Translation commentary on Mark 12:34

Exegesis:

idōn auton hoti ‘seeing him that’: by a construction fairly common in Greek, the subject of the clause which begins with hoti (in this case autos ‘he’) is drawn into the main clause as its object. Therefore, idōn auton hoti ‘seeing him that’ is the equivalent to idōn hoti autos ‘seeing that he.’ As Black points out, this lends emphasis to the displaced word.

nounechōs (only here in the N.T.) ‘wisely,’ ‘thoughtfully,’ ‘discreetly.’

ou makran ei apo tēs basileias tou theou ‘you are not far from the Kingdom of God’: here the Kingdom of God is thought of as a condition, or relationship, into which one enters here and now. Lagrange: “he almost has the necessary disposition to receive the Gospel.” Cf. Arndt & Gingrich: “you are almost ready to enter it.”

makran (only here in Mark) is an adverb ‘far (away).’

oudeis ouketi ‘no one any longer,’ ‘no one any more’ (for similar phrases cf. 5.3; 9.8).

etolma (15.43) ‘dared,’ ‘had the boldness,’ ‘ventured.’

Translation:

Saw is a normal type of verb from the standpoint of Greek and English, but in other languages one may be required to translate ‘realized’ or ‘recognized,’ to imply a mental reaction, not just a visual perception.

The rendering of he must refer to the scribe mentioned in verse 32. In some instances a noun will need to be substituted for this pronoun.

Wisely is translatable in some languages only by relating ‘wise’ to the person, e.g. ‘he was wise when he answered’ or to the words, e.g. ‘he answered with wise words.’

For kingdom of God see 1.15, 4.11, and 10.15.

No one dared to ask is equivalent in some languages to saying ‘everyone was afraid to ask’ (Tzeltal, South Bolivian Quechua).

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 12:34

12:34a

When Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely: Jesus realized that the scribe had spoken wisely.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

When Jesus heard how wisely the man answered (God’s Word)
-or-
Realizing how much the man understood… (New Living Translation)
-or-
Jesus noticed how wise his answer was (Good News Bible)
-or-
The man’s answer showed that he was wise, so Jesus said to him

12:34b

You are not far from the kingdom of God: Here Jesus praised the man for the attitude and belief that he expressed in 12:32–33. The phrase not far from the kingdom of God indicates the man was almost ready to submit to God’s rule and become one of the people whom God cares for as king. It does not refer to the location of the man or of the kingdom.

Here are some other ways to translate You are not far from the kingdom of God:

You are almost ready to know/acknowledge God as your king
-or-
You are almost prepared to submit to God’s rule/chieftaincy
-or-
You are nearly ready to become one of the people whom God rules.

See the note on 9:47b for discussion of a similar context.

kingdom of God: The phrase kingdom of God refers to God’s activity of ruling and caring for his people as their king. It does not refer to a land or country that he rules over. It refers to the relationship that he has with his people. He leads, protects, and cares for them. They obey, trust, and submit to him as their king.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

• As a noun. For example:

God’s rule/reign
-or-
God’s kingship
-or-
God’s chieftaincy
-or-
God’s government

• As a verbal expression:

God ruling his people
-or-
God caring for his people as king

See also kingdom of God, Context 1, in the Glossary.

12:34c

no one dared to question Him: People were afraid to test Jesus with any more hard or tricky questions. They realized that he was very skillful at answering questions wisely. In the remainder of the book of Mark, Jesus’ disciples did ask him more questions, and some of them were rhetorical. But from this point on there is no record in Mark that anyone asked Jesus any more questions to try to trick him. (When Jesus said “you are not far from the kingdom,” that seems to indicate that the man’s agreement in 12:32–33 with Jesus’ answer showed that the man was asking a sincere question in 12:28. Or perhaps it meant that the man could state what a Jewish person should do but did not personally do that himself. On the other hand, no one dared ask Jesus any more questions. Why? Perhaps this indicates that the man’s question was not sincere after all, but tricky.)

dared: The word dared indicates that no one felt bold enough to ask Jesus any more difficult questions. They felt unable to trick him because he had answered every question so wisely.

any further: The phrase any further refers to the time period that began when Jesus said the words in 12:34a–b and continued into the future.

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