Mark 4:24-25 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 4:24-25 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them:

— Look carefully. As you treat people, God will treat you in the same way, only more so. If a person meditates on God’s teaching, God will reveal more to that person. If a person does not want to meditate on God’s teachings, God will take away what little understanding he has.

Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):

Иисус обратился к ученикам, сказал им:

— Посмотрите внимательно. Как вы будете относиться к людям, так же и Бог, только в еще большей мере, будет относиться к вам. Если человек размышляет об учении Бога, то Бог откроет такому человеку еще больше. А если человек не хочет размышлять об учении Бога, то Бог заберет у такого человека то немногое понимание, которое у него есть.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

<< Mark 4:21-23 in Russian Sign Language
Mark 4:26-29 in Russian Sign Language >>

Mark 4:21-25 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 4:21-25 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath:


© La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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.”

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

<< Mark 4:10-20 in Mexican Sign Language
Mark 4:26-33a in Mexican Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 4:25)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 4:25:

  • Uma: “People who receive God’s Word, their hearts will be made clear, so they will know even more. But people who don’t want to receive God’s Word, even what little they know, it will be taken from them.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “This means, a person if he listens well, his understanding will increase. But if a person doesn’t listen well, even if he has some/little knowledge/wisdom, it will eventually leave him.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For the person who accepts what God causes him to understand, God will add to his understanding. But the person who does not accept what God causes him to understand, the little which he understands will be taken away from him.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because the person who heeds what he is hearing, his understanding will be added-to, but the one who doesn’t heed, even the little that he understood will cease-to-exist.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because as for the person who tries to understand what he has heard from me, his understanding/wisdom will be increased by God until what he knows is a lot/enough. But as for that one who doesn’t try to understand this which he has heard, even what he has understood will be removed by God so that it won’t come to anything.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • San Mateo Del Mar Huave: “Because if anyone really gives understanding to my words, well, he will be given to understand more. But if there is one who really doesn’t want to hear any more, even if he has already found a little bit, he will forget it.'” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

Translation commentary on Mark 4:24 – 4:25

Exegesis:

blepete ti akouete ‘see what you hear,’ i.e. ‘pay attention to what you are listening to!’

en hō metrō metreite metrēthēsetai ‘in the (same) measure you measure (for others) it will be measured out (to you).’

metron (only here in Mark) ‘measure’: a measure of capacity.

metreō (only here in Mark) ‘measure out,’ ‘give out,’ ‘apportion,’ ‘deal out’ something to someone.

prostethēsetai (only here in Mark) ‘more shall be given,’ ‘shall be added,’ ‘shall be given in addition.’ The two passives metrēthēsetai humin kai prostethēsetai humin ‘shall be measured out to you and more shall be added to you’ are to be referred to God, as the subject.

dothēsetai … arthēsetai ‘shall (more) be given … shall be taken away’: these two passives also, as in the previous verse, are to be referred to God as the subject.

hos ouk echei, kai ho echei ‘he who has not, even what he has’: the meaning, naturally, is ‘he who has very little, even the little that he has will be taken away’ – it would, of course, be impossible to take away from someone something he actually does not have.

Translation:

Take heed what you hear is translated in two different ways: (1) ‘pay attention to what you hear’ (the preferred rendering) and (2) ‘discriminate carefully between the things which you might hear,’ e.g. ‘select the right things to listen to.’ This latter rendering does not seem to fit this type of context, especially after verse 23.

Take heed is translated in Conob as ‘to hear dying.’ The word ‘dying’ added to the admonition ‘to hear’ indicates the importance of listening, a kind of “life or death matter.”

In some languages the order of constituents in the expression the measure … you get must be changed so that the persons participating are the active subject, rather than the measure, e.g. ‘you will receive the same kind of measure that you measure out to others.’ In other languages the measure is treated in somewhat more generic terms, ‘what you have given to others will be what you get’ in which the meanings ‘to give’ and ‘to measure out to’ are rendered by the same word (Southern Subanen).

The last clause in verse 24 must in some instances be shifted so that the grammatical subject is the personal participant, even as in the previous clauses, e.g. ‘and you will receive even more’ (Shipibo-Conibo). If Textus Receptus is followed, there maybe even greater need of a shift in subject expression, e.g. ‘you who hear will receive more’ (Copainalá Zoque, Eastern Otomí).

The passive expression in the first clause of verse 25 may be shifted to active, e.g. ‘the one who has some will receive even more’ (or in the passive form, ‘will be given even more’). Where, however, the logical subject of the process of giving must be introduced, one may translate as ‘God will give even more to the one who has some.’

The hyperbole about taking away from a man what he does not have can often be rendered as ‘even if a man does not have anything, even the little that he does have will be taken away,’ thus preserving some measure of the extreme statement.

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 4:25

4:25a

For whoever has: This clause leaves implied what this person has. Because of the close connection of this verse with 4:24, the implied meaning is probably “Whoever has understanding.”

In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit what this person has. Some ways to do this are:

• Use a word that specifically indicates the connection with 4:24. For example:

Those who have understanding (New Century Version)
-or-
Those who understand [these mysteries] (God’s Word)

• Use a general word. For example:

Everyone who has something (Contemporary English Version)

For: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as For indicates that the proverb in 4:25 is a further explanation of the preceding proverb in 4:24. In some languages the meaning of this conjunction can be expressed as:

Another way to say this is

Some versions leave the word For implied. You will need to decide whether it is natural in your language to introduce an explanation with a special word or phrase.

will be given more: The subject for the verb phrase will be given is implied but not repeated. It may be more natural in your language to repeat the subject. For example:

he will be given more

The verb given is passive. If it is more natural in your language to make this active and say who does the giving, the implied subject is God.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

he will receive more
-or-
God will add to his understanding

4:25b–c

But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him: This is a hyperbole. It means that the person has very little. It implies that the person ignores the small amount of understanding or knowledge that he has.

It may be more natural in your language to translate the meaning without the hyperbole. For example:

whoever ignores the little he has, even what he has will be taken from him
-or-
whoever understands very little, even that will be taken from him

But: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But is often translated as “and” (as in the Revised Standard Version). There is contrast between the one who had in 4:25a, and the one who does not have in 4:25b. For this reason, some versions like the Berean Standard Bible indicate this contrast with the conjunction But. Likewise, the NET Bible says:

but whoever does not have

However, some translations do not translate this conjunction at all. You should connect 4:25a and 4:25b in a way that is natural in your language.

will be taken away from him: The Greek verb phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will be taken away is passive. If it is more natural in your language to make this active and say who will take something, you should refer to the same person as in 4:24c. For example:

God will take even that from him
-or-
will lose what little they have (Contemporary English Version)

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