humble form of "receive" (itadaku)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, itadaku (いただく), a respectful form of morau (もらう) or “receive” is used. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also receive (Japanese honorifics), humble form of “receive” (tamawaru) and humble form of “eat” (itadaku).

Translation commentary on Mark 6:25

Exegesis:

meta spoudēs (only here in Mark) ‘with haste,’ ‘in a hurry’; perhaps ‘eagerly’ (Lagrange).

ētēsato legousa ‘she requested, saying’: it is not necessary, however, in English, to translate both verbs (as does Revised Standard Version); simply ‘she requested.’

thelō hina ‘I want that’: as in 5.23 the force of the phrase here is probably imperatival; thelō hina … dōs moi ‘Give me’ (it may be that thelō hina is equivalent, as in later Greek, to ‘please’).

exautēs (only here in Mark) ‘at once,’ ‘immediately’ (the whole phrase is ex autēs tēs hōras ‘this very hour’).

pinaki (6.28) ‘platter,’ ‘dish.’

Iōannou tou baptistou (8.28) ‘of John the Baptist’ (cf. ho baptizōn ‘the Baptizer’ in 1.4).

Translation:

Immediately with haste reflects a double expression in the Greek text. The idea is that the girl not only returned very soon, but she was obviously hurrying to deliver her request.

The closest equivalent of platter is often ‘serving tray,’ whether consisting of earthenware, wood or basketry. It must be a sufficiently large object, so as to hold a human head, but not one in which the head would be hidden from view, as in the case of a basket. Evidently, Herodias was eager that her triumph might be clearly witnessed by all who were present.

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 6:25

6:25a

At once the girl hurried back to the king: This clause indicates that the daughter left her mother immediately, and she quickly returned to the place where the feast was taking place. In some languages it may be more natural to combine into one expression the related ideas that the girl returned At once and that she hurried. For example:

So the girl hurried back to the king (New Living Translation)
-or-
At once the girl went back to the king (New Century Version)

In other languages both expressions will be necessary to communicate the girl’s eagerness and haste. Think of a natural way to express this idea in your language.

with her request: In some languages, it may be more natural to use the verb “requested/asked” instead of the noun request.

In English and some other languages, the verb “request/ask” is implicit in the words “I want you to…” (in 6:25b). Therefore, you could translate this part of 6:25a as “she said…”

6:25b

I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as immediately also means “right now” or “at once.” This word has a similar meaning to the word translated as “At once” in 6:25a, but it is a different Greek word.

John the Baptist: See the note on 6:14c–d.

on a platter: The word platter refers to a large, flat plate usually used to carry food. But here the platter is only a means for carrying the head. It does not imply that the head was served as food.

If people in your area will think that the term platter indicates serving the head as food, you may want to use a more general term. An example is:

carrying tray

If the purpose of bringing the head on a platter is not clear in your area, you may want to include a footnote. An example is:

Herodias wanted the head on a platter so she could see that John had been killed. The head would then be thrown away.

Use whatever parts of the above footnote you think would be helpful for the readers of your translation.

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