Scriptures Plain & Simple (Mark 1:21-28)

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 1:21-28:

Jesus and his followers went to the town of Capernaum,
and when the Sabbath rolled around,
       Jesus entered the synagogue and started teaching.

Everyone was amazed at his powerful teaching —
       they’d never heard anything like this.

Suddenly a demon-possessed man rushed in, shouting,
“Jesus of Nazareth, have you come here to destroy us?
       I know you — you’re God’s Chosen One!”

“You demon, come out of this man!
       Be silent!” shouted Jesus.
After sending the man into a convulsion,
       the demon yelled and left.

Translation commentary on Mark 1:24

Text:

The interjection ea ‘ah!’ included by Textus Receptus (before ti ‘what’) is accepted also by Vogels and Soden (who places it in brackets): it is rejected, however, by Tischendorf, Nestle, Westcott and Hort, Kilpatrick, Souter and Turner.

Instead of oida ‘I know’ of most editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus, Tischendorf and Soden have oidamen ‘we know.’

Exegesis:

anekraxen legōn ‘cried out, saying’: modern translations need not adopt Marcan style and translate both the main verb and the participle (cf. the similar construction in v. 7); one verb is sufficient: ‘cried out,’ ‘shouted.’ It is to be noticed that the subject of the verb is he (the man) and not it (the spirit); the participle legōn is masculine.

ti hēmin kai soi (this same construction is found in 5.7; Mt. 8.29; 27.19; Lk. 4.34; 8.28; Jn. 2.4) literally ‘what to us and to you?’ In classical Greek the phrase would mean ‘What have we in common?’ Here, however, it corresponds to the Hebrew ‘Why do you meddle with me?’ (cf. Taylor; in Septuagint see Judg. 11.12, 2 Sam. 16.10, 19.23, 1 Kg. 17.18, etc.) Translator’s New Testament: “Why are You interfering with us?” Goodspeed discusses the phrase at length, and Lagrange succinctly defines its meaning: “It is employed to reject an intervention which is at least premature, not to say inopportune.”

Notice the plurals hēmin and hēmas ‘us’: not simply this demonic spirit, but the whole class of unclean spirits is involved. Or else the plural may reflect the feeling of multiple personalities, common in persons suffering from demon possession (cf. 5.1-13).

ēlthes apolesai hēmas; ‘have you come to destroy us?’ The phrase is thus understood as a question by Greek editions of the text (Nestle, Westcott and Hort, Kilpatrick, Souter), commentators and translations (Lagrange, King James Version, American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, Translator’s New Testament, Manson, Knox, Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale, Zürcher Bibel, O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada, The Modern Speech New Testament, Berkeley); others have taken it to be an assertion (Tischendorf, Soden, Merk, Vogels, Taylor, Turner, Swete, Rawlinson). There is nothing in grammar or context definitely to decide which should be preferred.

ēlthes ‘you came’: a few see here the meaning, ‘you came into the world’ (Swete, Taylor); this interpretation, however, has not commended itself to many.

apolesai ‘to destroy’: the infinitive here expresses purpose. The verb apollumi is used in three ways in Mark: (1) in the active ‘to destroy,’ ‘to cause to perish,’ 1.24; 3.6; 9.22; 11.18; 12.9; (2) ‘to lose,’ 8.35 (twice); 9.41; (3) in the middle or passive ‘to be destroyed,’ ‘to perish,’ ‘to be lost,’ 2.22; 4.38.

oida se tis ei literally ‘I know you who you are’: the personal pronoun se ‘you’ is the object of oida ‘I know,’ and the interrogative clause tis ei ‘who you are’ explicitly defines the content of ‘I know.’ The interrogative pronoun tis ‘who,’ though in apposition to se ‘you’ (which is in the accusative case), is in the nominative case because it is the subject of ei ‘you are.’

ho hagios tou theou (also in Lk. 4.34, Jn. 6.69) ‘the Holy (One) of God’: although the majority of commentators and translations treat this phrase as a Messianic title, Lagrange points out that the phrase is not known in the relevant literature as a Messianic title. The phrase could very well be vocative ‘you holy man of God!’ (Grant). Whatever may have been the meaning of the words as spoken by the possessed man, it is certain that in Mark the meaning is Christian, i.e. fully Messianic, ‘the Holy One of God.’ Between the two possible meanings, ‘the Holy One who comes from God,’ and ‘the Holy One who belongs to God,’ probably the latter is to be preferred.

Translation:

Cried out means a ‘shout’ or ‘scream’ (terms meaning ‘weeping’ must be carefully avoided).

Note that there are significant shifts in persons in this verse (as in other contexts dealing with demon possession, cf. Mark 5.6-12). The subject of the verb, however, is the man.

The Semitic idiom rendered in the Revised Standard Version as “What have you to do with us” is variously translated in other languages, e.g. ‘why do you bother us,’ ‘what are you going to do to us,’ ‘why do you disturb us,’ and ‘why are we any of your business.’

Jesus of Nazareth must often be rendered as ‘Jesus from Nazareth town.’

To destroy may be translated in some languages as simply ‘to kill’ when speaking of the destruction of demons, since they regard them as a somewhat different type of being. Accordingly, one must in some instances say ‘to cause to end’ (Tzeltal), ‘to put out of sight’ (Mitla Zapotec), or ‘to blot out completely.’

The Greek verb translated ‘know’ in this verse implies somewhat more than mere recognition. In some languages the equivalent is ‘I know full well.’

The Holy One of God presents a number of problems for the translator. In the first place, some languages do not permit the use of an indefinite ‘one’ in such a construction. They would require ‘person,’ but this is also a source of difficulty, for ‘person’ in some languages will not admit of grammatical possession. Hence, in such languages one must use ‘Son,’ if the passage is to make sense (Huichol, Tzeltal, Kekchi). On the other hand, Eastern Maninkakancan quite readily use ‘God’s Holy Person.’ If, however, one adopts the meaning of ‘comes from God’ some of the grammatical problems are eliminated, e.g. ‘the Holy One who comes from God’ (Huastec, Amganad Ifugao, Yaka, Toraja-Sa’dan, Pamona, Indonesian).

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 1:24

1:24a

What do You want with us…?: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as What do You want with us…? is an idiom. It literally says, “What to us and to you?” It means “What relation do we(excl) have with you?” (The commentaries and a detailed article by Nigel Turner (Grammatical Insights Into the Greek NT, pages 43–47) discuss the differences in meaning between “What do we have in common?”, “What cause of enmity/injustice is there between us?” and “What business do we have with each other?” However, when the rhetorical nature of the question is appreciated, the differences between these renderings of the question largely dissolve. A sense close to “leave me alone” works well in all contexts where this is found, whether the occasion is some issue of injustice between parties, a request that someone get involved in a matter he felt was not his business, or a plea, as here, on the part of demons that Jesus refrain from punishing them.) The evil spirit meant that Jesus had nothing in common with evil spirits as a group. He implied that Jesus should not interfere with them.

This idiom is a rhetorical question that expresses the evil spirit’s fear, dread, and hostility. Here are some ways to translate this rhetorical question:

• As a question. For example:

Why are you bothering us…? (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
-or-
What do you want with us…? (New Century Version)
-or-
Why are you interfering with us…?

• As a statement or command. For example:

Do not bother/disturb us!
-or-
We have nothing to do with one another!
-or-
Leave us alone! (NET Bible)

Some languages may have an exclamation that shows that the speaker is afraid or hostile. In some languages it may be appropriate to use such an exclamation here. For example:

How terrible! Why are you bothering us?

us: The pronoun us probably refers to the evil spirit that possessed the man and to other evil spirits like him. (There are several ways to interpret the pronoun us here: (1) It refers to the demon who was speaking and other demons like him, (2) It refers to several demons who were all possessing the man, or (3) It refers to the demon and the man he was possessing. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This is the view of the majority of commentators.) The evil spirit was speaking on behalf of other evil spirits. The evil spirit did not include Jesus in the group called us. If it is not clear who the pronoun us refers to, you may need to specify “us evil spirits.”

Jesus of Nazareth: The phrase Jesus of Nazareth means “Jesus from the town of Nazareth.” In those days Jewish people generally had only one personal name. They could be further identified by their hometown. If you have a different way to indicate that someone is from a certain town, you may use that.

The evil spirit used this phrase to get Jesus’ attention and to indicate that he was speaking to Jesus. The Berean Standard Bible puts this phrase at the end of the question. You may want to put it at the beginning if that is more natural in your language.

1:24b

Have You come to destroy us?: This is a real question. The evil spirit knew that Jesus was the Messiah and had the power to destroy evil spirits. The spirit may have feared that Jesus would immediately destroy him and the other evil spirits.

Have You come: In some languages a verb like “come” may require you to say where a person has come from and where he has arrived. In this context Jesus had come from heaven to earth. However, it may be awkward to make this information explicit. So you may be able to use a more general word like “here.” For example:

Have you come here…
-or-
Are you here…

to destroy us: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as destroy means “ruin” rather than “kill.” The evil spirit was afraid that Jesus would destroy its power. The spirit was probably also afraid that Jesus would send it and the other evil spirits to a place where they would be imprisoned. They would have to wait there for God’s final judgment.

In many languages a word like destroy may refer to smashing or breaking something. You may need to use a different expression. For example:

end our power
-or-
punish us

1:24c–d

In Greek there is no word between the clause “I know who you are” in 1:24c and the phrase the Holy One of God in 1:24d. The Berean Standard Bible connects these verse parts with a dash. In some languages it may be more natural to connect them in a different way. For example, the Contemporary English Version starts a new sentence in 1:24d:

I know who you are! You are God’s Holy One. (Contemporary English Version)

The evil spirit knew that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah whom God had sent to earth.

1:24c

I know who You are: The pronoun refers to the evil spirit who was speaking through the man’s mouth.

1:24d

the Holy One of God: The evil spirit identified Jesus here as the Holy One of God. The apostle Peter also used this term to refer to Jesus in John 6:69. In this context Jesus is the Holy One of God because he is divine and comes from God.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

the Holy One sent from God (New Living Translation)
-or-
the Divine/Sacred One who comes from God

In some languages it may not be possible to use the word One to refer to a person. It may be necessary to use a more specific term. For example:

You are the Holy Person/Man from God.
-or-
You are the Holy Child of God.

Holy: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Holy refers to something or someone that is dedicated to God or set apart for him.

1:24d–25a

In 1:24d the evil spirit finished speaking. In 1:25a Jesus replied. Some languages may use a phrase such as “he said” to indicate the end of a quotation. Other languages may use a similar phrase to indicate the beginning of the next quotation. Be sure to identify the speakers and indicate the end and beginning of these quotations in a clear way in your language.

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