first commandment

The Greek that is translated as “first commandment” in English is translated in Guhu-Samane as “the head of the rest of the commandments… .” This solves a potential confusion for Guhu-Samane speakers whether the commandment is “the first in point of time, or of importance. [This way] it speaks obviously of the primacy of the commandment.”

Source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. .

scribe

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The Greek that is usually translated as “scribe” in English “were more than mere writers of the law. They were the trained interpreters of the law and expounders of tradition.”

Here are a number of its (back-) translations:

  • Yaka: “clerk in God’s house”
  • Amganad Ifugao: “man who wrote and taught in the synagogue”
  • Navajo: “teaching-writer” (“an attempt to emphasize their dual function”)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “book-wise person”
  • San Blas Kuna: “one who knew the Jews’ ways”
  • Loma: “educated one”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “one knowing holy paper”
  • Central Mazahua: “writer of holy words”
  • Indonesian: “expert in the Torah”
  • Pamona: “man skilled in the ordinances” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Sinhala: “bearer-of-the-law”
  • Marathi: “one-learned-in-the-Scriptures”
  • Shona (1966): “expert of the law”
  • Balinese: “expert of the books of Torah”
  • Ekari: “one knowing paper/book”
  • Tboli: “one who taught the law God before caused Moses to write” (or “one who taught the law of Moses”) (source for this and 5 above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Noongar: Mammarapa-Warrinyang or “law man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Mairasi: “one who writes and explains Great Above One’s (=God’s) prohibitions” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Chichewa: “teacher of Laws” (source: Ernst Wendland)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “teachers of law”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “writer”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “person who teaches the law which Moses wrote”
  • Alekano: “man who knows wisdom” (source for this and four above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Saint Lucian Creole French: titcha lwa sé Jwif-la (“teacher of the law of the Jews”) (source: David Frank in Lexical Challenges in the St. Lucian Creole Bible Translation Project, 1998)
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “one who teaches the holy writings”
  • Atatláhuca Mixtec: “teacher of the words of the law”
  • Coatlán Mixe: “teacher of the religious law”
  • Lalana Chinantec: “one who is a teacher of the law which God gave to Moses back then”
  • Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “one who know well the law” (Source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Huixtán Tzotzil: “one who mistakenly thought he was teaching God’s commandments”(Huixtán Tzotzil frequently uses the verb -cuy to express “to mistakenly think something” from the point of view of the speaker; source: Marion M. Cowan in Notes on Translation 20/1966, pp. 6ff.)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian”
  • English translation by Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023): Covenant Code scholar

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “expert” and “law.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Scribe” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

complete verse (Mark 12:28)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 12:28:

  • Uma: “At that time, a religion teacher came to Yesus. He heard the previous argument of the Saduki people with Yesus, and he said in him heart: ‘That reply of Yesus’ was indeed good!’ That’s why he also asked something of Yesus, he said: ‘Which command is the main one of all the commands?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then there was a teacher of the religious law standing there and he heard their arguing/discussion. When he observed that Isa’s answer to them was good, he went closer to ask Isa. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘which is the commandment greater than all?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there was there a teacher of the law who heard their arguing with Jesus. When he realized that Jesus was very wise in answering them, he asked him, ‘Teacher, which one of all the laws is the first?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There was a teacher of the law who was listening to the conversation of the Sadducees and Jesus and he asked Jesus, ‘What is the most-important command?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “One person who was an explainer of law heard their arguing/conflict. He comprehended that the answers Jesus gave were wholly correct. That’s why he approached and questioned Jesus. He said, ‘Teacher, which law is the most important?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 12:28

Text:

Instead of eidōs ‘knowing,’ ‘perceiving’ of the great majority of modern editions of the Greek text, Taylor, Turner and (apparently) Revised Standard Version have idōn ‘seeing.’

Exegesis:

Some of the words in this verse have already been dealt with: for proserchomai ‘come to,’ ‘approach’ cf. 1.31; grammateus ‘scribe’ cf. 1.22; suzēteō ‘dispute’ cf. 1.27; kalōs ‘well,’ ‘fittingly’ cf. 7.6; entolē ‘commandment’ cf. 7.8; prōtē ‘first’ (of rank, or importance, not of time) cf. 6.21.

heis ‘one’: as in 5.22 the numeral is equivalent to the indefinite pronoun tis ‘a certain one.’ The whole phrase heis tōn grammateōn means simply ‘a scribe.’

akousas ‘hearing’: the participle here is practically in the nature of a relative clause, ‘who heard.’

poia (cf. 11.28) ‘what,’ ‘which’: although some (cf. Swete, Lagrange) hold that the pronoun has here the qualitative force ‘of what sort,’ ‘of what kind,’ most commentators and translations take it to be simply interrogative, equivalent to tis ‘what?,’ ‘which?’

prōtē pantōn ‘(the) first of all’: it is to be noticed that pantōn ‘of all’ is not feminine, in agreement with prōtē ‘first (commandment),’ but is either masculine or neuter. It probably is to be taken in a general way “first of all commandments” even though there is no concordance of genders (in which Taylor sees Semitic influence); Field, however, takes it to mean omnium rerum “of all things” (cf. also Lagrange le premier de toutes choses).

Translation:

Them disputing with one another may have one of two different meanings: (1) Jesus is included in the group disputing, and hence it is a case of the Sadducees disputing with Jesus, or (2) the Sadducees may be regarded as disputing among themselves on the basis of Jesus’ answer. Where the ambiguity of the Greek may be preserved, one should attempt to do so. Otherwise, one can choose either of the alternative meanings and translate the clause in such a way as to relate it meaningfully to the following.

Because of the series of verbs, involving three different subjects (came up … heard … disputing … seeing … answered … asked), it is often necessary to break the sentence up into smaller units, e.g. ‘a scribe came up and heard them disputing with one another; he saw that Jesus was answering them well; he asked Jesus.’

First must be understood in terms of importance or value, not with reference to time or position, except as these elements may also imply importance. One may translate accordingly, ‘what is the most important commandment?’

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 .