The Greek that is translated as “accept” or “receive” in English is translated as “put it in their hearts” (Tzeltal), “take the word with truth” (Loma), or “to hear and understand” (Tumbuka).
complete verse (Mark 4:20)
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 4:20:
- Uma: “‘There are also people who can be compared to seeds that fall in rich ground. They hear God’s Word, they immediately receive it. In those people God’s Word really does have fruit. There are some who have a little fruit, there are some who have much fruit, there are some who have very much fruit.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “But the other people, (they are) figuratively like good soil. They hear the message of God and they believe it. If in the figure of what was planted, the message of God which they heard bears fruit in their livers. Some have enough fruit, some much and some very much.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “That which was planted which falls on good ground, that is like people who hear the word of God and believe, and the word does good in them. For some, the word does a little bit of good in them. And others, the word does a large amount of good in them. And others, the word does very much good in them.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “As-for the ones-that-fell on the good soil, they are those who are listening to God’s word while-simultaneously also they understand it, and the word has results in their lives. There are those with few results, there are (those with) measurably-more and there are also (those with) many.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “And as for this, what is meant by the good soil/ground which was scattered on, it’s the people who truly believe/obey the word of God which they heard. Well since it is taken to heart (lit. stored in their heads), that’s why their(emphatic) believing bears fruit, like those full-headed grain-stalks with thirty, sixty and a hundred grains each.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Mopán Maya: “As many as are planted in the good ground, these are like those told the word of God by the man. They are believing/obeying the word. They begin to become good men. It is exactly the same as a good plant. There are some whose goodness is coming out like a plant that is giving thirty fruits, etc.” (The phrasing here was changed because “bearing fruit” meant “bearing children”)
- Korku: “Some people are like the seed sown in good ground. They hear (obey) the word and follow it and are like plants that bring forth grain. In the way that the seed sown in good ground gave birth to thirty grains, sixty grains, or a hundred grains, in that same way the ones who acknowledge (follow obey) God’s word do very good work.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
word / command (of God) (Japanese honorifics)
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kotoba (みことば) or “word (of God)” in the referenced verses.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Translation commentary on Mark 4:20
Text:
Instead of en … en … en ‘in … in … in’ read by Tischendorf, Nestle, Westcott and Hort, Soden, Vogels, Merk, and Souter, hen … hen … hen ‘one … one … one’ is read by Textus Receptus, Lagrange, Kilpatrick, and Taylor (cf. v. 8).
Exegesis:
ekeinoi … hoi … sparentes ‘those … who … (were) sown’: probably some distinction should be made between ekeinoi ‘those’ and houtoi ‘these’ of vv. 15, 16 (alloi ‘others’ v. 18); some difference, likewise, is probably intended by the use of the aorist participle sparentes ‘sown’ in the present verse, instead of the present participle speiromenoi ‘sown’ of vv. 16, 18.
hoitines (9.1; 12.18; 15.7) ‘those who,’ i.e. ‘the very ones who’ (referred to in the previous clause).
paradechontai (only here in Mark) ‘they receive,’ ‘they accept’: here used as a synonym for lambanousin ‘they receive’ of v. 16.
karpophorousin (4.28) ‘they bear fruit,’ ‘they produce a crop.’
Translation:
Accept it must mean more than simply ‘receive it’ or ‘hear it.’ The implication here is that people believe the word, e.g. ‘put it in their hearts’ (Tzeltal), ‘take the word with truth’ (Loma (Liberia)), or ‘to hear and understand’ (Tumbuka).
Bear fruit is all right when speaking of plants, but the figure may not be acceptable when speaking of persons. Hence, one must often substitute a phrase meaning ‘to produce results’ or ‘to cause blessing.’
For an analysis of thirtyfold, and sixtyfold and a hundredfold see 4.8.
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 .