Translation commentary on Mark 14:67

Exegesis:

thermainomenon (cf. v. 54) ‘warming himself.’

emblepsasa (cf. 8.25) ‘looking on (him),’ ‘looking closely at (him),’ ‘fixing her gaze upon (him)’: this participle, in contrast with the first one (idousa ‘seeing’), indicates a more prolonged scrutiny (cf. the use of the verb in 10.21, 27).

kai su ‘you too,’ ‘you also.’

tou Nazarēnou (cf. 10.47) ‘the Nazarene’: it is probable that in the other three places in Mark where the word occurs (1.24; 10.47; 16.6) it should be translated as here, ‘the Nazarene,’ and not simply as a geographical designation, ‘of Nazareth.’ Here, in conjunction with tou Iēsou ‘Jesus,’ the meaning is ‘the Nazarene, (even) Jesus’; cf. Montgomery ‘that Nazarene, Jesus’; Lagrange avec le Nazaréen, avec Jésus.

Translation:

It is essential that the two verbs seeing and looked are not translated as mere repetitions of the same action. In the first instance the maid saw that Peter was there warming himself. In the second case, ‘she looked very closely at him’ or ‘she examined him.’

Though it is true that Nazarene probably implies more than mere geographical origin, in most languages there is no way in which a derivative adjectival form such as ‘Nazarene’ can carry the implications of the Greek text. Accordingly, ‘that man from Nazareth, that Jesus’ may be the only equivalent. In some languages, however, the appositive elements must be reversed, ‘with Jesus, that man from Nazareth,’ or if a relative clause is required, ‘with Jesus, who is that man from Nazareth.’ In the use of ‘that man from’ or ‘the one from’ one may attempt to approximate something of the articular construction in Greek ‘the Nazarene,’ whereas merely ‘Jesus from Nazareth’ would not carry quite the same range of meaning.

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 14:67

14:67a

and saw him warming himself there: Peter was warming himself by the fire. See the note on 14:54c–d.

General Comment on 14:66b–67a

In some languages it may be natural to change the order of some of the information in these verse parts. For example:

67aPeter was warming himself by the fire 66b when one of the servant girls of the high priest came to where Peter was. 67a When she saw him….

14:67b

She looked at Peter: The words She looked at Peter indicate that the girl looked carefully at Peter. She did this because she thought that she recognized him.

It is important to translate looked at differently from the way you translated “saw” in 14:67a. The word “saw” indicates that she “noticed” him. But looked at indicates that she focused her attention on Peter.

14:67c

You also were with Jesus the Nazarene: The position in the sentence of the Greek phrase the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Nazarene emphasizes Jesus’ identity as a person from Nazareth and also implies mild contempt. People from the city of Jerusalem despised the people who lived in the province of Galilee where Nazareth is. The servant girl would certainly have been aware of this attitude. This emphasis may be expressed in different ways. For example:

Jesus, that man from Nazareth (New Century Version)

If it is not possible to express the implied disrespect in the translation itself, you may want to add a footnote that tells about it. For example:

The way the servant girl refers here to Jesus shows a lack of respect for him. People from the city of Jerusalem generally despised people from Nazareth. See John 1:46. (This suggested footnote is adapted from TRT.)

also: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as also implies that the servant girl had seen another one of Jesus’ disciples, perhaps in the courtyard that same night. (According to John 18:15, another disciple went to the high priest’s house with Peter. You might want to include a footnote indicating that also implies that another disciple was also present in the courtyard that night. But it is best not to include this information in the translation itself.)

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