complete verse (Mark 12:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 12:20:

  • Uma: “So, there were seven siblings, all male. The first-born married, me died with no children.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Na so-then, there were seven men who were siblings. The oldest one married, then he died, they had no children.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Long ago there were here seven brothers. The older one got married but he died without any children.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Now then, there were reportedly seven male siblings. The oldest got-married, but he died without their having children.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well we say that because recently there were here with us (excl.) seven siblings who were all male. Well, the oldest married. He died without any children.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 12:20

Exegesis:

ho prōtos ‘the first’: probably, though not necessarily so, the oldest of the seven.

apothnēskōn ouk aphekēn ‘dying he did not leave’: the participle is temporal, ‘when he died.’ In English the proper relation between the two verbs will be established by translating ‘he died without leaving….’

Translation:

The first is ‘the oldest brother.’

Took a wife may be quite wrongly understood if translated literally, e.g. ‘took away someone else’s wife.’ A more common idiom is ‘married a woman.’

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 .