Translation commentary on Mark 11:14

Exegesis:

apokritheis eipen (cf. 3.33) ‘he said’: a literal translation ‘he answered and said’ (King James Version, American Standard Version) is highly incongruous (yet cf. Swete’s ingenious interpretation).

Notice the emphatic form of the statement, which Moule calls “most vehemently prohibitive”: mēketi ‘no longer,’ eis tōn aiōna ‘eternally,’ ‘forever’ (cf. 3.29), mēdeis ‘no one.’

phagoi ‘may eat’: the optative is used for command (here, of course, a prohibition).

Translation:

May no one ever eat is a special form of utterance which has parallels in some languages in a simple future ‘no one will ever’ or with a somewhat more emphatic introductory expression ‘it will be very so that no one will ever.’ The form is that of a curse upon the fig tree.

Heard it is translatable in some languages ‘heard what he said.’

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 11:14

11:14a

Then He said to the tree: Jesus spoke directly to the fig tree. This is unusual, so you may need to make it clear that he was speaking to the tree. He was not speaking to the people who were with him. For example:

And he addressed the fig tree (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Then he spoke to the tree and said, “Tree…”

May no one ever eat of your fruit again: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as May no one ever eat of your fruit again means that the tree would never again produce fruit. It does not mean that the tree would produce fruit but no one would be able to eat it. One way to make this clear is to say:

May no one eat figs from you again. You shall never again produce fruit!

Jesus pronounced judgment on the fig tree. He did not ask or wish that it not bear fruit. He commanded it never to bear fruit again. He was making a very strong statement. The result was that the fig tree died (11:20). You may need to translate the command as a statement, as in the Good News Bible:

No one shall ever eat figs from you again!

It may be clearer in your language to use an indirect quote here. For example:

So he commanded that the tree never again bear any fruit.

11:14b

And His disciples heard this statement: Jesus’ disciples were close enough to hear what Jesus said to the fig tree. Be careful not to translate this in a way that means that Jesus said it to them.

This statement is important for connecting this with the rest of the story about the fig tree in 11:20.

disciples: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as disciples means “learners” who are in a special relationship with a teacher. The learners commit themselves to their teacher in order to learn from him and live according to his teaching and example. Disciples often lived with their teacher and followed him wherever he went.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

students/learners
-or-
apprentices
-or-
followers

See how you translated this term at 2:15b and 11:1c.

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