Elsa Tamez (in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 59ff. ) explains: “A literal translation of this verse: ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ (Luke 8:8) is not appropriate for the Deaf community; it is difficult to understand and it can easily be misunderstood. Deaf people have ‘ears to hear’ but they cannot hear.”
In Tzotzil it is translated as “You all who with one heart want to learn, think about what I said,” in San Mateo Del Mar Huave as “Every one of you have heard this story. Now put it in your hearts,” in Gwichʼin as “He that will hear me, let him pay attention to me” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), and in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as Denkt gut darüber nach or “Think about it carefully.”
Willy Wiedmann rendered this phrase artistically in the following way:
— Here the room is dark. They light a lamp. Do they hide the lamp? Or cover it with something? No, on the contrary. The lamp is placed on a high place so that it illuminates everything around it.
If there is some secret business, no one around knows anything about it, but the time will come, that the business will be revealed and everyone will see. If you think about it, you will understand.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Иисус продолжал учить:
— Вот в комнате темно. Зажигают светильник. Разве светильник прячут? Или закрывают чем-нибудь? Нет, наоборот. Светильник ставят на высокое место, чтобы он освещал все вокруг.
Если есть какое-то тайное дело, никто вокруг о нем ничего не знает, но придет время, это дело откроется, и все увидят. Если вы поразмыслите, то вы поймете.
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Jesús dijo”: “Otro ejemplo, una lámpara de aceite, ¿pondrías una tapa encima de ella? o ¿la ocultas abajo de la cama? No, la pones encima y la luz se difunde para que la gente pueda ver.
Eso es como algo que es un secreto ahora, pero después la gente lo descubre y entiende.
Uds necesitan intentar a descubrirlo, yo les advierto: algunas personas ponen poca atención y entienden poco, otras personas ponen atención y entienden y Dios les da más entendimiento. De otras personas que adentro no entienden, pero hacen como si entienden, Dios les quitará el entendimiento y no aumenta nada porque no entienden nada.”
Jesus said: “Another example, an oil lamp, would you put a cover on it or hide it underneath a bed? No, you put it high for the light to shine so that the people can see.
“This is like something that is a secret now but later the people will find it out and understand.
“You need to try to figure it out, I warn you: some people pay little attention and understand little, other people pay attention and understand, and God gives them more understanding. From other people who inside don’t understand but act as if they understand God will take away any growth in understanding, because they understand nothing.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 4:23:
Uma: “Whoever of you has ears, listen well!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Amey-amey (strong injunction) listen if something is said to you.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You must understand this which you have heard.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “You who are listening, think-about what you heard.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore since what ears are for is to listen with, it’s necessary that you (pl.) listen well to this which is being said.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
ti ‘anything’ in v. 22 is omitted by Westcott and Hort, Lagrange, and Taylor, but retained by Textus Receptus and the great majority of modern editions of the Greek text.
Exegesis:
The two parallel clauses, in Semitic style, both state the same truth: ‘if something is hidden, it is in order that it (eventually) be manifested; if something is covered up, it is in order that it (eventually) be brought out into the open.’
krupton (only here in Mark) ‘hidden.’
phanerōthē (16.12, 14) ‘that it be revealed,’ ‘that it be manifested.’
apokruphon (only here in Mark) ‘covered up,’ ‘secret.’
elthē eis phaneron (cf. 3.12) ‘that it come into the open,’ ‘that it become known.’
For v. 23 see 4.9.
Translation:
It is often quite difficult to treat the double negatives in verse 22, literally ‘nothing … if not.’ In some languages such a construction must be rendered by positives (e.g. Cashibo-Cacataibo and Guerrero Amuzgo) ‘everything that is hidden is that way in order that it may be made to be seen.’
In the word ‘hid’ there is no implication that such objects were purposely hidden. The Greek does not imply in this first instance any process, only a state of being. On the other hand, in the second form of essentially this same concept (typical of Hebrew parallelism) the Greek verb egeneto may imply that something ‘has become hidden,’ e.g. ‘if there is anything that has become hidden, it is that way in order that it will be put out in the light’ or ‘everything that has become hidden….’ On the other hand, egeneto may be only a stylistic variant of the previous estin.
For verse 23, see 4.9.
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 .
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear: With this saying, Jesus urged the crowd to give careful attention to the parable that they had just heard. Jesus asked them to do more than just listen. He wanted them to understand and respond correctly to the lesson of the parable.
This expression is similar to 4:9. The only difference is that here the words If anyone is used instead of “He who.” The meaning is the same, so you should use the same expression that you used in 4:9.
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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