Translation commentary on Mark 13:10

Exegesis:

eis panta ta ethnē ‘in all nations,’ ‘among all peoples,’ ‘to all the Gentiles.’

eis ‘in,’ ‘to.’ Moule calls the use of eis in this verse equivalent to a pure dative.

ta ethnē in a general sense ‘all nations’; it could, however, have the meaning ‘all the Gentiles.’

prōton ‘first’ is an adverb, modifying the verbal phrase dei kēruchthēnai ‘it is necessary (that) be preached.’ It is generally taken to indicate time, ‘first,’ that is ‘before’ (something happens: in this case, before the End comes): so most translations; by some, however, it is taken to indicate degree of rank or importance: cf. Manson, “the first essential”; Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale tout d’abord; Lagrange “avant tout, tout d’abord.”

For dei ‘it is necessary’ cf. 8.31; kērussō ‘proclaim,’ ‘preach’ cf. 1.4; euaggelion ‘the gospel’ cf. 1.1.

Translation:

For gospel see 1.1, and for preached see 1.4. A typical rendering is ‘the good news must first be announced.’

All nations may be ‘all peoples’ or ‘the people of all different places.’ In the first instance the point of view is the diversity of kinds and in the second the distinction in place, differences which must be carefully observed in some languages.

In the active form, as required by some languages, one may translate as ‘people must announce the good news to….’

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 13:10

13:10

In 13:9 Mark wrote about the disciples being persecuted. In 13:10 he showed that persecution could give the disciples opportunities to preach the gospel. They would be able to preach not only to the Jews but to all the nations.

And: In Greek this verse begins with the common conjunction that is often translated as And, as in the Berean Standard Bible. Scholars differ about exactly what connection this verse has to the context. However, it is clear that it introduces more information about being witnesses (13:9f). Here are some ways to connect 13:9 and 13:10:

• Do not use a conjunction.

• Use a general conjunction or another way to introduce additional information. For example:

Furthermore
-or-
And also

Connect the verses in a natural way in your language.

the gospel: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as gospel means “good news.” In Mark, this word refers to the good news about Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

good/sweet news
-or-
good news about Jesus Christ
-or-
good news from God
-or-
message/report that causes joy

Be sure that the term you choose does not refer only to a news report or to a story that is not true.

See how you translated this word in Mark 1:1.

must…be proclaimed: This is a passive phrase. In some languages it may be more natural to use an active clause and supply a subject. For example:

my disciples must proclaim/preach

proclaimed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as proclaimed means announced something important. Here it refers specifically to telling the gospel to other people.

Here are some other ways to translate it:

announced
-or-
told/spoken

first: In this context, the word first means “before the end.” Jesus mentioned “the end” in 13:7d. The notes on that verse explained that “the end” could refer to both the end of the temple and the end of the world. Therefore you should translate first in a general way. For example:

before the end comes (Good News Bible)
-or-
before these things happen (New Century Version)

all the nations: The phrase all the nations represents the people of all nations. In some languages this may need to be made explicit. For example:

to people in every nation

Even before the destruction of the temple, Paul and others were spreading the gospel to many different ethnic groups. They preached throughout all the world that people knew about at that time (see Romans 16:26 and Colossians 1:6, 23).

nations: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as nations refers to “ethnic groups” or “people groups.” In New Testament times it referred to smaller groups than we think of today when we use the English word nations.

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