sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 11:23

Text:

At the end of the verse Textus Receptus adds ho ean eipē ‘whatever he may say,’ which is omitted by all modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

arthēti kai blēthēti ‘you be taken up and cast’: although passive in form, these two verbs probably have the force of middles: ‘take and throw yourself’ (so most English translations; cf. also Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale, O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada, Zürcher Bibel).

eis tēn thalassan ‘into the sea.’

kai mē diakrithē (only here in Mark) ‘and he should not doubt’: the verb in the New Testament means ‘to become undecided,’ ‘to waver,’ ‘to vacillate.’

hoti ho lalei ginetai ‘that what he says comes to pass’: ginetai is used here with a futuristic force, ‘will come to pass,’ ‘will happen.’

estai autō ‘it shall be to him,’ i.e. what he says shall be done for him, shall be granted him (The Modern Speech New Testament).

Translation:

For truly in this type of construction see 8.12.

Whoever says … it will be done for him must in many instances be adapted to a conditional construction, involving ‘if,’ e.g. ‘if anyone says … it will be done for him.’

Part of the syntactic problem in this verse is the fact that so many clauses intervene between the principal condition (the clause introduced by whoever) and the final result it will be done for him. These intervening clauses are complex because of (1) the direct discourse, with its own subject, (2) the negative-positive contrast does not doubt … but believes, and (3) the involved indirect discourse believes that what he says will come to pass. This type of complexity necessitates in some languages a division of the sentence into several basic units and with a somewhat altered order, e.g. ‘if a man says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, this will be done for him, provided he does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen,’ or ‘if anyone says to this mountain, Be removed from here and be thrown into the sea, this is just what will be done for him; it will happen for him only if he does not doubt in his heart; he must believe that what he says will come to pass.’ This last alternative is a typical paratactically combined series of sentences which convey essentially the same meaning as the hypotactically arranged group in the Greek construction.

Be taken up and cast into the sea, as noted above, may be taken in the reflexive sense, e.g. ‘get up and throw yourself into the sea’ or ‘remove yourself from here and hurl yourself into the sea.’ The reflexive is a much easier and often more meaningful form of expression than the passive.

Though doubt is usually a much easier term to translate than faith or believe, it is represented by a variety of idiomatic renderings, and in the majority of instances the concept of duality is present, e.g. ‘to make his heart two’ (Kekchi), ‘to be with two hearts’ (Punu), ‘to stand two’ (Sierra de Juárez Zapotec), ‘to be two’ or ‘to have two minds’ (Navajo), ‘to think something else’ (Tabasco Chontal), ‘to think two different things’ (Shipibo-Conibo), and ‘to have two thoughts’ (Yaka). In some languages, however, doubt is expressed without reference to the concept of ‘two’ or ‘otherness,’ e.g. ‘to have whirling words in one’s heart’ (Chol), ‘his thoughts are not on it’ (Baoule), ‘to have a hard heart’ (Piro), and ‘to repeatedly spread out in order,’ implying the process of arranging and rearranging of material as one wavers back and forth over varying possibilities (Chokwe).

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 11:23

11:23a

Truly I tell you:

There is a textual issue at the beginning of 11:23. Some Greek manuscripts begin this verse with a conjunction that is often translated as “For” or “Because.” (1) Most English versions follow the Greek manuscripts that
do not include this conjunction. For example, the Revised Standard Version says: “Truly, I say to you” (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Bible, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, English Standard Version, NET Bible, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation, Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Century Version). (2) The King James Version follows the Greek manuscripts that include the conjunction For. For example: “For verily I say unto you,” (King James Version). It is recommended that you follow option (1) and the manuscripts that do not include this conjunction.) Jesus often used the words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Truly I tell you to begin a statement that he wanted to emphasize. It indicates that the statement was important and totally reliable, and that people should listen carefully to it. Jesus used this phrase eight times in Mark. Here it introduces Jesus’ assurance that God will answer prayer.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

I tell you the truth (New Living Translation)
-or-
I assure you (Good News Bible)
-or-
I can guarantee this truth (God’s Word)

Be careful that the way you translate the expression Truly I tell you does not imply that other times Jesus did not tell the truth.

See how you translated this phrase in 10:15a.

11:23b–c

Jesus used the idea of commanding a mountain to throw itself into the sea as an example of something that seems impossible. It seemed impossible that a fig tree would dry up at a person’s command. It seemed even more impossible that a mountain would throw itself into the sea at a person’s command.

if anyone says to this mountain: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as if anyone says is literally “whoever says” (as in the Revised Standard Version). Use an expression that can refer to anyone. One way to do this in English is to use the word “you” here. For example, the New Century Version says:

you can say to this mountain

to this mountain: The phrase this mountain refers to a mountain that Jesus and his disciples could see. Jesus may have been referring to the Mount of Olives where they were standing.

Be lifted up and thrown into the sea: This is a command that is addressed directly to the mountain, as though the mountain were a person that could hear and obey. It is like the command that Jesus gave to the fig tree in 11:14. But Jesus did not actually command a mountain to throw itself into the sea. He gave an example of what a person could say.

In some languages, it may be more natural to use indirect speech here. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

you can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea

Be lifted up and thrown: There are two commands here: Be lifted up and thrown. The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Be lifted up is literally “be taken away.”

Here are some other ways to express these commands:

Be pulled up and thrown (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Go, throw yourself (New International Version)

11:23d–e

and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen: In 11:23d–e, Jesus used two expressions that have a similar meaning. One is a negative expression and the other is a positive expression:

(a) He must not doubt in his heart, but

(b) he must believe that it will happen.

Be careful to use a form in your language that shows that these two conditions are parallel and similar in meaning. They are necessary conditions that a person must fulfill before the mountain will obey his command.

11:23d

has no doubt: The word doubt indicates that a person is uncertain or wavers in his belief. He is not convinced that a certain thing will happen. He questions it in his mind.

Here are some other ways to translate has no doubt:

does not question whether it will happen
-or-
does not worry that it may not happen
-or-
does not think, “This may not really happen”

in his heart: In the New Testament, the word heart refers figuratively to the part of a person that makes him able to think and feel. It includes the mind, will, and emotions. In some languages people refer to this part of a person as the mind, throat, liver, or stomach. You should use whichever word or phrase is natural in your language.

Here are some other ways to translate in his heart:

inwardly
-or-
in your mind (New Century Version)

See how you translated the word heart in 7:19a.

In this context it may be more natural in some languages to make implicit the phrase in his heart. It may already be implied by the word doubt. For example:

and has no uncertainty
-or-
doesn’t doubt (God’s Word)

11:23e

but believes that it will happen: The verb believes here means that a person has confidence that God can and will do what the person trusts him to do. The person has confidence the God can and will act, even in extraordinary ways, in response to his need. In this context the person should believe that the mountain would get up and throw itself into the sea at his command.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

believes/trusts that it will happen
-or-
has confidence in God that he will cause what he said to happen

See how you translated the word “believes” in 9:23a–b. See also believe, Meaning 3, in the Glossary.

that it will happen: The word it refers to the command to the mountain “Go, throw yourself into the sea” in 11:23c.

11:23f

it will be done for him:

There is a textual issue at the end of 11:23. Some Greek manuscripts have the clause “whatever he says” at the end of 11:23. (1) Most English versions follow the Greek manuscripts that
do not include this clause. For example, the Good News Bible says: “it will be done for him” (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Bible, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, English Standard Version, God’s Word, New Living Translation, Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Century Version). (2) The King James Version follows the Greek manuscripts that include the clause whatever he says. For example: “he shall have whatsoever he saith” (King James Version). It is recommended that you follow option (1) and the manuscripts that do not include this clause.) The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as it will be done for him is literally “it will be for him.” In some languages it is possible to express this as:

it will happen/occur for him
-or-
it will be so for his sake

In other languages, the meaning can be expressed with a passive clause, as in the Berean Standard Bible. If you need to express this as an active clause, you can say:

God will cause it to be so for his sake.
-or-
God will make it happen for him.

it will be done: The clause it will be done is the result of the conditions in 11:23d–e being met. In other words:

23d

if the person who commands the mountain to throw itself into the sea does not doubt, and

23e

if he believes that what he commanded will happen,

23f

then it will happen.

If you use a word or expression such as “then” to introduce a result in your language, you should use that expression here.

it: The pronoun it refers to the thing that the person with faith commanded. If you need to express this more explicitly, you can say:

God will cause the mountain to throw itself into the sea for him.

General Comment on 11:23a–f

In Greek and in the Berean Standard Bible, 11:23 is a long sentence with many clauses. You will probably need to break it into shorter sentences in your translation. You may also need to change the order of the clauses to make the meaning clear. For example, the God’s Word says:

23aI can guarantee this truth: 23fThis is what will be done for 23dsomeone who doesn’t doubt 23ebut believes what he says will happen: 23bHe can say to this mountain, 23c“Be uprooted and thrown into the sea,” 23fand it will be done for him.

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