Translation commentary on Mark 8:32

Exegesis:

parrēsia (only here in Mark) ‘freely,’ ‘boldly,’ ‘confidently’ (Moulton & Michigan); ‘frankly,’ ‘plainly,’ ‘concealing nothing.’

proslabomenos (only here in Mark) ‘taking aside.’

epitiman (cf. 1.25) ‘to reprove,’ ‘to rebuke,’ ‘to censure.’ In this verse and the next one, this meaning seems preferable to Translator’s New Testament ‘check.’

Translation:

Rebuke in this passage is not easy to translate. In some languages the term used means ‘to scold,’ which is relatively close to the original. On the other hand, some languages require a form of direct discourse, ‘he said, This should not be.’ Peter was not specifically commanding Jesus to quit talking in this way, so much as condemning his thinking and planning such a course of action as would lead to this result. If this meaning can be conveyed by a rendering such as ‘said to him, Don’t talk this way,’ a relatively close equivalent of the Greek will have been found.

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 8:32

8:32a

He spoke this message quite frankly: This phrase means that Jesus clearly told his disciples that he would suffer, die, and live again. He also clearly said that those things must happen. He concealed nothing but spoke boldly about it.

8:32b

and: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and here introduces what Peter did in response to what Jesus had said. The Good News Bible has “So” to indicate this. In some languages a different connector may be more appropriate. For example:

When Peter heard this…
-or-
But Peter…

Connect this part of the verse to the preceding one in a natural way in your language.

Peter took Him aside: Peter wanted to correct Jesus privately, so he led him a short distance away from the other disciples.

8:32c

began to rebuke Him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rebuke means “scold” or “reproach.” Peter reproached Jesus because of what Jesus had said. Peter did not want the Messiah to suffer and die, so he told Jesus not to say these things about himself. See how you translated “rebuke” in 1:25 and “warned them sternly” in 3:12, where Jesus rebukes evil spirits.

You may want to include a footnote here about what the Jews expected their Messiah to be like. For example:

The Jews expected their Messiah to be a great king who would defeat all their enemies. They did not expect him to suffer and die.

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