generation

The Greek that is translated into English as “(this) generation” is translated as “the people now” into Chol, “those who are in space now” into Tzeltal or “you people” into Tlahuitoltepec Mixe. (Source: Bratcher / Nida; Mixe: Robert Bascom)

Generic terms for the Greek that is translated as “generation” include “(people of one) layer” (Ekari, Toraja-Sa’dan, Batak Toba), or “one storey of growing” (Highland Totonac, using a term also denoting a storey or floor of a building). (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

See also generations and all generations.

truly truly - I tell you

The Greek that is often translated in English as “truly, truly, I tell you” or similar is translated in the Russian BTI translation (publ. 2015) as Поверьте Мне (Pover’te Mne) or “trust me.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Amen.

complete verse (Mark 13:30)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 13:30:

  • Uma: “Indeed I tell you: all those previous things will happen before all the people who are alive at this time die.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Truly I tell you,’ said Isa, ‘not all people who live today will have died, when this that I have said will already arrive.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Remember this I am saying to you: when you see all these things being fulfilled, you will not all die before they will all be fulfilled.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “This that I tell you is true that some of the people who are here today/now will still be living when all that I have said is fulfilled.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “This really is the truth, that this nation of people won’t be wiped out before all this has been fulfilled.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff.), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

Translation commentary on Mark 13:30

Exegesis:

For amēn ‘truly’ cf. 3.28; ou mē emphatic ‘in no way’ cf. 9.1 (in ch. 13 cf. vv. 2 (twice), 19).

ou mē parelthē hē genea hautē ‘this generation will not in any way pass away,’ i.e. ‘this generation will assuredly be alive.’ This saying is of the same kind as 9.1, and, like that one, nothing is to be inferred here as to when this generation ‘will pass away’: the emphasis here lies on the fact that ‘all these things will happen’ during the lifetime of this generation.

parerchomai (cf. 6.48) ‘pass by,’ ‘pass away’: here in the sense of ‘disappear,’ ‘come to an end.’

hē genea hautē (cf. 8.12) ‘this generation’: the obvious meaning of the words ‘this generation’ is the people contemporary with Jesus. Nothing can be gained by trying to take the word in any sense other than its normal one: in Mark (elsewhere in 8.12; 9.19) the word always has this meaning (cf. Lagrange).

mechris hou (only here in Mark) ‘until,’ ‘until which time’: a succinct way of saying mechris ekeinou tou chronou en hō ‘until that time in which.’

tauta panta ‘all these things’: in the context this can only refer to all the events described in the discourse. (Notice that tauta ‘these things’ of v. 29, and tauta panta ‘all these things’ of v. 30, correspond to the tauta and tauta … panta of the disciples’ question in v. 4.)

Translation:

For truly employed in this type of construction and for generation see 8.12. By far the most common translation of generation in this passage is ‘those living now’ or ‘people who are now alive.’

Pass away cannot be translated literally in most languages. The closest equivalent is generally ‘die,’ but if a term parallel to the use of pass away in the following verse can be employed, this should be done.

Take place is translatable as ‘occur,’ ‘happen,’ or ‘become’ (Greek genetai), often in the future tense or its equivalent, since these events followed the statement of Jesus.

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 .