The Greek in Mark 8:14 that is translated as “the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with und wieder hatten sie vergessen, Brot mitzunehmen or “once again they had forgotten to bring bread.”
boat, ship
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated “boat” or “ship” in English is translated in Chichimeca-Jonaz as “that with which we can walk on water” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Chitonga as a term in combination with bwato or “dugout canoe” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 72), and in Tangale as inj am or “canoe-of water” (inj — “canoe” — on its own typically refers to a traditional type of carved-out log for sleeping) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
In Kouya it is translated as ‘glʋ ‘kadʋ — “big canoe.”
Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains how the Kouya team arrived at that conclusion:
“Acts chapter 27 was a challenge! It describes Paul’s sea voyage to Italy, and finally Rome. There is a storm at sea and a shipwreck on Malta, and the chapter includes much detailed nautical vocabulary. How do you translate this for a landlocked people group, most of whom have never seen the ocean? All they know are small rivers and dugout canoes.
“We knew that we could later insert some illustrations during the final paging process which would help the Kouya readers to picture what was happening, but meanwhile we struggled to find or invent meaningful terms. The ‘ship’ was a ‘big canoe’ and the ‘passengers’ were ‘the people in the big canoe’; the ‘crew’ were the ‘workers in the big canoe’; the ‘pilot’ was the ‘driver of the big canoe’; the ‘big canoe stopping place’ was the ‘harbour’, and the ‘big canoe stopping metal’ was the ‘anchor’!”
In Lokạạ it is translated as ukalangkwaa, lit. “English canoe.” “The term was not coined for the Bible translation, but rather originated in colonial times when the English arrived in Nigeria on ships. The indigenous term for a canoe was modified to represent the large, ocean-going ship of the English.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
See also ships of Tarshish, harbor, anchor, and sailor.
forget
The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “forget” in English is translated in Noongar as dwangka-anbangbat, lit. “ear-lose.” (Source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).
See also remember and forget (Japanese honorifics).
Mark 8:14-21 in Russian Sign Language
Following is the translation of Mark 8:14-21 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:
Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество
Jesus and His disciples were on a boat. The disciples started to look for food. They searched and searched and it turned out that they had forgotten the food on the shore. Only one piece of bread was found. The disciples began to ask each other, “What shall we eat?”
Jesus told the disciples:
— If you put a little yeast in the dough, the whole dough will puff up. Just like that yeast are the Pharisees and King Herod. They do not believe in Me. Beware of them!
The disciples continued to wonder, “What shall we eat?”
Jesus realized what they were thinking and said to them:
— Do you still not understand? Why do you say, “What shall we eat?” You are like blind men. You have eyes, you should be able to see. You have ears to hear. Remember, when I fed five thousand men, there were only five loaves. And everyone had enough to eat. How many baskets of uneaten pieces did you collect?
The disciples answered, “Twelve.”
Jesus continued:
— And when there were four thousand men, and I divided the seven loaves among them, and all ate to their fill. And then you gathered the uneaten pieces into baskets. How many baskets did you collect?
The disciples answered, “Seven baskets.”
Jesus said:
— Why do you worry about the bread now? Do you still not understand me?
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Иисус с учениками плыли на лодке. Там ученики начали искать себе еду. Искали-искали, и оказалось, что они забыли еду на берегу. Отыскался только один кусок хлеба. Ученики стали спрашивать друг друга: «Что же мы будем есть?»
Иисус сказал ученикам:
— Если в тесто положить немного дрожжей, то все тесто вспухнет. Вот так же, как эти дрожжи, — фарисеи и царь Ирод. Они не верят в Меня. Остерегайтесь их!
Ученики продолжали недоумевать: «Что же мы будем есть?»
Иисус понял, о чем они думают, и сказал им:
— Неужели до сих пор вы не понимаете? Почему говорите «Что мы будем есть?» Вы — словно слепые. Ведь у вас есть глаза, вы должны видеть. У вас есть уши, вы должны слышать. Помните, когда я накормил пять тысяч человек, хлебов всего было пять. А все наелись досыта. Сколько корзин недоеденных кусков вы собрали?
Ученики ответили: «Двенадцать».
Иисус продолжал:
— А когда было четыре тысячи человек, и я разделил между ними семь хлебов, и все наелись досыта. А потом вы собирали недоеденные куски в корзины. Сколько корзин вы собрали?
Ученики ответили: «Семь корзин»
Иисус сказал:
— Зачем же вы сейчас беспокоитесь о хлебе? Неужели вы до сих пор не понимаете меня?
Back-translation by Luka Manevich
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Mark 8:22-26 in Russian Sign Language >>
Mark 8:10b - 21 in Mexican Sign Language
Following is the translation of Mark 8:10b-21 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath:
© La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
El barco llegó en el lugar Dalmanuta. Jesús salió del barco y vino un grupo de Fariseos. Dijeron: “Una prueba, haz un milagro, manda que el cielo se transforme. Nosotros lo queremos ver en persona.”
Jesús dijo: “Todos uds siempre insisten que quieren ver que yo muestre algo, como prueba. ¿Porqué? No los voy a obedecer.” Y se fue caminando, entró el barco, y el barco se piró.
El barco estaba navigando y los discípulos habían olvidado a traer pan. Otro discípulo dijo: “Hay un pan”, y el barco estaba navigando.
Después Jesús miró alrededor y dijo: “Les advierto, ¡cuidado¡ Por ejemplo, una persona que está haciendo pan, pone un poco de levadura cuando está amasando y la masa sube. Esto es parecido a los Fariseos y al Rey Herodes.
Los discípulos se preguntaron: “¿Qué quiere decir, es porque no traímos pan?”
Jesús dijo: “¿Porqué están hablando de que no hay pan? No entienden, todavía no lo han descubierto. Son duros de mente.”
Tienen ojos pero son distraídos (no ponen atención), tienen oídos pero son distraídos.
¿No recuerdan que me veían recientemente con los cinco panes que rompí y repartí a los 5000 hombres para comer? Después ¿cuántas canastas llenas de sobras había?
Los discípulos: “Doce.”
Yo en otra ocasión recientemente con los siete panes que rompí y repartí a 4000 personas para comer. ¿Después cuántas canastas llenas de sobras había?
Los discípulos: “Siete.”
Jesús dijo: “¿Cómo es que todavía no entienden?”
The boat arrived in the place Dalmanuta. Jesus got out of the boat and a group of Pharisees came. They said: “A test, do a miracle, order the heavens to transform. We want to see it in person.”
Jesus said: “All you people always insist that you want to see me show something, as a test. Why? I will not obey you.” And he walked away and got into the boat and it left.
The boat was sailing and the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. Another disciples said: “There is one loaf of bread”, and the boat sailed on.
Then Jesus looked around and said: “I warn you, be careful! For example, a person who is making bread puts a little yeast in the dough when she is kneading and the dough rises. This is like the Pharisees and King Herod.
The disciples wondered: “What does it mean, is it because we did not bring bread?”
Jesus said: “Why are you talking about there not being any bread? You don’t understand, you still haven’t got it. You are hardheaded.
“You have eyes but you are distracted (you don’t pay attention), you have ears but you are distracted.
“You don’t remember when you saw me just before breaking the five loaves of bread and handing them out to 5000 men to eat? Then how many baskets full of leftovers were there?”
The disciples: “Twelve.”
And on another recent occasion with the seven loaves of bread that I broke and handed out to 4000 people to eat. Afterwards how many baskets full of leftovers were there?
The disciples: “Seven.”
Jesus said: “How is it that you still don’t understand?”
Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios
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Mark 8:22-26 in Mexican Sign Language >>
complete verse (Mark 8:14)
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 8:14:
- Uma: “On their journey, Yesus’ disciples didn’t remember to take a food-bundle, there was only one [loaf of] bread in the boat.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “The disciples of Isa had not remembered to take food with them. They had only one bread in the boat.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The disciples forgot to bring their supply of bread, and there was only one piece of bread among them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Now (new development particle) his disciples had forgotten to take-along bread for their pack-lunch. Only-one bread was what was in the boat.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “Jesus and company were now sailing crossing over but well, the disciples had forgotten to take along a lot of bread. They only had one bread for their bit-of-provisisons.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Translation commentary on Mark 8:14
Exegesis:
epelathonto (only here in Mark; cf. lanthanō 7.24) ‘they forgot’: the context requires that this aorist be understood as a past perfect, i.e. ‘they had forgotten (when they set out on the crossing).’
kai ei mē hena arton ouch eichon meth’ heautōn en tō ploiō literally ‘and except for one loaf they didn’t have (anything) with them in the boat.’
Translation:
It is frequently necessary to translate they by ‘disciples’ since the immediately preceding ‘they’ must refer to the Pharisees who were left standing there by Jesus.
Had forgotten usually presents no special difficulties, for the concept of forgetting is common enough in all languages. However, some of the idioms used are of interest, e.g. ‘to lose from the heart’ (Tzeltal), ‘to lose from the liver’ (Miskito), and ‘his insides died’ (Laka).
A literal translation may imply a contradiction. This is treated in some instances as ‘forgotten to bring enough bread; they had only one loaf’ or ‘they had forgotten to bring bread, except for the one loaf which they had with them in the boat.’ However, any minor discrepancy in wording is immediately evident in the following clause, which does not essentially contradict the preceding. The meaning is that they had not procured bread especially for the trip, but they happened to have a loaf with them in the boat.
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 8:14
Section 8:14–21
Jesus warned his disciples about the Pharisees and Herod
In the previous story, the Pharisees again showed that they did not believe in Jesus. In this story, Jesus warned his disciples about them and about King Herod. He told the disciples to be careful about their “leaven,” or “yeast.” Yeast is a substance that spreads throughout bread dough and causes it to rise.
In this story Jesus used yeast as a metaphor, but the disciples thought he referred to literal yeast. The Jews often spoke of yeast as a figure of speech to refer to any influence that spread rapidly. In this context it is clear that the ways that the Pharisees and King Herod influenced people were harmful. Other Gospels make two of these ways explicit:
(a) In Luke 12:1, the yeast of the Pharisees was hypocrisy.
(b) In Matthew 16:12 the yeast of the Pharisees was their teaching.
In this context the “yeast” of the Pharisees may have been their stubborn refusal to believe in him. The Pharisees had asked Jesus for a sign from God in order to discredit him. Herod also had refused to believe John the Baptist and had ordered his soldiers to kill him. Jesus warned his disciples that they should not be like the Pharisees and King Herod, who did not understand who he was, or believe in him.
It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Beware of the attitudes of the Pharisees and Herod that spread like yeast
-or-
The yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
-or-
The disciples did not yet understand what Jesus’ miracles showed about him
There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 16:5–11. Luke 12:1 also contains a reference to the yeast of the Pharisees.
Paragraph 8:14–16
8:14a
Now: In Greek, this verse begins with the common conjunction that is often translated as “and.” In this context, it introduces background information for the conversation in 8:15–21. The Berean Standard Bible translates the conjunction as Now because that is a common way to introduce background information in English. Some English versions do not use a connector here. Use a natural way in your language to introduce background information at the beginning of a new section. In some languages it may be helpful to repeat the information from 8:13b that they were crossing the lake:
They were crossing the lake. The disciples had forgotten to bring bread…
the disciples: See how you translated this term at 2:15b and 8:1c. See also disciple in the Glossary for more information.
had forgotten to take bread: The disciples apparently had forgotten to bring enough bread for their trip when they got back into the boat in 8:13.
bread: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as bread can also refer to food in general. In this context, it refers specifically to bread. Later in the story this will be important, since Jesus refers to yeast, which is used to make bread. See how you translated bread in 8:4b–c.
8:14b
except for one loaf: The word loaf refers to a single large unit or piece of bread. There was one loaf of bread in the boat when they arrived at the region of Dalmanutha in 8:10.
See how you translated “loaves” in 8:5a and 6:38.
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