Translation commentary on Mark 7:17

Exegesis:

eis oikon (cf. 3.19) literally ‘into a house’: Translator’s New Testament ‘to His home’; Goodspeed ‘home’; Taylor ‘indoors.’ If the usage here is the same as that in 3.19 and 2.1 the meaning is ‘(his) home.’

epērōtōn (cf. 5.9) ‘they asked.’

parabolēn (cf. 3.23) ‘parable’; here in the sense of ‘figure,’ ‘illustration’ (Gould suggests ‘riddle’).

Translation:

Entered the house and left the people poses a problem in some languages if translated literally, for one would assume that Jesus left the people before entering the house, or at least in entering the house he left the people. The Greek text indicates that ‘he entered the house, away from the people,’ meaning ‘he went into his home, away from the people.’ The equivalent in other languages may be ‘when he had gone into his home and the people were no longer with him.’

For disciples see 2.15 and for parable see 3.23.

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 7:17

7:17a

After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house: In some languages, it may be more natural to make 7:17a into a separate sentence. For example:

Then he left the crowd and entered the house
-or-
After he finished teaching, he left the crowd and entered the house

7:17b

His disciples: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as disciples means “learners” who are in a relationship with a teacher. The learners commit themselves to their teacher in order to learn from him and live according to his teaching and example. In the New Testament disciples often lived with their teacher and followed him wherever he went.

Here are some other ways to translate disciples:

students/learners
-or-
apprentices
-or-
followers

See how you translated this term at 2:15b and 7:2a. See also disciple in the Glossary for more information.

parable: In this context the word parable describes what Jesus said to the people in 7:14–16. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as parable is used to describe different types of wise speech like proverbs, illustrations, and metaphors. You will need to read 7:14–16 carefully. Then consider how you would describe this type of speech in your language.

Here are some other ways that English versions have translated parable in this context:

his disciples asked him to explain this saying (Good News Bible)
-or-
his disciples asked him about this illustration (God’s Word)
-or-
his disciples asked him what he meant by the statement he had made (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)

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