complete verse (Mark 12:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 12:5:

  • Uma: “From there, he sent another slave. When he arrived there, they just/actually killed him. That was how they treated every slave he sent: some they wounded, some they killed.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then he sent again another one of his servants but they killed him. After that, he still sent many others of his servants. Some they beat/inflicted-pain-on and some were killed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the owner sent still another servant, and they killed this servant. Then were many others also following whom he sent. They beat some of them, and they killed some of them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So three-times he sent slaves, but this third one, they killed. There were also those-who-took-their-places whom he sent, but they whipped some and they killed some.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “He just sent another of his slaves, but they killed that one. They kept doing like that to still others who were sent. Some they ganged up on to ill-treat and some they killed.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 12:5

Exegesis:

apekteinan (cf. 3.4) ‘they killed.’

kai pollous allous ‘and many others’: in the accusative case, as the direct object of a verb which is implied, perhaps ‘they mistreated.’

hous men derontes, hous de apoktennontes ‘beating some and killing others’: the two participial clauses denote manner, indicating the manner in which the tenants mistreated the many other servants who were sent.

Translation:

He must in some languages be rendered ‘the owner.’

And so with many others may require some expansion since certain of the semantic components are omitted, e.g. ‘the same thing happened to many others’ or ‘many others suffered in this same way.’

Some they will require more precise identification in certain languages, e.g. ‘the men beat some of the servants and killed others.’

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 .