καὶ ἀπ᾽ ἀγορᾶς ἐὰν μὴ βαπτίσωνται οὐκ ἐσθίουσιν, καὶ ἄλλα πολλά ἐστιν ἃ παρέλαβον κρατεῖν, βαπτισμοὺς ποτηρίων καὶ ξεστῶν καὶ χαλκίων [καὶ κλινῶν] –
4and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash, and there are also many other traditions that they observe: the washing of cups and pots and bronze kettles and beds.)
The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that is translated as “cup” in English is translated in Sar with “calabash” (see here ) (source: Ngarbolnan Riminan in Le Sycomore 2000, p. 20ff. ) and in Bariai with “coconut shell” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
See also cup (of suffering).
Following is the translation of Mark 7:3-4 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath:
© La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios
Otro ejemplo: si han ido al mercado y regresan, no pueden tomar algo para comer, primero se bañan y cuando están limpios pueden comer.
Otro ejemplo: Vasos, jarras, ollas etc. que están sucios los lavan y cuando ya está listo, están limpios, los enjuagan otra vez en agua para estar completamente limpios.
Hay muchas leyes diferentes que han inventado y las personas obedecen las costumbres.
“Another example: when they go off to the market and return afterwards they cannot take something to eat, they first bathe and when they are clean they can eat.
“Another example: glasses, jars, pots etc. that are dirty are washed and when that is done and they are clean they rinse them again in water so that they are completely clean.
“There are many different laws that they have invented and the people obey the customs.”
Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios
<< Mark 7:1-2 and 5-17a in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 7:17b-24a in Mexican Sign Language >>
Following is the translation of Mark 7:1-23 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:
Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество
The people of Judea strictly followed the demands of tradition. Before eating, they were to wash their hands thoroughly up to the elbows. After going to the store and the market, they had to wash their hands thoroughly. Also they had to be thorough with kitchen utensils: cauldrons, plates.
And so the Pharisees and teachers of the law came from Jerusalem. They were indignant when they saw that Jesus’ disciples were not fulfilling the demands of tradition.
In indignation they turned to Jesus:
— Behold, your disciples are not fulfilling the demands of tradition! They had not washed their hands and were eating bread. What is this?
Jesus answered them:
— You Pharisees are hypocrites. In ancient times there lived a prophet named Isaiah. He was talking about the people of his time, but they were just like the Pharisees. The prophet said that these people thought they were very pious, very proud of it, but in fact, inwardly they were empty, far from God. They thought they were pious and outwardly honored God — but it was all false. They began to invent their own rules and laws and pass them off as God’s law, as God’s commandments. That’s what you are doing now, Pharisees. You disregard God’s commandments and make up your own. You have rejected God’s law, but you demand that people obey your rules.
In ancient times Moses gave Ten Commandments. There is this commandment: “Honor your father and mother.” If a son offends his parents, according to the law he should be punished by death.
And it happens like this: old parents who have no money to feed themselves, but the son has money. But you say to such a person:
— You should not give money to old parents, you should bring it as a gift to the Temple.
That is, you encourage people not to take care of their parents. Thus, your rules and statutes abrogate the Law of God.
Jesus called the people together and said to them:
— Listen and ponder! Do you think that man is defiled by food? No! Food is outward. But evil thoughts in the heart are what defile a man and spoil him.
Jesus walked away from the crowd and went into the house. Jesus’ disciples followed him. There the disciples began to question Jesus:
— We did not understand the meaning of what you were telling.
Jesus said:
— Have you not understood? Food is external. What you eat, it will not contaminate you, because it will be digested in the stomach and come out again, it does not give you bad thoughts in your heart. But if you have bad thoughts in your heart, it contaminates you. You think bad thoughts, you start doing bad things: cunning, malice, stealing, murder, cheating, greed, malice, deceit, rudeness, slander, insult, pride, stupidity — where does it all come from? It all comes from within, from the thoughts. If thoughts are dirty, then a person is unclean.
Жители Иудеи строго выполняли требования традиции. Перед едой они должны были тщательно вымыть руки до локтей. После магазина и рынка должны обязательно чисто-чисто вымыть руки. Также должны были тщательно быть кухонную посуду: котлы, тарелки.
И вот фарисеи и учителя закона пришли из Иерусалима. Они возмутились, когда увидели, что ученики Иисуса не исполняли требований традиции.
В негодовании они обратились к Иисусу:
— Вот, твои ученики не исполняют требований традиции! Они не вымыли руки и стали есть хлеб. Что это такое?
Иисус им ответил:
— Вы фарисеи — лицемеры. В древности жил пророк по имени Исайя. Он говорил о людях своего времени, но они были таким же, как фарисеи. Пророк говорил, что эти люди считали себя очень набожными, очень гордились этим, но на самом деле, внутренне они пусты, далеки от Бога. Они считали себя набожными и внешне почитали Бога — но это все фальшь. Они стали придумывать свои собственные правила и законы и выдавать их за Божий закон, за Божьи заповеди. Так же и вы сейчас поступаете, фарисеи. Вы заповедями Божьими пренебрегаете, и придумываете свои собственные. Божий закон вы отвергли, а требуете, чтобы люди исполняли ваши правила.
В древности Моисей дал 10 заповедей. Есть такая заповедь: «Почитай отца и мать». Если сын оскорбляет своих родителей, по закону он должен быть наказан смертью.
А бывает так: старые родители, у которых нет денег пропитание, а у сына деньги есть. Но вы же говорите такому человеку:
— Не нужно давать денег старым родителям, нужно их принести в дар в Храм.
То есть вы побуждаете людей не заботиться о родителях. Таким образом, ваши правила и уставы отменяют Закон Божий.
Иисус созвал людей и сказал им:
— Слушайте и поразмыслите! Вы думаете, человек оскверняется пищей? Нет! Еда — это внешнее. Но злые мысли в сердце — вот, что оскверняет человека и портят его.
Иисус ушел от толпы и вошел в дом. Ученики Иисуса последовали за ним. Там ученики стали спрашивать Иисуса:
— Мы не поняли смысл того, что ты рассказывал.
Иисус сказал:
— Вы не поняли? Пища — это внешнее. То, что вы едите, это вас не испачкает, потому что это переварится в желудке и снова выйдет наружу, от этого в сердце не появляются плохие мысли. Но если в вашем сердце плохие мысли — это вас пачкает. Вы думаете плохие мысли, начинаете делать плохие дела: хитрость, злоба, воровство, убийство, измены, жадность, злоба, лукавство, грубость, клевета, оскорбление, гордость, глупость — это все откуда? Это все исходит изнутри, из мыслей. Если мысли грязные, то и человек нечист.
Back-translation by Luka Manevich
<< Mark 6:53-56 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 7:24-30 in Russian Sign Language >>
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 7:4:
“[It] has given rise not only to an immense amount of discussion in terms of its meaning within the Judaeo-Christia historical context, but also continues to introduce serious problems for translators today. In many instances the recommendation has been to transliterate, i.e. employing some indigenous equivalent of the sounds of the word in some more prestigious language spoken in the region, e.g. English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese. Though this solution tends to remove some theological controversies, it does not completely satisfy everyone, for not only does it avoid the problem of the mode of baptism, but it leaves the Scriptures with a zero word. Unfortunately, many of the controversies over the indigenous equivalent of baptism arise because of a false evaluation of a word’s so-called etymology. For example, in Yucateco the word for baptism means literally ‘to enter the water’, but this term is used freely by both Presbyterians and Roman Catholics, even though it might appear to be strictly ‘Baptist nomenclature.’ Similarly, in Kekchí, an even ‘stronger’ term ‘to put under the water’ is employed by Nazarenes and Roman Catholics. Obviously the meanings of these Yucateco and Kekchí words are not derivable from their literal significance but from the fact that they now designate a particular kind of Christian rite. To insist on changing such a well-established usage (and one to which immersionists could certainly not object) would seem quite unwarranted. The situation may, on the other hand, be reversed. There are instances in which immersionists are quite happy to use a term which though it means literally ‘to put water on the head’ [see below for the translations in Northern Emberá and Ewe] has actually lost this etymological value and refers simply to the rite itself, regardless of the way in which it is performed. A translator should not, however, employ an already existing expression or construct a new phrase which will in its evident meaning rule out any major Christian constituency.
“There are, of course, a number of instances in which traditional terms for ‘baptism’ need modification. In some situations the word may mean only ‘to give a new name to’ (one aspect of christening) or ‘to be one who lights’ (referring to a custom in some traditions of lighting a candle at the time of baptism). However, in order to reproduce the core of significant meaning of the original Biblical term, it is important to explore the entire range of indigenous usage in order that whatever term is chosen may have at least some measure of cultural relevance. In Navajo (Dinė), for example, there were four principal possibilities of choice: (1) borrowing some transliterated form of the English word, (2) constructing a phrase meaning ‘to touch with water’ (an expression which would have been acceptable with some groups in the field, but not with others), (3) using a phrase meaning ‘ceremonial washing’ (but this expression seemed to be too closely related to indigenous practices in healing ceremonies), and (4) devising an expression meaning ‘to dedicate (or consecrate) by water’, without specifying the amount of water employed. This last alternative was chosen as the most meaningful and the best basis for metaphorical extension and teaching.
“On the other hand, it would be wrong to think that the meaning of ‘washing’ must be rejected in all languages. For example, it is quite appropriate in Kpelle culture, since it ties in with male puberty rites, and in the San Blas Kuna society, since washing is a very important aspect of female puberty ceremonies, in some translations ‘water’ is introduced into the expression for baptism, but the quantity and means of administrating it are left quite ambiguous, e.g. ‘to get (take, receive) water’ (Tzeltal). Toraja-Sa’dan, Pamona and Batak Toba render the verb ‘to pour water over, give a bath’.” (Source: Bratcher / Nida)
Other examples of translation include:
“The Yatzachi Zapotec know the practice of baptism and have a word to express it. There would thus seem to be no problem involved. Unfortunately, however, the word for ‘baptize’ is a compound, one part being a word nowhere else used and the other part being the word for ‘water.’ Perhaps ‘water-baptize’ is the closest equivalent in English. For most contexts this presents no problem, but if the word is used in Mark 1:8, it would say, ‘He will water-baptize you with the Holy Ghost.’ In Zapotec the idea is unintelligible. To meet the problem, the Spanish word ‘bautizar’ was introduced at this point though the Zapotec word is ordinarily used. The disadvantages of this substitution are obvious, but no better solution was found.” (Source: Otis M. Leal in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 164ff.
“Formerly in Uab Meto the word used for ’baptism’ was ‘nasrami’ which actually came by way of Arabic from ‘Nazarene.’ Its meaning was ‘to make a Christian’ and the idea was that the one who baptized actually made Christians. Such an expression was obviously inadequate. We have used for ‘baptize’ the phrase in ‘antam oe’ which means ‘to enter into the water.’ This phrase can be used for sprinkling, for water is used as a symbol of the new life, and being baptized means for the Uab Meto to enter into a new sphere of life. Baptism is so frequently spoken of in connection with the giving of the Holy Spirit that the proper associations have arisen in the thinking of the people.” (Source: P. Middelkoop in The Bible Translator 1952 p. 165ff. )
The disagreement about whether the translation of the Greek baptizo needed to include “immersion” not only caused conflict in China, it also led to splits — and different translations — in English-speaking countries: “The influential British and Foreign Bible Society had been a major supporter of the [Baptist] Serampore mission, but it finally severed its support in 1836 because of the Baptist interpretation of the Bible translations produced there. This led to the formation of the separate Baptist Bible Translation Society in Great Britain in 1840. Almost concurrently, in 1837, the American and Foreign Bible Society was founded in the United States as an offspring of the American Bible Society, over a controversy about a Baptist Bengali Bible translation. The American and Foreign Bible Society itself experienced another split in 1850, when a sub-group rejected the transliteration of baptizo in the English Bible and formed the American Bible Union, which published its own English New Testament in 1862/63 that used the term immerse instead of “baptize” (see here ). (Source: Zetzsche 2008)
See also baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Baptism in Early Christianity .
Text:
Instead of rantisōntai ‘they may sprinkle,’ read by Nestle, Westcott and Hort, Vogels, Merk, Lagrange, and Taylor, baptisōntai ‘they may bathe (themselves)’ is read by Textus Receptus, Tischendorf, Soden, Souter, and Kilpatrick. The manuscript evidence is fairly evenly divided: rantizō ‘sprinkle’ should be considered the “harder” reading.
At the end of the verse kai klinōn ‘and of beds’ is added by Textus Receptus, Soden, Vogels and Kilpatrick; the majority of modern editions of the Greek text, however, reject it.
Exegesis:
As Revised Standard Version indicates, vv. 3-4 are parenthetical. Unlike Revised Standard Version, however, v. 2 in Greek is the beginning of a sentence which is left incomplete: instead of v. 5 taking up the sentence and completing it, the incomplete sentence of v. 2 is left hanging, and v. 5 begins another (complete) sentence. It is not necessary in a translation, however, literally to reproduce the Greek grammatical constructions, especially if awkwardness is the result.
kai ap’ agoras ean mē rantisōntai ‘and from the market-place if they don’t sprinkle’: there are two main ways in which this admittedly obscure statement may be understood: (1) ‘when they come back from the market-place they do not eat unless they wash themselves’; thus American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, Manson, Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale, O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada (Zürcher Bibel adds, in brackets, die Hände); (2) ‘anything from the market-place they do not eat unless they sprinkle (or, ‘wash,’ depending on the text preferred) it.’ This is the translation preferred by Goodspeed, Moffatt, Williams: Lagrange, who argues for it, points out that vv. 3-4 thus refer to the ceremonial purification of the person, of the food, and of the dishes. While dogmatic finality is impossible, especially in light of the textual uncertainty of the main verb, it would appear that Lagrange’s arguments offer a reasonable explanation of the text, together with Black’s exposition of the Aramaic form underlying the Greek phrase.
It should be noticed that Translator’s New Testament offers another translation, one which lies between the two discussed above: ‘and they do not eat anything from the market place unless they wash themselves’ (understanding ap’ agoras as ‘something (brought) from the market-place’ and translating baptisōntai ‘wash themselves’).
ha parelabon kratein ‘which they received to hold on to’: a reference to other traditions, similar to the ones mentioned.
paralambanō (cf. 4.36) ‘receive’: here as the complement of paradidōmi ‘hand over’ of a tradition which is handed over by one generation and received by another.
krateō (cf. 1.31) ‘hold on to,’ ‘keep,’ ‘observe.’
baptismous potērion kai xestōn kai chalkiōn ‘washings of cups and pots and copper vessels.’
baptismos (only here in Mark) ‘washing’ (of dishes).
potērion (9.41; 10.38, 39; 14.23, 36) ‘cup,’ ‘drinking vessel.’
xestēs (only here in the N.T.) from the Latin sextarius ‘the sixth part of a modius’; in a general sense, as here, ‘pitcher,’ ‘pot,’ ‘jug,’ without any reference to size.
chalkiōn (only here in the N.T.) ‘copper vessel,’ or ‘kettle.’
Translation:
The market place is usually not difficult to translate, but in some instances certain local adaptations may be required, e.g. ‘the trading post,’ ‘the place of buying and selling,’ or ‘the place where provisions are bought.’
They should refer specifically to the Pharisees (and all the Jews), not to the elders.
Do not eat unless becomes in some languages ‘do not eat if they do not,’ ‘do not eat until they,’ or ‘eat only when they have.’
Purify themselves seems somewhat preferable as a base for translating ‘wash themselves,’ since whatever water was used – whether in sprinkling or bathing – had as a primary function the ceremonial purification of the person. Purification is described in various ways, e.g. ‘to become really clean’ (Huautla Mazatec), ‘to become not mixed,’ in the sense of contaminated (Mezquital Otomi), ‘to take away pollution’ (Loma (Liberia)).
Many other traditions which they observe may be rendered as ‘they keep doing many other things which their ancestors told them to do’ or ‘they follow their fathers in keeping many other customs.’
The washing of cups … is an appositional expression, identifying the content of the traditions. One must frequently reproduce this as a verb expression, especially in languages in which traditions may be translated as a verb phrase, e.g. ‘they wash cups and pots and bronze vessels.’
Where the people are unacquainted with bronze it has been customary to use a word ‘metal vessels’ or ‘metal containers.’
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 .
No comments yet.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.