vineyard

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “vineyard” in English is translated in Noongar as boodjer-djildjiyang, lit. “land for fruit.” (Source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).

complete verse (Mark 12:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 12:9:

  • Uma: “From there, Yesus said to the Yahudi leaders: ‘So, what will the field owner do? He will certainly come and kill those who were taking care of his field, and his field he will give to other people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Na,’ said Isa, ‘what will the owner of that garden do to the caretakers of his garden? He will go and kill them and he will give his garden to others to care for.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then Jesus said again, ‘Since that happened, what will the owner of the grape orchard do? He will come to those people and kill them, and he will give that orchard to others.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then Jesus said, ‘What perhaps will the farm owner do to those joint-farmers?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well now, what will be done by that owner of the ubas plants? He now will be the one to go there, for he will wipe out those ones left in charge. And then he will cause that ubas plantation of his to be tended by other farmers.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 12:9

Exegesis:

ho kurios (cf. 11.3) ‘the owner.’

apolesei (cf. 1.24) ‘he will kill,’ ‘he will destroy,’ ‘he will put to death.’

allois ‘to others’: either generally ‘to other men,’ or specifically ‘to other tenants.’

Translation:

Come may usually be translated as ‘come’ in this type of context since the story centers on the vineyard, but the shift of subject may in some languages require ‘go.’

Some translations have rendered destroy merely as ‘to ruin the business of the tenants,’ but this is not the meaning of the passage, as is indicated above.

Give must not be interpreted in the sense of ‘give as a gift,’ but ‘to rent it out,’ likewise on a commission basis. This must be rendered in some cases as ‘arrange to have other tenants take care of the vineyard.’

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 .