Exegesis:

prosepheron (cf. 2.4) ‘they were bringing to’: another example of the impersonal plural, ‘people were bringing.’

paidia ‘children’: these are not necessarily infants, babes in arms (Luke 18.15 uses brephē ‘infants’). As Lagrange points out the term includes children from the age of eight days to twelve years (cf. Mk. 5.39 ff. where it is used of the twelve year old daughter of Jairus).

hina autōn hapsētai ‘that he might touch them.’

haptomai (cf. 1.41) ‘touch’: here the equivalent of epitithenai tas cheiras ‘lay hands upon,’ with the purpose, of course, of blessing.

epetimēsan (cf. 1.25) ‘they rebuked,’ ‘reproved’ (so most translations); Moffatt and Translator’s New Testament, however, ‘checked.’

autois ‘them’ i.e. the people who were bringing the children.

Translation:

Bringing had better be interpreted in the sense of ‘leading,’ rather than ‘carrying,’ where languages make such a distinction.

Touch may require some further specification in some languages, e.g. ‘touch with the hand.’

Rebuked may be translated as ‘told them not to do so,’ or in instances where a clear reference to the people is required, ‘the disciples told the people who were leading the children, Don’t do that.’

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 .