Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("speaking")

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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, hanashiteo-rare-ru (話しておられる) or “speaking” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Mark 5:35

Exegesis:

eti autou lalountos ‘while he was speaking’: the present participle portrays the action still in progress.

erchontai apo tou archisunagōgou ‘they come from the (house of the) ruler of the synagogue’: so the majority of modern translations. Another translation is possible by understanding apo ‘from’ to mean ‘some from’: the phrase would then mean ‘some men of the household of the ruler of the synagogue’ (cf. Translator’s New Testament ‘some of the men of the officer of the synagogue’).

erchontai ‘they come’ is another example of the impersonal plural: ‘men come.’

apethanen (5.39; 9.26; 12.19, 20, 21, 22; 15.44) ‘she died,’ ‘she is dead.’

ti eti skulleis ton didaskalon ‘why are you still bothering the Teacher?’

skullō (only here in Mark) literally ‘flay’; ‘bother,’ ‘annoy,’ ‘trouble.’

ho didaskalos (cf. 4.38) ‘the Teacher,’ ‘the Rabbi.’

Translation:

The impersonal indirect type of expression there came … some must frequently be shifted to a more direct form, e.g. ‘some men from the ruler’s house came…’ or ‘some men came from the ruler’s house.’

Though the Greek has only ‘ruler of the synagogue,’ a type of compound, it is often necessary to add ‘the house’ (as in English). One may, of course, also use ‘synagogue’ in this phrase if this is required by the context, but generally the complete expression, as given in 5.22, is sufficiently full that in verse 5.35 one need only speak of the ‘ruler’ or the ‘leader.’

Said must in some languages be expanded to include the object of the saying, namely, the ruler of the synagogue.

The sequence of events may require is dead to be rendered as ‘is now dead’ or ‘has now died.’

For the translation of teacher, see 2.13.

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 5:35

Paragraph 5:35–43

In this paragraph, Mark returned to the story about Jairus and his daughter. Use a natural way in your language to focus again on the people who were introduced before the story about Jairus was interrupted in 5:25.

5:35a–b

While He was still speaking, messengers from the house of Jairus arrived: Jesus was still speaking to the woman whom he healed when some men came. Express this timing in a natural way in your language.

In some languages it may be helpful to mention who Jesus was speaking to. For example:

While Jesus was still speaking to her
-or-
As Jesus was still talking to the woman

messengers…arrived: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as messengers…arrived is literally, “they came.” The people who came may have been slaves, or they may have been friends or members of Jairus’ family. Translate this in a general way. For example:

some people (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
some messengers (Good News Bible)
-or-
some men (New International Version)

from the house of Jairus: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as from the house of Jairus is literally “from the synagogue ruler.” The Berean Standard Bible and many other English versions supply from the house of because Jairus himself was already with Jesus. The Berean Standard Bible supplies the name Jairus to help identify him.

Consider what would be the most natural way in your language to refer to Jairus, the synagogue ruler, at this point in the story. In some languages it may be enough to simply say “Jairus.” In other languages it may be more natural to avoid using Jairus’ name here and to simply say “the synagogue leader.” See the note on “A synagogue leader” at 5:22a.

5:35c

and said: The men were talking here to Jairus, who was still with Jesus. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

They said to Jairus
-or-
They told the synagogue leader

Some translations place the phrase they said after the words “Your daughter is dead.” In the Greek text, it comes before these words. Place it where it is most natural in your language.

Your daughter is dead: Use a natural expression in your language to tell someone that a family member has died. In many languages, there will be a euphemism for this.

5:35d

why bother the Teacher anymore?: This is a rhetorical question. The men asked this question to suggest that Jairus should leave Jesus and should no longer expect Jesus to go to his house. They believed that Jesus could not do anything to help someone who had already died.

There are at least two ways to translate this suggestion:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

What reason is there to continue to trouble the teacher?
-or-
Do you need to bother the teacher any longer?

• As a statement. For example:

Perhaps you should not trouble the teacher any further.
-or-
Let us leave the teacher, now that there is no reason to disturb him.
-or-
There is no need to bother the teacher anymore. (New Century Version)

Use whichever form is most natural to express a suggestion of this kind in your language. In some languages it may be helpful to supply the implied information that is the reason for giving this advice:

It is too late to save your daughter. Do not bother the teacher any more.

bother: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as bother here means “to trouble (someone).” The men assumed that Jesus was a busy teacher and that Jairus had troubled Jesus by asking him to heal his daughter. In this context, bother does not mean to do something purposely to annoy someone.

In some languages, there may be another word or phrase that expresses this sense more clearly. In other languages it may be helpful to make explicit the sense of bother. For example:

do not bother the teacher any longer by urging/asking him to go to your house

the Teacher: The phrase the Teacher here refers to Jesus. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Teacher was a polite title for a Jewish religious leader. It was a title of respect for a Jewish man who had authority to teach the things about God. If you have another term in your language to refer to a religious leader or teacher, it may be appropriate to use it here.

See how you translated this term at 4:38c where “Teacher” is used as a term of address. Be careful not to use a term that can refer only to a school teacher.

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