Translation commentary on Mark 10:34

Exegesis:

empaixousin (15.20, 31) ‘they will ridicule,’ ‘they will make fun of,’ ‘they will mock.’

emptusousin (14.65; 15.19, cf. ptuō 7.33; 8.23) ‘they will spit on.’

mastigōsousin (only here in Mark; cf. mastix 3.10; 5.29, 34) ‘they will scourge,’ ‘they will flog’: here the verb refers to the whipping given those who were condemned to death (Latin verberatio).

The other words have already been dealt with: for apokteinō ‘kill’ cf. 3.4; meta treis hēmeras ‘after three days’ cf. 8.31; anastēnai ‘to rise (from the dead)’ cf. 8.31.

Translation:

They refers to the Gentiles.

In some languages the equivalent of and connecting a series of events is ‘then,’ e.g. ‘they will mock him; then they will spit on him; then they will….’

In some parts of the world spitting is regarded as a symbol of blessing, e.g. among the Shilluk. In this instance one must translate so that the people will understand that spitting among the people of ancient Palestine had a different meaning, e.g. ‘spit on him to show they hate him’ (or ‘despise him’).

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 10:34

10:34a

who will: The phrase who will introduces four things that the Gentiles would do to Jesus. The Gentiles would do these four things in order to punish Jesus after the Jewish leaders condemned him.

mock Him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as mock means “to ridicule someone (sometimes by imitating the person in a distorted way).” The Gentiles would try to humiliate or shame Jesus in order that other people would not respect him.

Him: The pronoun Him occurs four times in 10:34a. It refers to “the Son of Man” (10:33b). So Jesus was referring to himself when he used the word Him. You should translate it here the same way you translated it in 10:33d.

spit on Him: In Jewish culture, spitting on a person, especially in the face, was one of the worst ways to insult him. It implies that the person is completely worthless. If spitting on someone does not imply this in your culture, you may need to make this explicit. For example:

spit on him to shame him

10:34b

flog Him: The word flog means to beat with a whip. The Romans used a whip with leather thongs and a wooden handle. They tied sharp pieces of lead to the leather thongs. When they beat a man with this whip, it could badly cut his back with just a few strokes. They would do this to Jesus.

kill Him: The Romans would punish Jesus by killing him as though he were a criminal.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

put him to death
-or-
execute him

10:34c

And: Here, the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And is a simple connector. The Good News Bible translates it as “but,” because it is natural in English to indicate the contrast between “kill” in 10:34a and “rise” in 10:34b. Some English versions do not use a connector (see the New International Version). Connect 10:34a and 10:34b in a natural way in your language.

after three days: When the Jews counted time, they counted part of a day as a whole day. Jesus’ followers would bury him on the first day, and he would be in the grave during all of the second day. God would cause him to live again on the third day. In some languages it may be more natural to translate this as the New Century Version has done:

on the third day

He will rise again: The phrase He will rise again means “He will live again” or “He will come back to life.” Jesus was continuing to refer to himself as the Son of Man, and so in some languages it will be necessary to indicate that. For example:

I will live again.

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