complete verse (Mark 6:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 6:18:

  • Uma: “Like this is the account of Yohanes the Baptizer’s death. King Herodes took and married Herodias, the wife of his own relative who was named Filipus. Many times Yohanes denounced Herodes because of his behavior, he said to him: ‘You cannot marry that sister-in-law of yours! That behavior of your breaks the Law of Musa.’ From there, Herodes ordered his soldiers to go capture Yohanes. They did capture him, bound him and put him in prison.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For it had been King Herod hep who had commanded Yahiya to be seized and he had commanded him to be imprisoned. It happened like this: This King Herod had married his sister-in-law, Herodiyas, but his younger brother Pilip, the husband of Herodiyas, was still alive. So-then when they already had become-one, Yahiya scolded the king. Yahiya said to him, ‘It is not right/lawful (halal) if you are-one with the wife of your brother. You are sinning.’ Na, that was the reason why Herodiyas became-the-enemy-of/enemied Yahiya and wanted to kill him. But the king didn’t allow it,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for this King Herod, the reason that he had to have John killed was because John told Herod that it was a transgression of the law for him to steal the wife of his sibling, for King Herod had married his sister-in-law Herodias who was the wife of his sibling Philip. And because of what John said Herod had him arrested and put in prison.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “And Juan had repeatedly said that it was against the law that he-marry his younger-sibling’s wife.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For Juan was always saying to Herodes, ‘It isn’t possible/acceptable that you are living together, for it’s contrary to the law to grab-for-yourself that sister-in-law of yours.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tsafiki: “Then John counseled-preached to Herod, You are not to marry your sister-in-law.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Mark 6:14-29)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Mark 6:14-29:

Jesus became so famous that some people claimed,
“He’s John Dipper come back to life.” Others disagreed,
       “No, he’s one of the ancient prophets now returned.”

Governor Herod had previously executed John Dipper,
but still Herod thought Jesus was John
       alive and kicking once again. So the

Here’s the story: Herod had earlier married Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip,
       but John had vigorously and publicly objected.

Herod wanted to make Herodias happy,
       so he had John thrown in prison.
However, Herodias wasn’t finished with John,
       but she was absolutely helpless —
Although Herod was afraid of John,
he often went to him for advice,
       but always returned frustrated and confused.

At last, Herodias got her big chance,
when her daughter danced
       at the birthday party Herod had thrown for himself.
His public officials and military officers had been invited,
and her dancing pleased them so much
       that Herod promised her whatever she wanted.

She was a momma’s girl and hurried off to Herodias,
who told her to ask for delivery on a platter
       the head of John Dipper.

When Herod was informed, he immediately performed
and ordered John Dipper to be decapitated.
       Then his head was displayed on a platter.
When John’s followers learned of his fate,
       they took his body and placed it in a tomb.

Translation commentary on Mark 6:18 – 6:19

Exegesis:

elegen gar hō Iōannēs tō Herōdē ‘for John said to Herod’: this clause gives the reason why Herod had imprisoned John.

elegen may be the equivalent of the pluperfect ‘had been saying’ in this context.

exestin (cf. 2.24) ‘it is right,’ ‘it is lawful.’

echein ‘to have,’ ‘to possess’ as wife.

eneichen (only here in Mark) ‘she was hostile to,’ ‘she bore a grudge against’: the American colloquialism ‘to have it in for someone’ corresponds to this use of the Greek verb enechō.

kai ēthelen … kai ouk ēdunato ‘and she wanted … but could not.’

Translation:

John said to Herod poses certain problems of sequence, for this is no longer in the reverse order, noted in the preceding verse, but fits between events 3 and 4. Only careful use of conjunctions and tense forms is likely to avoid confusion.

Not lawful is not always an easy expression, especially in the languages of people who have no formal written legal codes. In Chicahuaxtla Triqui the best equivalent seemed to be ‘God does not permit’ (a common way of referring to the highest sanctions of behavior). In Huastec one may say ‘you are not allowed,’ without reference to the one doing the allowing. In Tzeltal the proper expression is ‘this is against the command’ and in Sayula Popoluca one says ‘the law [a borrowing from Spanish] does not help you.’

Have your brother’s wife is better rendered as ‘to live with your brother’s wife’ than to say ‘to marry your brother’s wife,’ for the latter might be interpreted as meaning that Herod had married her after the death of Philip, his brother.

Had a grudge is often ‘was very angry with’ or ‘was mad at.’

In languages in which careful distinctions are made between primary and secondary agency, wanted to kill him may be translated as ‘wanted to cause him to be killed.’

She could not does not refer to her lack of strength (as some translators have rendered the passage), but her inability to get Herod to do what she wanted.

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 6:18

6:18a

For: The word For introduces the reason for 6:17a–b, not for 6:17c–d.

17aHerod had John arrested 17band put in prison…18abecause John had been saying to Herod…

Here are some other ways to translate this:

• Repeat part of 6:17a–b here in 6:18a. For example:

Herod had John put in prison because John had been saying to Herod…

• Leave out this connector, because it does not refer to what immediately precedes. Therefore its meaning may not be clear. For example, the God’s Word says:

John had been telling Herod

• If you have a connector that can introduce the reason for something further back in the text, you could use it here.

• Rearrange the parts of 6:17. See the example from the Contemporary English Version in the General Comment on 6:17–18 below.

John had been telling Herod: These words introduce what John said to Herod before Herod arrested John. The form of the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as had been telling indicates that John said these things repeatedly.

6:18b

It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife!: The phrase not lawful means “not right according to the law.” Here, the reference is to the law of Moses. This is the law that God gave to Moses for the people of Israel (in Leviticus 18:16, 20:21). In this context, have your brother’s wife means to “be married to your brother’s wife.”

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

It’s not right for you to be married to your brother’s wife. (God’s Word)
-or-
You are not permitted/allowed to have your older brother’s wife.
-or-
It is contrary to God’s laws/instructions to marry your older brother’s wife.

General Comment on 6:17–18

In some languages it may be natural to change the order of 6:17–18 to follow more closely the chronological order of events. You may want to follow the order of the Contemporary English Version to make the story clearer:

17dHerod had earlier married Herodias, 17cthe wife of his brother Philip. 18aBut John had told him, 18b“It isn’t right for you to take your brother’s wife!” 17cSo, in order to please Herodias, 17aHerod arrested John 17band put him in prison.

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