Scriptures Plain & Simple (Mark 1:29-39)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Mark 1:29-39:

At the conclusion of the synagogue service,
Jesus left with James and John
       for the home of the brothers Peter and Andrew.
When Jesus arrived, he learned
       Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever.

As soon as Jesus helped her up by her hand, the fever left,
       and she prepared a meal for her guests.

That evening after sunset,
everyone sick or demon-possessed was brought to Jesus,
       until the front door was swamped with people.

Jesus healed all kinds of horrible diseases
and forced out many demons —
       they recognized him, but he refused to let them speak.

Very early the next morning, Jesus slipped away
       to a place where he could be alone.
But Peter and the others kept looking
until at last they found him and said,
       “Everyone’s looking for you!”

“Let’s go to the nearby towns,” replied Jesus.
       “That’s why I’ve come.”

So they traveled to every synagogue in Galilee,
       with Jesus teaching and forcing out demons.

Translation commentary on Mark 1:29

Text:

exelthōn ēlthen ‘he left and came’ of the Revised Standard Version is the text preferred by Swete, Merk, Taylor; the reading exelthontes ēlthon ‘they left and came’ is preferred by the majority. Turner is of the opinion that the plural is correct since it would be easier for scribes to change the plural to the singular than vice-versa.

Exegesis:

meta Iakōbou kai Iōannou ‘with James and John’ goes with ‘they left and came.’ Cf. The Modern Speech New Testament: “They came at once, with James and John, to the house….”

Translation:

Immediately in this kind of context is in many languages equivalent to ‘and then’ or ‘and next.’

Because this verse begins a new section, which is often set off by some sort of section heading or title, it may be advisable to employ ‘Jesus’ rather than ‘he,’ since the reference tends to be ambiguous, especially when four other persons are specifically named in this verse.

With James and John must be so translated that it does not mean that these two men were also co-owners of the house with Simon and Andrew, a meaning which has been inadvertently implied in a number of translations. In order to avoid the difficulty one may (1) combine James and John with the subject, ‘Jesus, accompanied by James and John, …’ (Chol, San Blas Kuna) or ‘he besides James and John they went into…’ (Kpelle), (2) set off James and John as a separate clause or sentence at the end of the verse, ‘… James and John went along’ (Central Mazahua), ‘followed by James and John’ (Balinese).

In order to specify that a house belongs to two different people, it is necessary in some languages to be quite specific, e.g. ‘house of Simon; he owned it with Andrew’ (Sayula Popoluca).

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 1:29

Section 1:29–34

Jesus healed many people and expelled many evil spirits

In this section Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law from a fever. Then the people in the town of Capernaum brought many other sick people to him, and he healed them all. They also brought many people who were bothered by evil spirits, and he made the evil spirits leave them.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Here is another idea for a heading for this section:

Jesus heals many people

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 8:14–17 and Luke 4:38–41.

Paragraph 1:29–31

The events in this paragraph happened soon after Jesus expelled the evil spirit in the synagogue (1:26) but before the events in 1:28. Jesus and his disciples left the synagogue before the news about him spread throughout Galilee.

In some languages, it may be necessary to make the order of the events clear. Here are some ways to do this:

• Use a word or form that indicates that they left the synagogue before the events in 1:28 happened. For example:

Meanwhile, Jesus and his disciples left the synagogue.

• Make the connection with 1:26 explicit here in 1:29. For example:

After Jesus had caused the evil spirit to leave, he and his disciples left the synagogue.

Use a natural way in your language to make the order of events clear.

1:29a

As soon as: In this context the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as As soon as means that after Jesus and his disciples left the synagogue, they went directly to the home of Simon and Andrew. Nothing else happened between these two events. The God’s Word has one way to express this meaning:

After they left the synagogue, they went directly to the house of Simon and Andrew. (God’s Word)

Jesus and His companions had left the synagogue: Here, the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus and His companions had left is more literally “they had left.” There is a textual issue here:

(1) Some Greek manuscripts say they left. The pronoun they refers to Jesus and some of his disciples. For example, the New International Version has:

As soon as they left the synagogue (New International Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, New Living Translation, 1996 edition, New Century Version, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Good News Bible)

(2) Some Greek manuscripts say he left. The pronoun “he” refers to Jesus. For example, the Revised Standard Version has:

And immediately he left the synagogue (Revised Standard Version)

(Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, English Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions and Greek manuscripts. (The UBS4 (page 121) gives this a B rating, indicating that the text is almost certain.) It is clear from 1:29b that Jesus left the synagogue along with his disciples. (There is good reason to believe that some copyists chose the singular form of the verb in order to keep the focus on Jesus and to avoid the unclear reading “they came…with James and John.” (Metzger page 64 and EH page 31).)

In some languages it may be necessary to use a specific phrase to indicate that they refers to Jesus’ disciples. This may be especially needed if you have a section heading before 1:29. The Good News Bible has:

Jesus and his disciples, including James and John (Good News Bible)

1:29b

they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew: Mark probably included the phrase with James and John to help his readers understand that these two men accompanied Jesus when he went to Simon and Andrew’s house. (It is not clear in Greek whether Simon and Andrew were with Jesus in the synagogue or whether they were waiting for Jesus and the other disciples at their house. Most versions and scholars understand that all four disciples were with Jesus in the synagogue. That is certainly implied from the preceding paragraph.) Be careful not to imply that James and John also owned the house. In Greek the information about James and John comes at the end of this verse. In some languages it may be helpful to follow this order. For example:

…they went directly to the house of Simon and Andrew. James and John went with them. (God’s Word)
-or-
…they went over to Simon and Andrew’s home, and James and John were with them. (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)

to the home of Simon and Andrew: The phrase the home of Simon and Andrew means “the home where Simon and Andrew lived.” Andrew also lived in the house with his older brother Simon and Simon’s wife and mother-in-law.

to: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to usually means “into.” Here it indicates that Jesus and his disciples “went into” the house. For example, the New Revised Standard Version says:

they entered the house (New Revised Standard Version)

It is implied that they first went to the house or arrived at the house. Use a way that is natural in your language to indicate that they went to the house and entered.

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