Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“say”)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Mark 12:35

Exegesis:

didaskōn ‘teaching’: the participle is probably temporal, ‘while he was teaching.’ It is to be noticed that the text does not say that Jesus was addressing the scribes: it is to be inferred that he was speaking to a group of people (whether there were scribes present or not is of no moment).

hoi grammateis (cf. 1.22) ‘the scribes,’ ‘the teachers of the Law.’

ho christos (cf. 8.29) ‘the Christ’: a title, ‘The Anointed One,’ and not a proper name.

huios Dauid (cf. 10.47) ‘son of David,’ ‘descendant of David,’ ‘David’s offspring.’ As a Messianic title, ‘son of David’ indicated that the Messiah would be of the lineage of David.

Inasmuch as a faulty interpretation may influence the translation of this incident, it is well to notice that Jesus, in raising the question and quoting Ps. 110.1, is not denying the fact that the Messiah, indeed, would be a descendant of David (as attested in many passages in the O.T.). Implicit in the title ‘son of David,’ however, was the concept that the Messiah would be somewhat less than David, or, at the most, one like unto David: so Jesus says, in effect, “not only David’s son, but David’s Lord” (Rawlinson). The purpose of the argument, as Taylor points out, “is not to deny the Davidic descent of the Messiah, but to suggest that a much higher view of his origin is necessary since David calls him ‘lord.’”

Translation:

For taught see 2.13, and for temple see 11.11.

A rendering of taught may require an object, since in many languages it is a transitive verb, e.g. ‘taught the people.’

For scribes see 1.22.

Son must in some instances be rendered ‘descendant’ or ‘offspring.’ In certain languages one must use ‘grandson’ so as to avoid the interpretation that the Christ was to be regarded as the immediate biological son of David.

The basic problem with this verse, however, as suggested above, is that the form would seem to deny the fact that Jesus was the offspring of David. To avoid this implication, which may be much stronger in some languages than in Greek or English, one may be obliged to insert ‘merely’ or ‘just,’ e.g. ‘the Christ is just the son of David,’ implying inferiority of status.

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 12:35

Section 12:35–37

The Christ is greater than King David

In this section Jesus was still teaching in the courtyard of the temple. Many people listened to him there. When he taught, he asked them about the Christ (Messiah) and his relationship to King David. Jesus asked this because he wanted the people to think about two things that the Scriptures say about the Messiah:

(a) The Scriptures prophesied that the Messiah (Christ) would be a descendant of King David.

(b) In the Scriptures King David called the Messiah “Lord.” This showed that the Messiah would be much greater than King David.

To Jewish people, it was difficult to explain how these two things could agree. They thought that an ancestor must be greater than his descendant. Jesus wanted them to know that the Messiah would be much greater than the earthly ruler that they expected him to be. He would be greater than David. The Messiah would be a descendant of David and would be a great ruler, but he would also share the throne of God.

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

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Question about the Messiah (Good News Bible)
-or-
Whose Son Is the Christ? (English Standard Version)

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 22:41–46 and Luke 20:41–44.

Paragraph 12:35–37

12:35a

While: This verse is the beginning of a new section. The events of this section probably happened soon after the events of the preceding section. In 11:27 Mark mentioned that Jesus was in the temple courts. In this section he was still teaching people there. Introduce the section in a natural way in your language.

Jesus was teaching: In 12:37 Mark indicated that a large crowd was listening to Jesus. Jesus was teaching them about God. In some languages it may be necessary to say whom Jesus was teaching and what he was teaching them. For example:

Jesus was teaching God’s word to people

temple courts: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as temple courts is literally “temple,” as in most English versions. The temple consisted of the temple building itself and the walls and courtyards that surrounded it. Here “temple” refers specifically to the courtyard. People did not meet inside the temple building because only the priests could enter it.

Some English versions have made this clear by translating “temple” as temple courts (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, NET Bible) or “temple courtyard” (God’s Word). You may want to do this also if your word for “temple” would imply that Jesus and the crowd were inside the temple building.

Here are some other ways to translate the term temple courts:

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

courtyard of the house of God
-or-
courtyard of the house of sacrifice
-or-
holy/sacred house courtyard

• If your language has a word for “temple,” you could use it here. But you may need to modify it by saying something like:

courtyard of the temple of the Jews/Lord
-or-
big/great temple courtyard

See how you translated this word in 11:16. See temple, Meaning 1, in the Glossary for more information about the temple and how to translate it.

12:35b–c

How can the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?: Jesus asked this question in order to encourage the people who were listening to him to think carefully about who the Messiah was. (It was not difficult for any Jew to understand that the Messiah was (or was to be) a descendant of King David. What was difficult was to be able to understand how David could refer to his own descendant as his Lord.) He wanted them to realize that the Messiah was even greater than they thought.

Here are some other ways to translate this question:

What do you understand the experts in the law to mean when they teach that the Christ is David’s son?
-or-
The teachers of the law say that the Messiah is David’s son. What do they mean when they say that?

Jesus wanted people to think about how this related to another Scripture that he quoted in 12:36b–d. Translate the question so that it will connect well with that verse also. For example:

The reason I ask this question is because David himself…

12:35b

He asked: Jesus asked the people who were listening to him. In some languages it may be necessary to make that explicit.

the scribes: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as scribes refers to men who studied, interpreted, and taught the law of Moses. These men are called scribes because their original work was to copy the laws of Moses by hand. In New Testament times, this was no longer their main task. This word is sometimes translated as “teachers of the law,” as in the New International Version.

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

teachers of the Law of Moses (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
teachers of religious law (New Living Translation)
-or-
experts on the law

See teacher of the law in the Glossary.

say: In this context the verb say refers to something that the scribes taught people about the Christ. They said it often in their teaching.

12:35c

the Christ: The Jews used the title Christ to refer to the special person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior. The title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” and the two words have the same meaning.

Here are some other ways to translate Christ:

• Transliterate it according to the sounds of your language. For example:

Krais
-or-
Karisiti

• Transliterate it and indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:

the Christ
-or-
the Kirisita

• Transliterate Christ and include a phrase that explains the meaning. For example:

Christ, the appointed one
-or-
Cristo, the savior God promised
-or-
the Christ who comes from God

If you do not indicate the meaning of Christ in the text, you may want to include a footnote. For example:

The word/title “Christ” refers to the King and Savior whom God had promised to send.

See how you translated the word Christ in 1:1. See also Christ in the Glossary.

Son of David: The phrase Son of David is another title for the Messiah. It refers to the Messiah as a descendant of King David. The word Son here means “descendant.” It does not mean that the Messiah would be David’s own son. David had been the king of Israel a thousand years before Jesus lived on earth. The Good News Bible makes this clear by translating the phrase as:

the descendant of David

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