Translation commentary on Mark 1:38

Text:

allachou ‘elsewhere’ is omitted by Textus Receptus; all modern editions of the Greek text, however, include it.

Exegesis:

agōmen (13.11; 14.42) ‘let us go’: the subjunctive mode, in this context, has almost the force of an imperative. Here it is not so much a plea, a request, as an exhortation.

allachou (only here in the N.T.) ‘elsewhere.’ Arndt & Gingrich prefer the meaning ‘in another direction’ for this passage.

eis tas echomenas kōmopoleis ‘to the neighboring towns.’

tas echomenas (cf. Lk. 13.33, Acts 20.15, 21.26) ‘neighboring.’ The present participle of the verb echomai ‘have’ is used in the specialized sense of ‘next,’ ‘adjoining,’ ‘neighboring’ either with reference to time or to space.

kōmopolis (only here in the N.T.) ‘town,’ ‘village,’ ‘market town’ . Swete quotes Lightfoot who defines the word as referring to a small country town.

kai ekei ‘and there’: kai here has the meaning of ‘also.’

kēruxō ‘I may proclaim,’ ‘I may preach’ (see v. 4).

exēlthon ‘I came out.’ The ordinary meaning of ‘I came out (from Capernaum)’ is understood by most commentators (Gould, Turner, Rawlinson, Manson, The Modern Speech New Testament); Vincent Taylor takes it to mean ‘I came out (on the Galilean mission).’ Swete and Lagrange, however, see a theological meaning ‘I came forth (from the Father)’; this meaning, however, has not commended itself to many (although it appears that Luke understood the words in this sense; at least that is what Lk. 4.43 means).

Translation:

If it is necessary to be more specific in the pronominal reference he and them may be translated by the appropriate noun expressions. However, all such substitutions, whether of nouns for pronouns or pronouns for nouns must conform to the syntactic requirements of the receptor language in question.

Towns (in Greek a compound word meaning literally ‘village-city’) in this context refers to places half-way between cities and villages. In some languages this would be ‘big villages’ and in others ‘small cities,’ depending of course upon the more acceptable way of designating such a place.

For preach see 1.4, but note that in this context there is no object of the verb. In many languages, however, one must add a grammatical object to the verb of speaking, e.g. ‘to hand down the Way’ (Union Version in Chinese), ‘declare the word’ (Kekchi), or ‘speak God’s word’ (Kpelle).

If it is possible to preserve the ambiguity of ‘that is why I came out,’ well and good, but for the most part one must be more specific about the meaning of came out, hence stating specifically either ‘I came to this earth’ or ‘I came out of the city.’ The second meaning is recommended, though some translations have followed the first, e.g. Balinese.

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 1:38

1:38a

But: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But is a common connector that is often translated as “and,” as in the Revised Standard Version. Here, Jesus’ reply contrasted with what the disciples expected him to say. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this contrast explicit in the quote introducer, as the Berean Standard Bible does. The contrast may also be made explicit in the quote. See the examples at the end of the note for “Let us go” down below.

Jesus answered: The word answered refers here to Jesus’ response to what Simon and his companions said in 1:37b. In some languages a word like answered or “replied” is only used in response to a question. Decide whether it is appropriate here in your language.

Let us go: In this context, the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Let us go is a gentle command or invitation. Jesus implied that he and his disciples should or must go somewhere else. For example:

We should go (New Century Version)
-or-
We must go (Good News Bible)

In some cultures, a person who directly disagrees with what someone else has suggested is considered to be rude. In Greek Jesus’ statement was not rude. Consider how to express it in your language without implying disrespect. For example:

Yes, that is true, but we need to go….
-or-
Yes, but isn’t it necessary for us to go…?

on to the neighboring towns: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as on is more literally “elsewhere.” This word refers to somewhere other than Capernaum. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as towns refers to villages or small towns. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

somewhere else, to the small towns that are nearby (God’s Word)
-or-
to other towns around here (New Century Version)

1:38b

so I can preach there as well: The clause so I can preach there as well is a purpose clause. Jesus went to other nearby towns in order to preach to the people there also. He did not want to limit himself to preaching to people in one location.

preach: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as preach means to publicly tell people something important. It is the same word that is used in 1:14b. See the note there. In this context, it refers to the same kind of action as “teach” in 1:21c.

If it is necessary to make the object of preach explicit here, you may use the same phrase that you used in 1:21c. For example:

preach God’s message to the people

1:38c

for that is why I have come: This part of the verse indicates that 1:38a–b was the purpose for Jesus’ coming. He came to preach to people in many places, not just to people in Capernaum. It is better not to specify whether Jesus came from heaven or from Capernaum. The place that Jesus came from is not in focus here. If it is necessary to say where Jesus came to, you should use a general place like “here.” For example:

for that is why I came here.

This part of the verse is the end of Jesus’ response to the disciples. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate the end of a quote explicitly. For example:

“for that is the reason that I came here,” he said.
-or-
“for that is the reason that I came here.” After Jesus said that…

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