2On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 6:2:
Uma: “On the worship day, he went to the prayer house to teach people. There were many people there. When they heard Yesus teaching, they were surprised, they said: ‘Who taught him all that? What [kind of] skill / wisdom does he possess? How is it that he can do surprising things?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then when it was Saturday, the day of-no-work for the Yahudi, he began again to preach/teach in the prayer-house. Many who listened to him wondered. They said, ‘Uy, where did he get his learning from? And what wisdom/knowledge has been given to him? How can/did he do those powerful deeds?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “On Saturday which is the revered Day of Rest Jesus taught the people inside the church of the Jews. There were many people gathered there, and they were amazed as they listened to Jesus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “When the day for-resting of the Jews arrived which was Saturday, Jesus went to teach in the synagogue. And many were amazed when they heard (him) and they said, ‘Where did this-one get his thoughts? Where did he get his wisdom? How moreover does he do miracles?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When the Day of Rest came, Jesus taught in their worship-place. The crowd which heard his teaching were amazed. They were saying, ‘Where did he get all that? What is this wisdom/understanding which has been given/graced to him? How is it he can do these amazing things?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
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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, hajime-rare-ru (始められる) or “start” is used.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
Before polloi ‘many’ Textus Receptus, Souter, Kilpatrick (and, apparently, Revised Standard Version) omit hoi ‘the,’ which is included by all other modern editions of the Greek text.
Instead of kai hai dunameis ‘and the mighty works’ of most editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus, Soden, and Kilpatrick have hoti kai dunameis ‘for even mighty works’; Tischendorf has kai dunameis ‘and mighty works.’
Exegesis:
genomenou sabbatou (cf. 1.21) ‘when the sabbath came,’ ‘when it was the sabbath.’
ērxato didaskein en tē sunagōgē (cf. 1.21; 3.1) ‘he began to teach in the synagogue.’
hoi polloi akouontes exeplēssonto ‘the many who were listening to him were astonished.’
hoi polloi ‘the many’: with the article (cf. Text, above) the phrase here means ‘the many (who were there) as they heard him,’ not, as Revised Standard Version has it, ‘many (of those there)…,’ i.e. ‘many, but not all.’
The three clauses that follow, understood either as questions or as exclamations, lack finite verbs, being thus grammatically incomplete: they express quite vividly the surprise and astonishment that gripped the large crowd.
toutō (cf. 2.7) ‘to this one’: expresses contempt. By underscoring the personal pronouns Manson graphically portrays the astonishment and resentment of Jesus’ townspeople.
tis hē sophia hē dotheisa toutō;Manson: ‘What sort of wisdom is it that has been conferred on him?’
sophia (only here in Mark) ‘wisdom.’
hai dunameis toiautai ‘miracles such as these!’
dunamis (cf. 5.30) ‘mighty work,’ ‘miracle.’
dia tōn cheirōn autou ginomenai ‘which are being done through his hands’: or, simply, ‘which are being wrought by him.’
Translation:
A number of key words in this verse have already been treated: sabbath (1.21), teach (2.13), synagogue (1.21), and astonish (1.21, 27).
Teach often requires an object: ‘teach the people.’
Astonished, saying is frequently rendered as ‘were astonished; they said.’
It is important that get all this does not refer exclusively to ‘wealth’ or ‘material possessions.’ To avoid such a denotation one may translate as in Sayula Popoluca, ‘from where did he bring these thoughts.’
It should be noted that these questions are not requests for information, but are types of exclamatory expressions. They should be so treated in languages which have special forms for such questions or utterances.
Wisdom is not always translatable by a noun, for it involves the result of a process of learning and the application of special mental faculties. Hence in some instances wisdom is ‘what he has learned.’ In other languages, however, wisdom is equivalent to ‘mind,’ e.g. ‘what mind has been given to him’ (Tabasco Chontal) and ‘how was this man made a person of big mind’ (Amganad Ifugao).
The passive concept expressed in is given is not always easily rendered, for where the agent is required, one must completely alter the form, either making Jesus the subject of the process of acquiring the wisdom, e.g. ‘how has he learned so much,’ or indicating that God is the source of the special gift of wisdom, e.g. ‘how is it that God has given such wisdom to him.’ However, this last question does not seem to fit the context, for these people were not inclined to recognize Jesus’ God-given ministry or abilities. Hence, the former question is probably closer to the original meaning, though not closer to the formal sentence structure.
Mighty works translates the Greek dunameis, a regular term for ‘miracles,’ though meaning literally ‘powers.’ One of the most common ways of talking about miracles is to call them ‘things which no one has ever seen before’ (San Blas Kuna). A second semantic perspective involves the process of amazement, wonder, and awe, e.g. ‘thing marveled at’ (Tepeuxila Cuicatec), ‘breathtaking thing’ (Ngäbere), and ‘long-necked thing’ referring to the onlookers who stretch their necks to see (Huautla Mazatec). A third means of talking about miracles makes use of expressions of power and strength (similar to the Greek), e.g. ‘sign done by God’s power’ (Mossi ), ‘supernatural power’ (Javanese), and ‘things that have heaven-strength’ (Highland Totonac). It is usually necessary in employing these terms for strength or power to specify the source or the nature of the manifestation of power. Otherwise ambiguity or obscurity is likely to occur.
By his hands, if translated literally, may give rise to misinterpretation, for in a receptor language this may be used to refer only to artifacts. Hence, ‘by him’ may be used in a passive construction or ‘he does’ in an active one.
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 .
When the Sabbath came: In many languages, people do not say that a day came.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
On the Sabbath day -or-
When it was the Sabbath day
Sabbath: The word Sabbath is the name of the seventh and last day of the week for the Jews. The Sabbath was the special day in the week when the Jews rested and worshipped God. The Law of Moses said that the Jews must not do any work on that day (Deuteronomy 5:12–15).
Here are some other ways to translate Sabbath:
the Jewish rest day -or-
the day for resting -or-
the day to rest and worship God
If the word Sabbath is already known in your area, you may write it according to the sounds of your language. You may also want to include a phrase to explain the meaning. For example:
the Sabat, the Jews’ day for resting
Be careful that the term you choose is not confused with Sunday, the day when Christians worship. The Sabbath for the Jews began at sundown on Friday and went until sundown on Saturday. You may want to include a footnote to give more information. For example:
The Sabbath is a name for the seventh day of the week. It is the day when the Jews rested from work and worshipped God.
6:2b
He began to teach in the synagogue: There is some implied information here. People gathered in the synagogue every Sabbath to worship. These were the people whom Jesus taught. In some languages you may need to say who he taught and what he taught. For example:
began to teach God’s message -or-
began to teach the Scripturesto the people there
Jesus did something similar in 1:21b and 1:21c. Look at your translation there for ideas about how to translate 6:2b.
began to teach: The Greek phrase that most English versions translate as began to teach may also be translated as “taught” (as in the Contemporary English Version). Use a verb form that is natural in your language for this context.
synagogue: A synagogue was a building where Jews gathered to pray, read scripture, teach their beliefs, and worship. The Jews also gathered there for cultural activities. There was only one temple (in Jerusalem), but each Jewish community had a synagogue.
Here are some other ways to translate synagogue:
prayer-house of the Jews -or-
meeting-place of the Jews -or-
worship building -or-
house for gathering together
If you make explicit a phrase such as “of the Jews,” be sure that it does not imply that Jesus was not a Jew.
If the word synagogue is already known in your area, you may write it according to the sounds of your language. You may want to include a word or phrase to explain the meaning. For example:
sinagog house/building
You should translate synagogue here the same way you did in 1:21b. See synagogue in the Glossary.
6:2c
many who heard Him: (There is a textual issue in this verse. (1) Many Greek manuscripts lack the definite article hoi before polloi “many.” Without the article, this phrase means “many (but not all) who heard him.” This reading is followed by Textus Receptus and AGNT. (2) Some Greek manuscripts have hoipolloi “the many,” with the definite article. With the article, the phrase means “the many who all heard him.” It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions.) There are different ways to interpret the word many:
(1) It means many but not all of the people there were amazed. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:
Many of the people who heard him were amazed
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, God’s Word, NET Bible)
(2) It means that many people were there and all of them were amazed. For example, the Good News Bible says:
Many people were there; and when they heard him, they were all amazed.
(Good News Bible, Revised English Bible, New American Standard Bible, New Century Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most English versions. However, you may want to follow interpretation (2) if the major language version in your language area follows it. (One argument in favor of interpretation (2) is that “many” may be a Semitic idiom meaning “all” (TRT page 68, Gundry, page 289). Others who support the interpretation “all of the many” include Lane page 201, UBS Handbook page 182, and Cranfield page 193. The first interpretation is supported by Alexander (page 141), Hiebert (page 138), Gould (page 103), Lenski (page 234), Bruce (page 184), Swete (page 111) and Taylor (page 299).) Both interpretations are well supported by scholars.
In some languages it may be natural to make it explicit that many refers to “many of the people in the synagogue.” For example:
many of the people listening to him there
were astonished: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as astonished means “very surprised” or “amazed.” (The same word occurs in 1:22a.) The following verse (6:3) makes it clear that the people’s surprise here was mixed with resentment. They were displeased or offended that someone whom they considered to be an ordinary person should have such authority and power.
Be sure that your translation of astonished fits with the attitude of the people that is expressed in 6:3. In some languages it may be necessary to translate this word differently here than you did in 1:22. For example:
amazed and resentful
6:2d–3c
In 6:2d–6:3c, Mark records several rhetorical questions. These rhetorical questions express the surprise and resentment that the people felt when Jesus began to teach in the synagogue. The people knew Jesus only as a carpenter, so they were surprised that he was able to teach with such wisdom. They were also surprised that he was able to perform such mighty works. However, they did not believe that Jesus was qualified to do these things. Therefore, they were offended.
The meaning of these rhetorical questions is expressed in various ways in the Display. The Display also shows ways to express the direct quotations in 6:2d–6:3c in an indirect way.
6:2d
Where did this man get these ideas?: This is a rhetorical question. It expresses both surprise and offense/contempt. There are at least two ways to translate this rhetorical question:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
Where did he get all this? (Good News Bible) -or-
Where did this man get these things? (New International Version)
• As a statement. For example:
We cannot believe that this man has learned all this! -or- It is unbelievable that this man has learned all these things/ideas!
Use whichever form is most natural to express this surprise, offense, and contempt in your language.
It may be necessary in some languages to include an idiom or phrase in order to express surprise and/or amazement. You could translate it:
What is this? Where did this one get/learn these things? -or- Impossible! Where did this one get/learn such things?
Where: Here the word Where helps to form the rhetorical question. The emphasis here is not on a place, as it usually is with the word where.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
How -or-
From whom/By whose authority -or-
It is unbelievable that…
this man: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as this man is literally “this one.” The people knew Jesus’ name, but they called him “this one.” This shows their feeling of contempt. It shows that they did not accept Jesus as a teacher.
get: In Greek, there is no verb here. The clause is literally “from where this one these things?” The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the verb get to make the clause understandable in English.
In many languages it will be necessary to supply a verb, as English versions do. Here are some other possibilities:
know -or-
learn
these ideas: The phrase these ideas refers to the wisdom with which Jesus taught. It also refers to the power by which he performed miracles.
they asked: In Greek the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they asked comes before the rhetorical question. The Berean Standard Bible has placed this phrase after the rhetorical question. You should place these words where they are most natural in your language.
asked: If you translate the rhetorical question in 6:2d as a statement, you may need to use a different verb here. For example:
said
6:2e–f
What is this wisdom He has been given? And how can He perform such miracles?: There is a textual issue in this verse:
(1) Some Greek manuscripts have the conjunction and. For example the New American Standard Bible says:
…what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?
(Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New American Standard Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, Good News Bible, Revised Standard Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, New Century Version) (Among the versions that follow option (1), some versions connect the questions with the word “and” (Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New American Standard Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English) and some versions omit a conjunction (Good News Bible, Revised Standard Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, New Century Version). For example, the NET Bible says, “And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these miracles that are done through his hands?”)
(2) Other Greek manuscripts have the conjunction in order that. This conjunction introduces the purpose or result of the wisdom he had received. For example, the King James Version says:
…and what wisdom [is] this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
(King James Version, New International Version)
It is recommended that you follow option (1), since it has the support of the majority of Greek manuscripts. (Blight and Smith (page 124), Metzger (page 75), UBS4 (page 138), TRT (page 67) and Swanson (page 80).) Also, the majority of the English versions follow this option.
The rhetorical questions in 6:2e and 6:2f are discussed separately below. For ways to combine these two questions into one sentence, see the General Comment on 6:2e–f after the note on 6:2f.
6:2e
What is this wisdom He has been given?: This is a rhetorical question. It expresses both surprise and unbelief. There are at least two ways to translate this rhetorical question.
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
Who gave him this kind of wisdom…? (God’s Word) -or-
Where did he get all his wisdom…? (New Living Translation)
• As a statement. For example:
He should not have this kind of wisdom! -or- We cannot believe that he has received all this wisdom!
Use whichever form is most natural to express this surprise and unbelief in your language.
this: The word this indicates that the people thought that the wisdom Jesus had was an extraordinary/unusual kind of wisdom. You could translate this as:
this kind of… -or-
…like this
wisdom: The word wisdom in general means “the ability to understand events and know the right action.” In this context, it probably refers to understanding spiritual things. It is not simple knowledge learned from studying.
In some languages it may be necessary to translate wisdom with a phrase. For example:
wise understanding -or-
right and just thinking
He: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He is literally “this one.” This is the same word as in 6:2d. The people knew Jesus’ name, but they called him “this one.” This shows their feeling of contempt. It shows again that they did not accept his spiritual authority.
given: The Berean Standard Bible follows the Greek text and translates the verb given as a passive verb. The passive form of the verb here shows that the people did not believe that Jesus could have learned such wisdom on his own. They also were not willing to say from whom or where he received such wisdom. For this reason, it is recommended that you use the passive form in the translation if possible. But if it is not natural in your language to do this, you may want to use one of the following ideas:
Who gave him…? -or-
Where did he get…? -or-
He should not have…!
6:2f
And how can He perform such miracles?: This is a rhetorical question. It expresses both surprise and unbelief. There are at least two ways to translate this rhetorical question.
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
…and the ability to do such great miracles? (God’s Word) -or-
And where did he get the power to do miracles? (New Century Version)
• As a statement. For example:
He should not be able to do these types of miracles! -or- We cannot believe that he has the power to do such miracles!
Use whichever form is most natural to express this surprise and unbelief in your language.
He perform such miracles: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He perform such miracles is more literally “such miracles happening through his hands.” This figure of speech means “miracles performed by him” or “miracles that Jesus did.” For example:
How does he perform miracles? (Good News Bible) -or-
…he even does miracles! (New International Version)
miracles: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as miracles is literally powers. A miracle is an action which requires great power to accomplish. When a human being does a miracle, he must use greater power than human beings normally have. Jesus used God’s power to do miracles, and these miracles demonstrated that he came from God.
Here are some other ways to translate miracles:
mighty works -or-
amazing acts done with/by God’s power -or-
wonderful actions that only God can do
General Comment on 6:2e–f
In some languages it may be more natural to combine the two rhetorical questions in 6:2e–f into one question, such as in the examples below.
Who gave him this kind of wisdom and the ability to do such great miracles? (God’s Word) -or-
Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles? (New Living Translation)
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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