Exegesis:
ho de ‘but he’: the leper, that is, not Jesus. Some, indeed, in view of kērussein … ton logon ‘proclaim … the word’ (on which, see below) have concluded that Jesus is meant; as Kilpatrick points out, however, ho de in Mark always implies a change of subject.
exelthōn ‘went out’: probably, of the house (cf. exebalen ‘drove out’ in v. 43).
ērxato kērussein … kai diaphēmizein ‘began to proclaim … and spread abroad.’
ērxato ‘he began’: as an auxiliary this verb occurs some 26 times in Mark. There is general agreement that this use of the verb reflects Semitic speech patterns and, with some exceptions (8.31; 10.47; 14.19, 33; 15.8), is actually redundant, so far as meaning is concerned.
kērussein (cf. v. 4) ‘proclaim,’ ‘preach.’
diaphēmizein (only here in Mark) ‘spread widely,’ ‘disseminate.’
polla ‘much’: the word is adverbial, modifying kērussein ‘proclaim,’ not adjectival ‘many things.’
ton logon (21 times in Mark) literally ‘the word.’ The expression is variously translated: “news” (Revised Standard Version, The Modern Speech New Testament, Moffatt), “matter” (American Standard Version, Abbott-Smith, Zürcher Bibel die Sache, Lagrange la chose), “story” (Manson, Taylor, Knox), “report” (Berkeley); Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale le fait; O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada a noticia; Swete “the tale.” Kilpatrick, in a study of the word in Mark, finds that the eleven times the word appears in chapters 1-4 the meaning is “the (Christian) Message,” and concludes that in this passage what is meant is that the man proclaimed the cure not simply as an isolated event but as proof of the Messiahship of Jesus. Translator’s New Testament accordingly translates “the Word.” Whether or not this theological meaning is carried by the expression, Mark certainly means to say that the man told to one and all his cure at the hands of Jesus.
dunasthai … eiselthein ‘(be) able … to enter’: Turner’s study of the verb dunamai in Mark concludes that in many cases the meaning of the verb is weakened in Mark and it becomes almost an auxiliary, meaning ‘can,’ ‘could,’ or ‘may,’ ‘might.’ This passage is an example of this weakened sense, and the verb is properly translated ‘could (not)’ (most translations).
eis polin eiselthein ‘enter a (any) town’: the sense is indefinite. In English the word “town” is a better translation than “city” (American Standard Version, Manson, Translator’s New Testament, Knox).
erēmois topois ‘solitary places,’ ‘lonely places’ (cf. v. 35) here means in contrast with polin ‘town,’ ‘country’ (Revised Standard Version) or ‘open country’ (Manson).
ērchonto ‘they were coming’ is another example of the impersonal plural (cf. vv. 30, 32), and the imperfect indicates a continued process ‘people kept coming’ (cf. v. 32).
Translation:
Went out whether of the town or a house, is not clear, but in some languages the distinction must be made. Where there is no evidence, as in this case, for or against either choice, either may be selected, though perhaps ‘house’ fits the context a little more satisfactorily. One must make certain, however, that ‘he’ refers to the healed man, not to Jesus, which is the subject of the preceding two verses, and is likely to be interpreted as the subject of v. 45, unless clearly indicated to the contrary.
Began to talk freely is ‘to tell everyone’ (or ‘many’). Actually this is the verb translated elsewhere as ‘to preach,’ but its basic meaning is ‘to deliver (or proclaim) a message.’
The precise nature of the news we do not know (see above), but it would certainly not be wrong to translate this entire phrase as ‘he kept telling more people about what had happened.’ In Shilluk the idiom for this type of process is ‘to visit about it from one to another’ and in Puebla Aztec one may say ‘to let it drop out of his mouth much.’
So that is in a sense an ambiguous phrase, for though it often refers to purpose, in this instance the meaning is, of course, result. Where necessary a clause introduced by so that may be separated from the preceding by a transitional expression, e.g. ‘because of this Jesus could not….’
A frequent equivalent of openly is ‘when people were looking’ (Southern Bobo Madaré, Amganad Ifugao).
In the country does not mean the wilderness, as in Judaea, but only out in the country where there were no habitations.
In the last clause an indefinite subject ‘people’ must very frequently be introduced.
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 .