Translation commentary on Mark 11:11

Exegesis:

hieron (11.15, 16, 27; 12.35; 13.1, 3; 14.49) ‘temple’: the whole area of the Temple in Jerusalem.

periblepsamenos (cf. 3.5) ‘looking around.’

opse ēdē ousēs tēs hōras ‘since the hour was already late.’

opse (11.19; 13.35; cf. opsia 4.35) ‘late’: presumably late afternoon, toward sunset (in 13.35 opse used as a noun stands for the first watch of the night – according to the Roman system – from 6:00–9:00 P.M.).

ēdē (cf. 6.35) ‘already,’ ‘by now.’

ousēs tēs hōras ‘the hour being’: the participle is causal, ‘because the hour was…’ (cf. 6.35 for a similar construction ēdē hōras pollēs genomenēs).

Translation:

Entered may need to be translated ‘arrive at,’ while ‘went into the temple’ may be quite satisfactory, since the object in this case is a building.

Temple is quiet generally translated as ‘God’s house,’ though there is in Greek a distinction between hieron including the entire temple area and naos, the sanctuary itself. In some instances, however, the temple is called ‘the big house of worship’ (Bambara), in order to contrast this with ‘the small houses of worship,’ which is the designation of ‘the synagogue.’ In some languages it is sufficient to designate the temple as ‘the holy place’ (Loma (Liberia)) or ‘the sacred house’ (Futa-Fula).

As it was already late may be placed after the main clause, e.g. ‘he went out to Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.’

For the translation of the twelve see 3.14.

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 11:11

11:11a

Then: The Berean Standard Bible uses Then as a connecting word to introduce the next part of the story. Another way to translate this is “So” (see the New Living Translation.) In some languages, it may not be natural to begin this part of the story with a word that introduces a new event. Translate in the way that is natural for your own language.

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts: This sentence indicates that Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem and then went to a particular place in the city, that is, the temple. You may need to make this clear in your translation. The translation should not imply that he went to two different locations, Jerusalem and the temple. For example:

Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, where he went to the temple.
-or-
When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he entered the temple area.

went into the temple courts: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as temple courts normally refers to the temple building and the walls and courtyards that surrounded it. In this context, this word refers to the large outer courtyard and not to the temple building itself. Only members of the tribe of Levi were allowed to enter the inner parts of the temple. Jesus was not from the tribe of Levi.

In some languages, some of this information may need to be made explicit. For example:

went into the courtyard of the temple
-or-
went to the outside/outdoor area of the temple

temple: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as temple refers to the temple building and the walls and courtyards that surrounded it. The temple was in Jerusalem and was the most important place where Jews worshiped God.

Here are some other ways to translate the word temple:

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

house/building of God
-or-
house/place of sacrifice
-or-
holy/sacred house

• If your language has a word for “temple,” consider using it. But you may need to modify it by saying:

temple of the Jews/Lord
-or-
big/great temple

Be sure to use a different term from the one you have chosen for “synagogue” (in 1:21b). There was only one temple, but there were many synagogues throughout the land of Israel where the Jews met regularly for worship.

See temple, Meaning 1, in the Glossary for more information about the temple and how to translate it.

11:11b

He looked around at everything: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He looked around at everything could also be expressed as follows:

He looked at one thing and then another, everywhere in the temple

11:11c

but since it was already late: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but since it was already late is literally “the hour now being late.” The Berean Standard Bible makes explicit what the Greek grammar implies: that this clause is the reason for the following one.

late: The word late in this context means late in the day, probably between six and eight o’clock in the evening. There was probably still enough daylight for the short walk from Jerusalem to Bethany. You could translate this as:

late afternoon
-or-
evening
-or-
toward sunset

11:11d

He went out: The words He went out indicate that Jesus left the city of Jerusalem. He did not just leave the temple courtyards. You may need to make this explicit in your translation.

to Bethany: Jesus went from Jerusalem to a nearby village called Bethany. Bethany was about three kilometers (two miles) away from Jerusalem. Jesus spent the night there.

with the Twelve: The phrase the Twelve refers to Jesus’ twelve disciples. They went with him to Bethany. Translate the term the Twelve the same way you did in 4:10a.

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