Translation commentary on Mark 5:41

Text:

Instead of the masculine form koum of the great majority of modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus, Souter (and Revised Standard Version) have the feminine form koumi (cf. the discussion in Lagrange).

Exegesis:

kratēsas tēs cheiros (cf. 1.31) ‘seizing her hand.’

legei autē ‘he says to her’: the concordance of genders is logical ‘her,’ i.e. ‘the girl’ and not grammatical (since the antecedent tou paidiou ‘the child’ is neuter).

talitha koum: a Greek transliteration of the Aramaic telithaʾ qum ‘damsel arise.’

ho estin methermēneuomenon ‘which is translated,’ i.e. ‘which translated means.’

methermēneuomai (15.22, 34) ‘be translated,’ ‘be interpreted.’

to korasion (5.42; 6.22, 28), ‘maiden,’ ‘girl’: another use of the nominative form for the vocative case (cf. 5.8, 34).

egeire (cf. 1.31) ‘rise,’ ‘get up.’ Whether this means simply ‘rise from the bed,’ or ‘rise from the dead’ will be determined by the meaning given the statement of Jesus concerning the girl in v. 39.

Translation:

Taking her … he said may be rendered by two coordinate expressions ‘he took hold of her hand and he said.’

Talitha cumi should be transliterated in such a way as to represent the closest sound equivalents in the receptor language. For a discussion of the problems of transliteration, see Bible Translating, 243-46.

For the Treatment of a phrase such as which means, see 3.17.

Little girl is very frequently translated by the same term as is used for child in verses 39 and 40. It is most important that one not employ a word which would imply a person of different age or maturity status.

Arise should be interpreted in this context as ‘stand up’ (see the following verse). It is quite unnecessary, and misleading to translate ‘arise from the dead,’ for note that Jesus was sincerely trying to understate the extent of the miracle (see verse 39).

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 5:41

5:41a

Taking her by the hand: Some languages may express this idea in different ways. For example:

He grasped the girl’s hand
-or-
He took her hand (Some languages would say literally “he handed her.”)

Be alert for natural ways to express this statement in your language.

5:41b

“Talitha koum!” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”: The words Talitha koum are not Greek words. They are probably from the language that Jesus and the little girl spoke as their mother tongue. For some reason Mark transliterated these words. It is recommended that you also transliterate them. (See the next note.) You may want to say that Jesus spoke to her “in his/their own language.”

Talitha koum: Spell these words so that they can be pronounced in your language. Different English versions spell them in slightly different ways because there are some differences of spelling in Greek manuscripts.

which means: The words which means introduce the translation (meaning) of the words “talitha koum.” Use a natural way in your language to introduce the translation of something in another language. Here are some other English examples:

“Talitha, koum!” (This means, “Young girl…”) (New Century Version)
-or-
“Talitha, koum!” Translated in our language that would be, “Young girl…”
-or-
“Talitha, koum!” This means in our language, “Young girl…”

Little girl: Jesus used an affectionate term of address in his language to address the little girl. “Talitha” means “lamb” or “young one (feminine).” The Greek word that is given as the translation of this means “little lady” or “little girl.” Use a word in your language that is appropriate for a twelve-year-old girl.

I say to you: Mark included this phrase in the Greek translation of what Jesus said. However it is only implied by the words “Talitha koum!” which literally mean “lamb/youth, arise!” Some English versions do not translate the phrase I say to you explicitly, because it is already implied that Jesus was speaking to the girl (New Revised Standard Version). You may also choose to follow this example if it would be more natural in your language.

get up!: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as get up can mean:

(a) stand up from a lying or sitting position,

(b) wake up from sleep,

(c) live again after being dead.

All these meanings are appropriate in this context. However it is recommended that you translate meaning (a) “stand up.” This would also imply meaning (c), since a dead person cannot stand up. If you have a word that can be used for meaning (a), (c), and (b), it would be the best choice here. The English word “rise” is a good example of a word that can be used for all three meanings.

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