Translation commentary on Mark 11:32

Text:

Instead of ochlon ‘crowd’ of all modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus has laon ‘people.’

Exegesis:

alla eipōmen ‘but (if) we say’: with identically the same meaning as ean eipōmen ‘if we say’ in v. 31, with ean ‘if’ implied, although Revised Standard Version “shall we say?” is possible. It is not, however, a question that is raised, ‘shall we say?,’ but a possibility, ‘if we say,’ the result of which is clearly stated in the words that follow. The sentence as it stands is unfinished, but the meaning is clear.

ephobounto (cf. 4.41) ‘they feared’: with ton ochlon ‘the crowd’ as the object, as here, cf. 12.12.

hapantes gar eichon ton Iōannēn ontōs hoti prophētēs ēn ‘for all held that John was really a prophet.’ Most translations and commentators, as Revised Standard Version, join ontōs ‘truly’ to the verb ēn ‘was’: Swete, however, joins it to eichon – ‘they really held’ (cf. American Standard Version).

echō ‘have’: here in the sense of ‘consider,’ ‘look upon,’ ‘view.’

ontōs (only here in Mark) ‘truly,’ ‘really,’ ‘in fact.’

prophētēs (cf. 6.4) ‘a prophet.’

ēn ‘was’: in the historical setting of the narrative the meaning is ‘had been.’

Translation:

The more usual practice is to take the initial clause as a condition, parallel with the preceding, e.g. ‘if we say, From men.’ The main clause of the condition (sometimes called the apodosis) is lacking, for Mark shifts immediately and gives the reason for the men’s unwillingness to even give such an answer, since they would have immediately exposed themselves to the hostility of the crowd for whom John had become a popular hero. However, as in the Revised Standard Version, it is possible to assume that the first clause is a question, but without any answer, in which case it is essentially a conditional expression.

From men, as in the case of from heaven, may require some expansion, e.g. ‘his baptizing was from men’ or ‘men told him to baptize.’

Held that John was is equivalent in some languages to ‘considered John to be,’ ‘regarded John as,’ or ‘thought of him as.’

For prophet see 1.2.

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 11:32

11:32a

The Jewish leaders considered another possible answer that they could give Jesus.

But if we say: There are two ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as if we say here:

(1) It is a conditional statement. For example, the Good News Bible says:

if we say

(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Bible, New International Version, New Century Version, King James Version, NET Bible, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

(2) It is a question. For example, the Revised Standard Version says:

shall we say…?

(Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version)

The Greek can be interpreted either way. There is good support in commentaries and versions for both ways of expressing 11:32a. You should follow the choice that is most natural in your language. The Display follows interpretation (1).

‘From men’…: The phrase From men is a quote within another quote. The Berean Standard Bible shows this with single quotes. In some languages it may be necessary to express this as an indirect quotation. For example:

But if we say that it came from people…
-or-
But if we say that John’s authority came from people…

In the Berean Standard Bible, as in the Greek, 11:32a is not grammatically complete. In some languages you may be able to indicate an incomplete thought as the Berean Standard Bible does, with an ellipsis character (three periods). Another possibility is to supply the implicit information in what the Jewish leaders began to say. For example:

But we cannot say, “It was from men.”

From men: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as From men refers to the source of John’s right or authority to baptize people. It means that the source of his authority was only human. It came from people, not from God.

See how you translated the phrase From men in 11:30a.

11:32b–c

they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John truly was a prophet: The New International Version and the Good News Bible put this sentence in parentheses. The parentheses make it clear that Mark was explaining why the Jewish leaders did not want to answer “From men.”

The Jewish leaders did not believe that John’s authority had come from God. But they did not want to say what they really believed, because they were afraid of the people.

You may use parentheses to set this explanation apart, if that is a clear and natural way to do it in your language. But it is not always necessary to use parentheses. See also the General Comment on 11:32a–c at the end of the notes on 11:32c.

11:32b

they were afraid of the people: The Jewish leaders were afraid that the people might kill them.

According to the Law of Moses, people who spoke against God or a prophet of God should be killed by stoning. The Jewish leaders were afraid to tell the truth about what they thought of John’s authority to baptize. They were afraid that when the ordinary people heard their opinion, they would be very angry at them and would kill them. See Luke 20:6. This information could be included in a footnote in your translation.

11:32c

for: The word for introduces background information about the reason that the Jewish leaders were afraid of the people. There is implied information in the clause. The people believed that John was a prophet, so they would be angry if the leaders said that he did not get his authority from God. In some languages a word like “for” or “because” may not communicate the right meaning without the implied information. See the General Comment on 11:32a–c below for a different way to express the connection.

they all held: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as held is used in a figurative way here. It means “to hold (or have) an opinion about something.” So to hold that John was a prophet means to “consider/believe” that John was a prophet.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

everyone was convinced (Good News Bible)
-or-
everyone thought (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
-or-
everyone believed

they all: The phrase they all is an exaggeration. Mark used this word to emphasize the fact that many people believed John was a prophet. We know that not every person believed that John was a prophet. The Jewish leaders themselves did not believe it.

John truly was a prophet: John was dead at the time the Jewish leaders had this discussion. But even after John died, the people still believed that he had been a prophet. Translate the clause John truly was a prophet in a way that is natural in your language to show that this was what people thought about John. For example:

John had really been a prophet.

prophet: A prophet is a man who speaks a message that God has told him to speak. In this context, the fact that the people believed that John was a prophet meant that they believed that his authority came from God. God had sent him to preach and to baptize people.

See how you translated this word in 1:2a. See also prophet in the Glossary.

General Comment on 11:32a–c

You may be able to express the meaning of 11:32a–c more clearly if you make the whole verse an explanation without direct quotations. For example:

But the leaders did not want to say that John’s authority was only from humans. Most/many of the people believed that John was a prophet, and the leaders were afraid of what the people might do.

Another possibility is to make 11:32a and 11:32c part of what the Jewish leaders said, as a direct quotation. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

“On the other hand, these people think that John was a prophet. So we can’t say that it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize.”

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