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complete verse (Mark 9:29)
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 9:29:
- Uma: “He said to them: ‘Evil-spirits like that cannot be expelled with any knowledge whatsoever, only with prayer.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “He said to them, ‘That kind of demon cannot be cast out by anything except only if asked of God.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus answered, he said, ‘That kind of demon cannot be driven away except by prayer, for there is no other way.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “‘An evil-spirit like that, it doesn’t leave if the one causing-it -to-leave doesn’t pray to God,’ said Jesus answering.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “Jesus replied, saying, ‘That kind of evil spirit can’t be driven out without perseverance/much-effort in prayer.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Translation commentary on Mark 9:29
Text:
After proseuchē ‘prayer’ Textus Receptus, Soden, Vogels, and Merk (in brackets) include kai nēsteia ‘and fasting,’ which is omitted by the majority of modern editions of the Greek text.
Exegesis:
genos (cf. 7.26) here ‘class,’ ‘kind’: ‘this kind’ probably refers to demons or unclean spirits considered as a whole, rather than to the particular kind of unclean spirit which possessed this boy.
exelthein (cf. 7.29) ‘go out,’ i.e. ‘be driven out,’ ‘be cast out.’
proseuchē (11.17) ‘in prayer,’ ‘by means of prayer’: this means prayer to God.
Translation:
This kind is an elliptical expression which may require some expansion in certain languages, either by the addition of the referent, e.g. ‘this kind of spirit’ (or ‘demon’), or by the shifting of the relationship of referent to qualifier, e.g. ‘demons like this one.’ In some languages there is no word indicating ‘type,’ ‘kind’ or ‘class’ which can be applied to such spirits, and hence one can use ‘this spirit’ or ‘a spirit like this one’ (Kekchi).
The passive construction must often be shifted to active, e.g. ‘you cannot cast out demons like this one except….’
For driven out see problems discussed under cast out, 1.34. In this instance it is usually possible to employ a causative, ‘to cause to come out,’ ‘to cause to go out’ or ‘to cause to leave.’
By anything but prayer must be altered if prayer is translatable only by a verb expression. In such instances the change is generally from an instrumental to a conditional expression ‘you cannot … if you do not pray.’ Though it would seem most natural for Jesus to reply using the second person plural, e.g. ‘you cannot … unless you…,’ in some languages truths which are generally applicable can only be expressed with the first person plural, ‘we cannot…, unless we…’ (Copainalá Zoque); cf. Toraja-Sa’dan ‘except then only when we pray.’
Fasting, which occurs in the Textus Receptus, and certain other derived translations, must not be rendered by a word meaning merely ‘to be hungry’ (see 2.18). In many languages one must indicate the purposeful abstinence from food, e.g. ‘to hold back from eating’ (South Bolivian Quechua).
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 .