Exegesis:

eiselthōn (cf. previous verse) ‘entering (the house)’: in the next verse ekbalōn ‘driving out (of the house).’

ti thorubeisthe (only here in Mark) ‘why do you make a tumult?’ (cf. the noun thorubos in the previous verse).

to paidion (5.40, 41; 7.28, 30; 9.24, 36, 37; 10.13, 14, 15) ‘the child,’ ‘the infant’: here, a twelve year old girl (v. 42).

ouk apethanen alla katheudei ‘she did not die but is sleeping,’ ‘is not dead but sleeps.’

apothnēskō (cf. v. 35) ‘die.’

katheudō (cf. 4.27) ‘sleep’: this word offers no problem to the translator since its meaning is ‘to sleep’ whatever may have been the sense in which it was used by Jesus (whether literal or metaphorical).

Translation:

Entered must in some languages specify ‘entered the house.’

Child offers certain problems to the translator since languages frequently have a number of terms, depending upon the age and stage of maturity. Note that the age is specifically given in verse 42, and it may be assumed that she had not experienced puberty (this latter event is the decisive distinction in many indigenous terms for ‘child’ or ‘girl’).

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 .