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The Greek that is usually translated as “scribe” in English “were more than mere writers of the law. They were the trained interpreters of the law and expounders of tradition.”

Here are a number of its (back-) translations:

  • Yaka: “clerk in God’s house”
  • Amganad Ifugao: “man who wrote and taught in the synagogue”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “teaching-writer” (“an attempt to emphasize their dual function”)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “book-wise person”
  • San Blas Kuna: “one who knew the Jews’ ways”
  • Loma: “educated one”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “one knowing holy paper”
  • Central Mazahua: “writer of holy words”
  • Indonesian: “expert in the Torah”
  • Pamona: “man skilled in the ordinances” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Sinhala: “bearer-of-the-law”
  • Marathi: “one-learned-in-the-Scriptures”
  • Shona (1966): “expert of the law”
  • Balinese: “expert of the books of Torah”
  • Ekari: “one knowing paper/book”
  • Tboli: “one who taught the law God before caused Moses to write” (or “one who taught the law of Moses”) (source for this and 5 above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Noongar: Mammarapa-Warrinyang or “law man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Mairasi: “one who writes and explains Great Above One’s (=God’s) prohibitions” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Chichewa: “teacher of Laws” (source: Ernst Wendland)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “teachers of law”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “writer”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “person who teaches the law which Moses wrote”
  • Alekano: “man who knows wisdom” (source for this and four above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Saint Lucian Creole French: titcha lwa sé Jwif-la (“teacher of the law of the Jews”) (source: David Frank in Lexical Challenges in the St. Lucian Creole Bible Translation Project, 1998)
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “one who teaches the holy writings”
  • Atatláhuca Mixtec: “teacher of the words of the law”
  • Coatlán Mixe: “teacher of the religious law”
  • Lalana Chinantec: “one who is a teacher of the law which God gave to Moses back then”
  • Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “one who know well the law” (Source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Huixtán Tzotzil: “one who mistakenly thought he was teaching God’s commandments”(Huixtán Tzotzil frequently uses the verb -cuy to express “to mistakenly think something” from the point of view of the speaker; source: Marion M. Cowan in Notes on Translation 20/1966, pp. 6ff.)
  • Sumau: “law-knowing men” (source: this blog post by Todd Owen)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian” and in the 1964 translation by Helmut Riethmüller: “theologian of scriptures” (Schrifttheologe)
  • English translation by Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023): Covenant Code scholar

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “expert” and “law.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Scribe” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL , used with permission)

Mark 12:38 - 40 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 12:38-40 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath:


© La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)

Jesús y los Saduceos estaban platicando y un maestro de la ley lo vio (y pensó): ‘huy Jesús explica bien’ y lo acercó y dijo: “Si escoges un mandamiento, ¿cuál es lo más importante?”
Jesús los advertió: “Cuidado de los maestros de la ley, ellos tienen su ropa demasiado larga, les gusta caminar en la plaza y que todas las personas los respetan. Otra cosa: Adentro del templo no se sentan con las demás personas, no, siempre les gusta estar sentado primero enfrente de las demás personas.

Otra cosa es que en los banquetes no se sentan con las demás personas, no, siempre les gusta sentarse primero. Otra cosa es que cuando una viuda es dueña de una casa los maestros de la ley se la quitan.

Los maestros de la ley intencionalmente disimulan con oraciones largas, pero Dios les dará un castigo fuerte a estos.”


Jesus warned them: “Be careful of the teachers of the Law, they have overly long clothes, and they like to walk in the square and have everyone respect them. Another thing: Inside the temple they don’t sit with the other people, no, they always like to be seated first, in front of the other people.

“Another thing is that at banquets they do not sit with the other people, no, they always like to be seated first. Another thing is that when there are widows that own a house, the teachers of the Law take away their houses.

“The teachers of the Law intentionally dissemble with long prayers, but in the future God will send these a strong punishment.”

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

<< Mark 12:35-37 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 12:41-44 in Mexican Sign Language >>

Mark 12:38-40 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 12:38-40 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

Jesus continued teaching and said:

— Beware of the scribes! They love to dress in beautiful long robes, they love for people around them to notice them, to be respected, to bow to them when they meet. They also love to take the first row when they come to the synagogue, and they also take the most honorable places at feasts. And they also love to enter the houses of poor widows and take away all their property. They love to stand in front of everyone and pray long and volubly, so that everyone around can see how they pray. I tell you, they do all this on purpose. God will then severely punish them!

Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):

Иисус продолжал учить и еще сказал:

— Бойтесь книжников! Они любят одеваться в красивые длинные одежды, любят, чтобы люди вокруг их замечали, чтобы их почитали, при встрече кланялись им. Любят также, когда приходят в синагоги, занимать первый ряд, а также на пирах занимают самые почетные места. А еще они любят входить в дома бедных вдов и отнимать у них все их имущество. Они любят встать на виду у всех и долго, многословно молиться, чтобы все вокруг видели, как они молятся. Я говорю вам, все это они делают нарочно. Бог потом сурово покарает их!

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

<< Mark 12:35-37 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 12:41-44 in Russian Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 12:38)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 12:38:

  • Uma: “When Yesus taught the crowds he said to them: ‘You be careful, don’t you imitate the character of the religion teachers. They are happy to walk around using/wearing long shirts/clothes, and they are happy when people on the edge of the main-street bow to greet them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then while Isa was still teaching/preaching, he said, ‘Avoid/stay-away-from the teachers of the religious law. They like/are happy to walk-about dressed in long (robes) and they like/are happy to be greeted-touching-hands (sinalam) in the market-places.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And in his teaching he said, ‘Be on your guard so that you are not like the teachers of the law, for the only thing they like is walking around in long robes being honored by the people in the market.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus continued to teach and he said, ‘Beware of the teachers of the law, because they like to wear fine/beautiful robes so that they thus have a means-of-being-recognized and they also like those who see them to honor them saying, ‘Where are you (sing.) going, sir?’ when they go visiting in the marketplace.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus further said in that teaching of his, ‘Now,’ he said, ‘all of you be careful of the explainers of law, who love to walk about in long clothes which are the clothing of the great/important. And their pleasure is to be appropriately-greeted/acknowledged in places where there are many people.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

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

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 12:38

Exegesis:

en tē didachē autou ‘in his teaching,’ ‘while he was teaching’: didachē has here the active meaning of ‘act of teaching’ (cf. 1.22).

blepete apo (cf. 8.15) ‘watch out for,’ ‘be on the lookout against.’

tōn grammateōn tōn thelontōn ‘the scribes who like’: the participle thelontōn ‘liking’ having the article before it, is attributive, and so defines and particularizes the noun (‘the scribes’) it modifies. In essence Jesus is warning his disciples to watch out for those (particular) scribes who like to walk about, etc.: he is not, according to the wording of the text, accusing all scribes of ostentation and hypocrisy.

thelō (only here in participial form in Mark) ‘wish,’ ‘want’: here with the meaning ‘like.’

en stolais (cf. 16.5) ‘in robes’: here refers to a long flowing robe, the tallith, “denoting scholarship and piety.”

peripatein (cf. 2.9) ‘to walk,’ ‘to walk about.’

aspasmous (only here in Mark) ‘greetings,’ ‘formal salutations’ given them in their quality as religious leaders, including, perhaps, a low obsequious bow (cf. Lagrange). It is to be noticed that aspasmous is in the accusative case, the direct object of the participle thelontōn ‘liking.’

agorais (cf. 6.56) ‘market places,’ ‘town squares.’

Translation:

In his teaching (see 2.13) is often rendered as a verb expression, ‘as he taught’ or ‘when he was teaching,’ with ‘the people’ as object of ‘teaching’ if one must use a transitive verb requiring an object.

He or his may require the substitution of ‘Jesus.’

Long robes may be translated as ‘long clothes’ or ‘long coats’ (Navajo).

To have salutations usually requires a shift of subject expression, e.g. ‘they enjoy to have people greet them’ or ‘they like to have people give them a greeting.’ In Tzeltal this is rendered as ‘a strong greeting’ to indicate the obsequious nature of the salutation.

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 12:38

Section 12:38–40

Jesus warned the people about the teachers of the law

In this section Jesus continued to teach people in the temple courtyard. He warned the people about the teachers of the law (or “scribes”). He told them that the scribes were very proud. They wanted people to notice them and to admire and praise them. Jesus warned the people not to follow the bad example of these scribes or act the way they acted.

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

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus denounces the teachers of the law
-or-
Beware of the Scribes (English Standard Version)

There are parallel passages for Mark 12:38–40 in Matthew 23:1–8 and Luke 20:45–47.

Paragraph 12:38–40

12:38a

In His teaching Jesus also said: Jesus had been teaching the people. While he was teaching, he said what is in 12:38–40.

12:38b

Watch out for the scribes: Here Jesus warned the people to be careful not to follow the example of the scribes.

Here are some other ways to translate this warning:

Be careful not to act like the scribes.
-or-
Do not follow the example of the scribes.
-or-
Do not let the scribes deceive you.

Watch out: In this context the words Watch out imply that the scribes did or said things that could harm the people. If the people followed their example, they would not please God.

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.

See how you translated scribes in 12:35b.

See also teacher of the law in the Glossary.

12:38c

They like to walk around in long robes:

In Greek, this part of the verse does not begin a new sentence. It is literally “the ones desiring to walk about.” This has led to two interpretations: (1) This is a nonrestrictive clause. It describes the scribes as a group. This interpretation is followed by most versions and commentaries and in the notes. (2) This is a restrictive clause. Jesus was warning people about a particular group of the scribes, specifically, those who liked to walk around in flowing robes, etc. This interpretation is followed by the New American Standard Bible, New Jerusalem Bible and Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English. It is also supported by UBS Handbook (page 390) and others.
The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as long robes refers to fancy, expensive clothes. The scribes liked to wear these clothes to show how important they were. The text implies that they like to walk around so that many people could see them. If you must say where the scribes walked, you could supply “in public places” or “where people can see them.”

12:38d

to receive greetings: The scribes wanted people to greet them with respect and honor. In some languages it may be more natural to express the verb to receive greetings as a direct quote. For example:

for people to speak to them, saying, “Good morning, sir.”

If you use a direct quote here, use a respectful greeting that is common in your language.

in the marketplaces: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as marketplaces refers to large, open areas where many people came to buy and sell things. See how you translated this word in 7:4a.

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