Translation commentary on Mark 14:25

Exegesis:

amēn (cf. 3.28) ‘truly.’

ouketi ou mē piō ‘no longer will I drink,’ ‘I will not drink again.’ On the double negative ou me cf. 9.1.

tou genēmatos tēs ampelou ‘the fruit of the vine,’ ‘the produce of the (grape) vine’: a designation, of course, of wine.

genēma (only here in Mark) ‘fruit,’ ‘yield,’ ‘produce’: the noun (from ginomai) is used of vegetable products.

ampelos (only here in Mark; cf. ampelōn 12.1) ‘vine,’ ‘grapevine.’

kainon (cf. 1.27) ‘new’: either (1) the neuter accusative of the adjective, used adverbially, modifying the verb pinō ‘drink,’ meaning thus ‘drink in a new way’ (or, perhaps, ‘drink in a new sense’); or (2) the masculine accusative, modifying oinos, ‘wine,’ which is to be supplied, meaning thus ‘drink new wine’ (cf. The Modern Speech New Testament, Goodspeed, Lagrange).

en tē basileia tou theou (cf. 1.15) ‘in the Kingdom of God’: the Kingdom of God, as an eschatological reality, is here referred to in the familiar Rabbinical fashion as the great Messianic banquet.

Translation:

For truly employed in this type of construction see 3.28 and 8.12.

In some languages it is quite impossible to talk about ‘drinking … fruit.’ The only equivalent is ‘drink … the juice of the fruit.’

Vine must be translated in such a way as to refer to a fruit-bearing plant. In some languages this was referred to by a term designating typical jungle vines, which were never known to produce fruit.

New should not be translated merely as ‘again.’ The emphasis here is either upon the new manner of drinking or the ‘new wine.’

For kingdom of God see 1.15.

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 14:25

14:25a

Truly I tell you: Jesus often used the words Truly I tell you to introduce a statement that he wanted to emphasize. (The clause Truly I tell you occurs in Mark 3:28a, 8:12, 9:1, 9:41, 10:15, 11:23, 12:43, 13:30, 14:9, 14:18, 14:30.) It indicates that the statement was important and totally reliable, and that people should listen carefully to it.

See how you translated this phrase in 14:9a.

14:25b–c

I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God: Jesus used a very emphatic statement here: “I definitely will not drink again….” He meant that from that time on, he would not drink any more wine. He would not drink it until the future day or “time” or “occasion” when he would drink it in God’s kingdom.

Here is another way to translate this:

From now on I will not drink any wine until I drink…in God’s kingdom (Contemporary English Version)

of the fruit of the vine: The phrase of the fruit of the vine is a figure of speech that refers to wine. The figure comes from the fact that wine is made from grapes, and grapes are a fruit that grows on a vine. In many languages, a literal translation of this figure of speech will be meaningless. Unless your language uses a similar figure of speech, it may be best to use whatever term you used for “wine” in verses such as 14:23a. For example:

wine
-or-
juice made from a fruit called grapes

drink it anew: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as drink it anew is literally “drink it new” (as in the Revised Standard Version). Scholars have interpreted this phrase in different ways:

(1) It refers to drinking a new kind of wine. For example, the Good News Bible says:

drink the new wine

(Good News Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version)

(2) It refers to drinking wine in a new way. For example:

drink it in a new way

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version)

(3) It refers to drinking wine with a new meaning.

You may follow any of these interpretations. The meaning lines in the Display follow interpretation (1). If you follow interpretation (1), make sure that the expression you use refers to a new kind of wine, not newly fermented wine.

in the kingdom of God: The phrase kingdom of God refers to God’s activity of ruling and caring for his people as their king. It does not refer to a land or country that he rules over. It refers to the relationship that he has with his people. He protects, delivers, and cares for them. They obey, trust, and submit to him as their king.

In this context the phrase in the kingdom of God refers to the time when God rules as king in a new way. Scholars differ as to what time this implies, (Two viewpoints about this are: (a) It refers to a future time when God will rule completely, and everyone and everything will submit to him as king. At that time Jesus will celebrate with his people. (b) It refers to the time that began after Jesus rose from the dead and will continue forever. Jesus is ruling now with God and celebrates with his people.) so you should translate in a general way.

Here are some other ways to translate in the kingdom of God in this context:

in God’s rule/reign
-or-
when God has established his rule/chieftaincy
-or-
when God’s government has begun
-or-
when God protects/delivers his people as their king

See how you translated this phrase in 1:15b. See kingdom of God, Context 2, in the Glossary.

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