beggars are common enough in most parts of the world, one must simply describe their activities in those regions where such activity is not known.
The double appositive expressions, i.e. a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, must in some languages be recast as dependent descriptive clauses, e.g. ‘who was a blind beggar and the son of Timaeus’ or as paratactically combined statements, e.g. ‘Bartimaeus was sitting along the road; he was a blind beggar; he was the son of Timaeus.’ The choice of syntactic forms is dependent upon the requirements of the receptor language.
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 .
Section 10:46–52
Jesus healed a blind man named Bartimaeus
As Jesus and his disciples continued their journey to Jerusalem, they came to Jericho. When they left that city, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, asked Jesus to heal him and make him able to see. Jesus healed Bartimaeus and told him that the reason Bartimaeus could now see was because he had believed in Jesus.
It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.
Here are some other headings for this section:
Jesus Gives Sight to Bartimaeus (God’s Word)
-or-
Jesus Heals a Blind Man (New Century Version)
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 9:27–31, 20:29–34 and Luke 18:35–43.
Paragraph 10:46–52
10:46
This verse introduces a new section. It gives background information about what was happening before the first action of the story begins in 10:47. Be sure to express this background information in the order and way that is natural in your language. See the General Comment on 10:46a–c after 10:46c for suggestions.
10:46a–b
Next: The events in this section probably happened soon after the events in the preceding section. The Berean Standard Bible introduces this story with the word Next.
Here are some other ways to introduce this section:
Then (New International Version)
-or-
Soon after that
-or-
After that
In some languages, a time word or phrase is not necessary. Introduce this story in a natural way in your language.
they came to Jericho. And as Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho: In this verse Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho and then left it. The events in this story happened while they were leaving the city of Jericho. Be sure that this is clear in your translation.
they: Since this is a new section, you may need to make clear to whom the pronoun they refers. For example:
Jesus and his disciples
Notice that Jesus and his disciples are specifically mentioned in 10:46b. If you use a phrase to refer to them here, you may not need to repeat the whole phrase again in 10:46b.
Jericho: Jericho is a town or city that is between Jerusalem and the Jordan River. It is located about 24 kilometers (12.5 miles) northeast of Jerusalem. Since this is the only time that Jericho is mentioned in the book of Mark, you may need to identify it more clearly. For example, The New Century Version has:
the town of Jericho
His disciples: This is the same word as in 10:23a.
10:46c
a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus: This long phrase introduces an important person in this section. It gives information about him. You may need to put some of this information in separate sentences. For example:
A blind man named Bartimaeus was there. He was the son of Timaeus.
See the following notes for other examples.
the son of Timaeus: The Greek says literally “the son of Timaeus Bartimaeus.” There are two ways to interpret the phrase here:
(1) It identifies Bartimaeus as the son of Timaeus. For example, the Revised Standard Version says:
a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible, King James Version, God’s Word, New American Standard Bible, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version, English Standard Version, NET Bible)
(2) It explains the meaning of the Aramaic name Bartimaeus. For example, the New International Version says:
(that is, the Son of Timaeus)
(New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, Revised English Bible, New Living Translation)
Both interpretations have good support in versions and commentaries. There is not a great difference of meaning between them. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), as the majority of English versions do.
a blind beggar named Bartimaeus…was sitting beside the road: There is a textual issue here. It concerns whether the text describes Bartimaeus as a beggar or as a person begging (as an action at that time). There is not a great difference in meaning. You should refer to Bartimaeus and what he was doing at the beginning of this story in a way that is natural in your language. For example:
There was a blind man named Bartimaeus sitting beside the road. He was begging.
-or-
Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting beside the road.
beggar: The word beggar indicates here that Bartimaeus was humbly requesting something. In some languages it is necessary to indicate what he was requesting and whom he was requesting it from. For example:
a blind man named Bartimaeus, the Son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road and was begging the people who passed by on the road to give him money/something.
General Comment on 10:46a–c
Languages have different ways to express background information at the beginning of a story and to introduce new people. Use a natural way in your language to do this here.
Here is one way to do this in English:
46aJesus and his disciples came to the city of Jericho. 46bWhen they left the city, there was a large crowd with them. As they walked along, 46cthey saw a man sitting by the roadside. His name was Bartimaeus, and he was the son of Timaeus. He was a blind man, so he sat and begged the people who passed by to give him money.
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