Translation commentary on Mark 7:9

Text:

Instead of tērēsēte ‘you may keep’ of the majority of modern editions of the Greek text, Lagrange, Taylor and Kilpatrick have stēsēte ‘you may establish.’

Exegesis:

kalōs (cf. v. 6) ‘how well!’: ironical. Arndt & Gingrich suggest ‘Are you doing the right thing in rejecting…?’

atheteite (cf. 6.26) ‘you are rejecting,’ ‘you set aside.’

tērēsēte (only here in Mark) ‘that you may keep,’ ‘observe,’ ‘fulfil.’

The reading preferred by Kilpatrick and others, stēsēte means ‘establish,’ ‘make firm,’ ‘set’; Lagrange pour établir.

Translation:

The irony of this statement should be made quite clear. A mark of punctuation is often not enough. Note what is done in Tabasco Chontal by beginning the verse as ‘You think you have done well in rejecting….’ Cf. also Toraja-Sa’dan ‘Your cleverness is without equal, in putting God’s commandment out of action.’

Rejecting may be variously rendered, e.g. ‘you say it is of no value to you’ (San Mateo del Mar Huave), ‘you have changed’ (Central Mazahua), ‘you have thrown away’ (Kekchi), ‘pretty you caused it to be lost’ (Copainalá Zoque), in which the word ‘pretty’ immediately marks the phrase as ironical.

The commandment of God in contrast with your tradition may be rendered as ‘what God has ordered … what your fathers have said.’

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 7:9

7:9a

He went on to say: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He went on to say here introduces more things that Jesus said. You should introduce these words of Jesus in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

Then he said (New Living Translation)
-or-
He also said to them (NET Bible)
-or-
He added (God’s Word)

7:9b

You neatly set aside the command of God: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as neatly is a figure of speech. It means the opposite of what it says. Jesus was being sarcastic as he rebuked the proud Jewish leaders for doing wrong.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

• Use words that keep the sarcasm. For example:

You have a clever way of rejecting God’s law (Good News Bible)

• Omit the figure of speech. For example:

You set aside the commands of God
-or-
You reject God’s laws (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)

• Translate the meaning of the figure of speech. For example:

You are foolish to reject God’s law
-or-
You are doing wrong when you reject God’s commands

set aside the command of God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as set aside also means “reject” or “ignore.” This word refers to the way the Pharisees and teachers of the law rejected and disobeyed God’s commands. For example:

You cleverly ignore the commands of God (New Century Version)
-or-
You reject God’s laws (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)

7:9c

to maintain your own tradition: When you translate the verb maintain, you should use a verb that naturally goes with the word tradition. For example:

so that you can follow your own teachings (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
in order to keep your own traditions (God’s Word)

tradition: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as tradition means “those things that are taught or commanded which are passed on from one generation to another.”

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