eternal life

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The Greek that is translated in English as “eternal life” is translated in various ways:

Lloyd Peckham explains the Mairasi translation: “In secret stories, not knowable to women nor children, there was a magical fruit of life. If referred to vaguely, without specifying the specific ‘fruit,’ it can be an expression for eternity.”

See also eternity / forever and salvation.

complete verse (Mark 10:30)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 10:30:

  • Uma: “he will get a big pay-back. In this life he will get a hundred times as many houses, relatives, mothers, children, gardens–and he will also get persecution. And in the future he will also get good life forever.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “God will truly recompense/reward him causing-to-be-many the houses, and siblings male-female, mothers, children, and lands, as long as he is here in the world. But he will also experience persecution if he follows me. But even if he is persecuted,’ said Isa, ‘he will be given life without end there in the afterworld.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “that person will receive a hundred-fold of that which he left–houses, brothers, and sisters, his mother, his children and lands, and besides that, in the future he will be given eternal life. However, while he is still here on the earth, he will have to endure persecutions.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “he will receive a hundred times more in this life than the value of what he left. He will receive more houses, siblings/cousins, mothers, children and lands. He will also be persecuted, but in the future (lit. addition of days) he will be given life that has no end.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For it’s really certain that one hundred times as much (lit. one hundred doubles) is what he will receive in this life, houses, parents, siblings, children and livelihood, but this won’t run-out-of persecutions (lit, being caused suffering) by others. And then in the second life, life which is without ending will be his.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 10:30

Exegesis:

ean mē labē ‘unless he receive,’ ‘except he receive’: this construction goes back to the beginning of v. 29, oudeis estin hos aphēken … ean mē labē ‘there is none who left … unless he receive.’ The phrase can be freely translated, ‘Whoever left … will receive.’

en tō kairō toutō ‘in this time’: the word kairos (cf. 1.15) is here equal in meaning with aiōn ‘age’ and ‘this time (age)’ is contrasted with ‘the coming age’ in the next clause.

meta diōgmōn ‘with persecutions’: that is, among or accompanied by persecutions.

diōgmos (cf. 4.17) ‘persecution.’

en tō aiōni tō erchomenō ‘in the coming age,’ ‘in the future age.’

aiōn (cf. 3.29) ‘age.’

ho erchomenos ‘the coming one,’ ‘the future one’ (for this use of the participle of erchomai ‘come.’

zōēn aiōnion (cf. 10.17) ‘eternal life.’

Translation:

Hundredfold is often not easily translated, but in some languages one can say ‘if he leaves a home, a brother, a sister…, he will receive one hundred homes, brothers, sister….’

Receive must not be translated in the sense of ‘take into his hands.’ The equivalent expression in many languages is ‘will come to possess’ or ‘will come to have.’

With persecutions must in some languages be translated as a separate clause, e.g. ‘and at the same time he will be persecuted’ (or ‘treated bad’).

Age is a highly abstract concept which does not exist in some languages. The equivalent is ‘day’ or ‘time.’ In the age to come may be ‘the far off time’ (Tzeltal) or ‘in the future’ or ‘then later,’ in which case ‘now’ contrasts with ‘then later.’

For eternal life see 10.17.

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 .