Translation commentary on Mark 13:11

Text:

After ti lalēsēte ‘what you should say’ Textus Receptus adds mēde meletate ‘nor be anxious,’ which is omitted by all modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

hotan agōsin humas paradidontes ‘and whenever they arrest you and deliver you up to trial.’

hotan (cf. 11.19) ‘whenever’: here the sense is probably ‘whenever’ (rather than ‘when’), indicating repeated events and not simply one single event.

agō (cf. 1.38) ‘cause to go,’ ‘lead,’ ‘bring’: in a specialized use, ‘lead away,’ ‘take into custody,’ ‘arrest.’

paradidōmi (cf. 1.14) ‘deliver up (to trial),’ ‘turn over to the court.’

mē promerimnate ‘do not be concerned beforehand’: only here does the verb appear in the N.T.

ho ean dothē humin ‘whatever may be given you (by God).’

to pneuma to hagion (cf. 1.8) ‘the Holy Spirit.’

Translation:

The first clause may be accurately translated as ‘arrest you and hand you over to the authorities to be tried.’

For anxious see under cares 4.18. In this context words for ‘worry’ or ‘concern’ must be specifically applicable to the special anxieties involved, e.g. ‘don’t let your stomach rise up’ (Farefare), ‘don’t let you mind kill you’ (Navajo), ‘don’t be driven hard,’ a reference to animals being chased in the hunt (Piro).

Is given is a very indefinite passive, requiring in some languages an agent, e.g. ‘God gives you.’

Hour is more idiomatically rendered as ‘at that time’ or ‘on that occasion,’ since ‘hour,’ as a precise unit of time may be quite strange and completely inapplicable to this type of context.

For Holy Spirit see 1.7.

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 13:11

13:11a

But when they arrest you and hand you over: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But when they arrest you and hand you over is literally “and when they lead you, handing you over.”

arrest you and hand you over: The two verbs translated arrest and hand you over describe the action of taking the disciples to the authorities so that the authorities can judge them. The same Greek verb for hand you over was also used in 13:9b. You may want to use the same verb here that you used there. Describe the action in a natural way in your language.

13:11b

do not worry beforehand what to say: The phrase do not worry beforehand indicates that the disciples should not be anxious about what they will say. The phrase what to say refers to what they should say at their trial.

The two verbs do not worry and say can be ordered in two ways:

Do(plur) not worry beforehand about what you will say.
-or-
Before you(plur) are told to speak in court, do not be anxious about speaking.

If you have no direct way to say “be anxious” or “be worried,” you may need to express this in direct speech. For example:

Do not ask yourself, “Whatever can I say?” before they tell you to speak.

beforehand: The word beforehand indicates that the disciples should not worry before the trial started or before the judge gave them permission to speak. You can translate this as either a single word or a phrase. For example, the Good News Bible says:

ahead of time

In some languages it may be more natural to put the time word or phrase before the instruction not to worry. For example:

Before they tell you to speak, do not ask yourself, “Whatever can I say?”

Translate in a way that is most natural in your language.

13:11c

Instead, speak whatever you are given: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Instead, speak whatever you are given is literally “but whatever is given you, say(plur) that.” In this clause Jesus told his disciples what they should do instead of worrying, which he told them not to do in 13:11b. Use a natural way to express this in your language.

In Greek, the clause begins with the word “but.” In the Berean Standard Bible it begins with the word “Instead.” It is also possible to start the sentence with no conjunction. For example, the New Century Version says:

Say whatever is given you to say

whatever you are given: The phrase whatever you are given you is a passive phrase that means “what God gives you.” If you need to use an active verb, you could say:

what God tells you (New Living Translation)
-or-
what God puts into your(plur) mind/heart

at that time:

Here is another way to translate this:

when the time comes (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
when that time comes

13:11d–e

for: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for introduces the reason for what Jesus commanded in 13:11c.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

because (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
I say this because

In some languages, it may not be necessary to translate this word. It may be left implicit.

it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit: The words but the Holy Spirit is not a complete clause. The complete sentence would be:

…it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit who will be speaking.

This sentence does not imply that the disciples would be silent. It implies that they would speak whatever the Holy Spirit guided them to speak.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

…the words you speak will not be yours; they will come from the Holy Spirit. (Good News Bible)
-or-
You will not be speaking your own thoughts. No! You will speak thoughts that the Holy Spirit gives you.

In some languages, it may be more natural to place the positive statement before the negative statement. For example:

…you will be speaking words that the Holy Spirit will give you. The words will not come from you.

Holy Spirit: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Holy Spirit refers to the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is God, together with God the Father and God the Son. The Holy Spirit is Spirit in the sense that he is a living being who does not have a physical body. He is Holy in the sense that he is God and unique from every other being. He is perfect in every way and is completely pure and sinless.

Here are some other ways to translate Holy Spirit:

Spirit/Breath of/from God
-or-
Holy/Sacred Spirit

Do not imply that the Holy Spirit is like the ghost of a dead person or that God has died.

The term Holy Spirit also occurs in 1:8b, 3:29a, and 12:36a. See how you translated this term there.

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