Scriptures Plain & Simple (Mark 12:13-17)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Mark 12:13-17:

Some theologians and politicians got together
and sent a committee to trick Jesus
       into making a false statement.

“Teacher,” they said, “you’re absolutely honest,
you don’t show favoritism,
       and you’re straight forward about God’s demands.
One small matter: Should we pay taxes to the government?”

Jesus knew what they were up to, so he replied
“Don’t try to play power politics with me!
       Show me a coin of the state.”

They handed him a coin, and he asked,
“Whose face is on this coin?
       What are these buildings?”
“It’s the face of our ruler,” they answered,
       “and our national headquarters.”

“Then pay the government what you owe,” said Jesus,
       “and give God what belongs to God.”

The entire committee stood there amazed.

Translation commentary on Mark 12:13

Exegesis:

apostellousin is probably impersonal ‘they send,’ i.e. ‘(some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians) were sent.’ It is not likely that the subject of the verb is the ‘they’ of the previous verse (which, in the Marcan context, goes back to ‘them’ in 12.1 and eventually to ‘the chief priests and the scribes and the elders’ in 11.27).

agreusōsin (only here in the N.T.) ‘they may catch,’ ‘they may take’: used in the papyri (cf. Moulton & Milligan) literally of hunting and fishing.

logō ‘in a word,’ ‘by means of a statement.’

Translation:

Herodians are ‘the henchmen of Herod’ or ‘the followers of Herod.’

To entrap him in his talk has been idiomatically rendered in Shipibo-Conibo as ‘having headed him off to catch him’ (a metaphorical expression derived from the practice of tracking down animals). In Copainalá Zoque this same expression is rendered ‘to cause him to fall because of his words’ and in Tzotzil one may say ‘to catch him because of 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 12:13

Section 12:13–17

Jewish leaders tried to trick Jesus with a question about paying taxes

The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders mentioned in 11:27 sent men to trick Jesus. They tried to trap him into saying something that they could use to cause trouble for him. The leaders sent men from two different groups, the Pharisees and the Herodians. These groups had plotted together against Jesus before in 3:6.

The men asked Jesus, “Should the Jews pay taxes to the Roman Emperor Caesar or not?” The word “Caesar” was the title that the Roman people gave to their highest ruler, the emperor. (The Romans worshipped their emperor as a god.) The Romans ruled the Jews and forced them to pay taxes. Although the Herodians and the Pharisees agreed to oppose Jesus, they disagreed about whether a person should pay taxes to the Roman emperor. The Herodians wanted the Romans to continue to rule the Jews, so they supported paying taxes. The Pharisees did not want the Romans to rule, and they were against paying taxes to them.

The men’s question was difficult because either a “yes” or a “no” answer would cause problems for Jesus. If Jesus answered, “Yes, the Jews should pay taxes to the Romans,” he would displease the Jews. If he answered, “No, they should not pay,” he would displease the Roman government. But Jesus answered wisely and avoided the trap that the Jewish leaders had set for him.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Paying Taxes to Caesar (English Standard Version)
-or-
The Question about Paying Taxes (Good News Bible)
-or-
Jewish leaders ask Jesus about paying taxes

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 22:15–22 and Luke 20:20–26.

Paragraph 12:13–17

12:13a

Later: This verse is the beginning of a new story. The events in this story happened sometime after the events in the preceding section. The Berean Standard Bible introduces this story with the word Later. The Greek text does not indicate how much time passed between these two stories.

If it is natural in your language to begin a story with a time word or phrase, use an expression that is not too specific. For example:

Then
-or-
After that
-or-
Next (New Jerusalem Bible)

In some languages, a time word or phrase is not necessary. Introduce this story in a natural way in your language.

they sent some: The word they refers to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, who were mentioned in 11:27. In this context the phrase they sent some indicates that they told people to go to Jesus for a particular purpose.

Pharisees: The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group or party. It was very important to them to obey all of the Jewish religious laws very carefully and in detail. Here are some ways to translate this word:

• Transliterate the word Pharisees according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to people. For example:

Farisi members
-or-
Parise adherents

• Transliterate the word Pharisees and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:

people belonging to the Farise religious sect/group
-or-
members of the religious group called the Farasi

You may also want to include an explanation of Pharisees in the glossary of your translation.

Herodians: The Herodians were a political group that supported a ruler whose name was Herod. The New Testament often refers to Herod as a king, but he functioned more as a governor than as a king. The Roman government appointed him.

The Herodians were against Jesus because they were afraid that Jesus might defeat Herod and become the ruler himself. See the note on Herodians in 3:6b.

12:13b

to catch Jesus in His words: This phrase expresses the purpose for which the Jewish leaders sent the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus. They wanted to trick Jesus into saying something that would make either the Roman authorities or the Jewish people angry. Then the Jewish leaders would have an excuse to arrest him.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

to trick Jesus into saying something wrong (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
to try to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
-or-
to trap him with questions (Good News Bible)

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