complete verse (Mark 14:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:15:

  • Uma: “The house owner will show you a big room up above. That room is all prepared, complete with stuff [i.e., furniture, utensils]. There you will prepare the Paskah food for us.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then he will show you a big room upstairs,’ said Isa. ‘That room is already prepared beforehand. Prepare there our (incl.) food.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then he will show you a wide room overhead which is already outfitted. There you prepare our supper.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “He will then show/point-out-to you a wide room upstairs where all that we need is located. Prepare what we will eat there.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, he will show you a spacious room upstairs, complete with utensils/furnishings. There in that room is where you are to prepare our (incl.) evening meal.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Mark 14:15)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the disciples).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff.), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

Translation commentary on Mark 14:15

Exegesis:

deixei (1.44) ‘he will show.’

anagaion (only here in Mark) ‘a room upstairs,’ ‘an upper room.’

estrōmenon (cf. 11.8) ‘strewn,’ ‘spread out’: by most commentators this is taken to mean ‘spread with carpets and couches,’ ready for the meal (Lagrange fournie de tapis et de divans). Though improbable, the word could mean ‘paved’ . Taylor is of the opinion that the participle is used in a general sense, meaning simply ‘prepared,’ and suggests it may have been simply “a bare attic.”

hetoimon (only here in Mark; cf. the verb hetoimazō in v. 12 and here) ‘ready,’ ‘prepared.’

Translation:

Upper room is not easy to translate in languages in which one-roomed huts are about the size of dwelling to which the people are accustomed. However, some such expression as ‘high room’ or ‘room high in the house’ will at least be descriptive of what the people may see in urban centers.

Furnished must be rendered in such a way as to make it meaningful, but not so detailed as to specify more than is included in the Greek term. Accordingly, ‘with what was needed’ or ‘having what they required’ may be adequate.

Prepare must often be translated with an object, e.g. ‘prepare the meal there for us’ or ‘there prepare the food for us.’

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 .