Translation commentary on Mark 15:46

Text:

Instead of katethēken ‘he deposited’ of the majority of editions of the Greek text, Westcott and Hort, Souter, Lagrange, and Taylor have ethēken ‘he placed.’

Exegesis:

agorasas (cf. 6.36) ‘buying’: according to normal usage of the aorist participle, ‘he bought’ indicates here an action which followed the actions in the preceding verses (and preceded the action of the main verb in this verse). It is not, therefore, to be translated ‘he had bought.’

sindona (cf. 14.51) ‘a linen cloth,’ ‘a linen sheet’: Revised Standard Version ‘linen shroud’ is derived, of course, from the use to which the cloth was put.

kathelōn (cf. v. 36) ‘taking down (from the cross).’

auton ‘him,’ i.e. Jesus, and not ‘it’ (the body).

eneilēsen (only here in the N.T.) ‘he wound in,’ ‘he wrapped in.’

katethēken (only here in Mark) ‘he deposited,’ ‘he placed.’

en mnēmati (cf. 5.3) ‘in the tomb.’

ēn lelatomēmenon (only here in Mark) ‘it had been hewn out’: here this verbal phrase has its proper meaning as a pluperfect, indicating an action completed in the past.

ek petras (only here in Mark; cf. petrōdēs, 4.5) ‘out of the rock’: as further details indicate, this is to be thought of as an artificial cave or cavern dug out from the side of the rock, and not a grave dug into the ground, below the surface of the earth.

prosekulisen lithon epi tēn thuran ‘he rolled a stone against the entrance.’ thura here not to be thought of as a ‘door’ or ‘gate,’ its normal meaning; it is the entrance to the tomb.

For mnēmeion ‘tomb’ cf. 5.2.

Translation:

Linen shroud is generally ‘linen cloth,’ or where linen is quite unknown ‘good white cloth’ is used as a functional equivalent.

Though the Greek text refers to ‘him,’ rather than the body, as being taken down from the cross, in translations it is often necessary to specify the body, since ‘him’ would refer only to a living person or to his ghost. Hence, ‘took the body down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb’ is the only correct equivalent expression for the Greek text.

Tomb may be described as ‘a small cave which was cut (or ‘dug’) out of the rock.’

Rock may be translated as ‘rock cliff,’ so as to indicate that the cave was dug into a rock cliff, rather than excavated out of the ground.

Rolled a stone against the door has very often been mistranslated in such a way that people assume that a door was used to close the tomb and then that a large stone was rolled up in front of the door so as to prevent easy entrance. Rather the meaning is that ‘a large stone was rolled up to cover the entrance to the tomb.’

In some languages distinctions must be made between various kinds of stone, ‘limestone’ vs. ‘sandstone’ (Shipibo-Conibo). It is more likely that the tomb was hewn out of limestone.

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 15:46

15:46a–b

So: There are several ways to connect 15:46 to 15:45:

• The events in 15:46 were the result of Pilate giving Joseph permission to take Jesus’ body. So some English versions connect 15:46 to 15:45 with the word “So.” For example:

So (Revised English Bible)

• The events in 15:46 happened immediately after 15:45. So some English versions connect 15:46 to 15:45 with the word “Then.” For example:

Then (New Revised Standard Version)

• Other English versions do not use a connecting word or phrase here.

Connect 15:46 to 15:45 in a way that is natural in your language for this context.

a linen cloth: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a linen cloth describes a piece of cloth of high quality. It was made from flax fibers. It was a Jewish custom to wrap a dead body in such a cloth before burying it.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

• Use a specific word for cloth made from flax. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

some linen cloth

• Use a specific word for cloth that is used to wrap a body for burial. For example, the Revised Standard Version says:

a linen shroud

• Use a general expression for cloth. You could add the purpose for the cloth, but that should be clear from 15:46b. For example:

some cloth
-or-
a burial cloth
-or-
cloth used for/when burying bodies

It may be helpful to indicate the size of the piece of cloth. For example, the New Living Translation says:

a long sheet of linen cloth

This kind of cloth was mentioned in 14:51–52. However, there it was used as clothing, and not as a burial cloth.

15:46b

took down the body of Jesus: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as took down means “to cause to descend.” Jesus was hanging above the ground on the cross. In order to move Jesus’ body, Joseph had to remove it from the cross and bring it down.

The soldiers or other men probably helped Joseph take down the body of Jesus. Mark only mentions Joseph since he is in focus. If people understand that Joseph took down the body by himself, you may want to say:

Joseph, with the help of others, took down the body.
-or-
Joseph, along with others, brought down Jesus’ body from the cross.

the body: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the body is literally “him” (as in the Revised Standard Version). Translate this as either “the corpse/body” or “him/Jesus” depending on which is more natural in your language. Do not translate this as “him” if that will imply that Jesus was still alive or that he was a ghost. If you have a euphemism that you use to refer to a dead body, you may use it here.

15:46c

wrapped it in the cloth: The word wrapped in this context means “wrapped the cloth around the body many times.” The cloth was first cut into strips and then the strips were wrapped around the body.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

wrapped the linen cloth around the body
-or-
wrapped him/it in strips of the linen/cloth

15:46d

placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock: The clause placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock indicates the type of grave into which Joseph put Jesus’ body. It was Jewish custom to bury dead bodies in caves (see 5:2b–c) or in tombs that were like caves. These tombs were dug or cut into rock. These were not dug down into the ground. Rather, they were often dug into a hillside of solid rock. These tombs were often large enough for several bodies and for several people to enter carrying a dead body.

In some languages, the word tomb strongly implies that Jesus was buried in a hole in the ground that could be filled with dirt and stones. If that is true in your language, you should use a phrase that describes a Jewish tomb. For example:

placed it in a tomb that was cut into a hillside of solid rock
-or-
placed it in a burial cave that was dug out of rock
-or-
buried him in a place for dead bodies that was carved from solid rock

See how you translated this word in 5:2b.

placed it in a tomb: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as placed it in a tomb indicates that Joseph put or buried Jesus’ body in a tomb. If you have a specific word in your language for placing or putting a body in a tomb, consider using it here. However, be sure that it does not imply a way of burying dead bodies that is different from the Jewish custom.

15:46e

Then: The word Then introduces what happened next in the story. The burial ended when the stone was rolled to cover the entrance to the tomb.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

Finally
-or-
In the end

he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb: After the Jews buried someone, it was common for them to cover the entrance to their tombs with a large stone or rock. The purpose of this stone was to keep animals or robbers from entering the tomb.

he rolled a stone: The stone was round and often set in a track in which it could roll to cover the entrance. Joseph certainly needed the help of other men to roll the stone. If simply saying “he rolled” in your language would imply that he did this alone, you may want to make it clear that other men helped him. For example:

he together with some other men rolled
-or-
he helped to roll

a stone: This stone was very large and heavy. It was probably between one and two meters tall. It was round and flat.

Some languages have different words for different sizes of stones. Some examples are pebbles, stones, rocks, and boulders. If your language has these different words, you should use the word for a very large rock.

the entrance to the tomb: The phrase the entrance of the tomb refers to the hole or opening cut into the rock. This entrance was not a door made of wood or some other material.

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