Mark 13:6

in the name of, on the account of his (or: my) name

Some of the Hebrew and Greek phrases that are translated in English in association with “name,” including “in the name of,” “in my name,” “in your name,” “on the account of my name,” “on the account of your name” (according to a classification by Robert Bratcher in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 72ff. , phrases that belong to the categories of “Agency or instrumentality” and “Representation”) present a number of challenges in other languages.

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

Eugene Nida (1947, p 178ff.) explains this way:

“The biblical attitudes toward human personality are of great theological importance. There is, however, only one word which produces any considerable difficulty in other languages. This is the word ‘name.’ The great difference attached to the significance of the name of a person in the Bible times in contrast with our own culture is very important. Note such phrases as ‘whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,’ John 14:13, ‘believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,’ John 3:18, and ‘life through his name,’ John 20:31. These expressions are generally difficult for us to understand, for the word ‘name’ does not mean the same to us as it meant to those of Bible times. To them the name was the symbolization of the authority and personality of the individual who possessed the name. To us a name is far less important. It may be changed whenever one can convince a judge that another name might be more economically advantageous. The name is also a legal method of giving one’s written assent to certain business transactions, but to us it is not the symbol of the personality.”

The translation in Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl typically is “in someone’s authority” (for instance “I have come in my Father’s name” in John 5:43 becomes “I have come on my Father’s authority”) (source Nida 1947, p. 179), or in Highland Puebla Nahuatl with the more paraphrastic equivalent “as though on orders from you” or in Tzeltal as “by your authority, so he said” (both examples for Mark 9:38 and 39, see Bratcher / Nida).

In Guhu-Samane, Mark 11:9 (in English: “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord”) is translated as “Blessed is the Lord’s namesake who comes.” “In the name of the Lord” caused “puzzlement [because] “has he just assumed the name of the Lord, valid or otherwise? [But] with ‘blessed is the Lord’s namesake who comes’ the strong bond between the namesake and the important ancestor for whom named entitles the namesake to the deference due the ancestor. Thought very proper in this context.” (Source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. )

Barclay Newman (see The Bible Translator 1974, pp, 432ff. ) reports on different solutions for the translation of the Today’s Malay Version (Alkitab Berita Baik, 1987):

In Malay “the phrase ‘in my name’ is problematic (…) since it sounds like the use of magic. For this reason [the English] Today’s English Version (Good News Bible) was followed at such passages as John 5:43 and 10:25, where ‘in the name of my Father’ is translated as ‘with my Father’s authority’ and ‘by my Father’s authority’ [respectively]. In John 12:13 ‘in the name of the Lord’ has become ‘in his (the Lord’s) behalf,’ following the common language German translation Die Gute Nachricht. In John 14:13, ‘because you are my followers’ is used, in John in 15:16, 16:23 and 24 ‘as my followers,’ in John 17:11 ‘by your own power, the power you gave me,’ and in John 14:26 ‘in my place.'”

Other translations for “in the name of Jesus Christ” include “in the authority of Jesus Christ” (Isthmus Mixe), “calling on Jesus Christ” (Teutila Cuicatec), “calling the name of Jesus Christ over you” (Ayutla Mixtec), “because of Jesus” (Tepeuxila Cuicatec), “by the power of the name of Jesus Christ” (Chichimeca-Jonaz), or “the word of Jesus Christ is strong” (Lalana Chinantec). (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.).

Mark 1:29-39 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 1:29-39 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:

Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

House of Prayer. Jesus came out of there. He had two disciples with him, James and John. They came to the house of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was there. She had a fever. She was sick and lying down. Jesus went into the house. And heard that his mother-in-law was lying sick. And Jesus went in and saw her lying there. He took her by the hand and began to lift her up. The mother-in-law got up and suddenly found that there was no fever! She was healthy! She was very happy. And she began cheerfully to prepare food and distribute it.

There were many people gathered in the city of Capernaum. They were all waiting for the sun to set. There were many sick people there who were possessed by demons. Many people were brought to Simon’s house. The sick were being put together and they took up all the space around Simon’s house. They waited for Jesus to come out. Jesus came out and treated the sick: He healed one, cured another, cast out a demon from a demon possessed man. The demons inside the possessed wanted to talk about Jesus, but he forbade them! Jesus healed one, another, and a third. He cast out demons from one man and another. And all this was until late at night.

Early in the morning, when the sun had just risen, Jesus quietly went out of Simon’s house and looked for a deserted place. Jesus began to pray earnestly to God. And Simon and the men began to look for Jesus everywhere, and they searched and searched and searched, and finally they found him. And they said:

— There are people there, they are all waiting for you. Let’s go!

Jesus answered them:

— No. I came here, why? I need to tell everyone about God. You follow me.

There are many different villages in Galilee. Jesus came to these villages – one, another, another, another — went into the house of prayer of the Jews, taught there, cast out demons from people who were possessed by demons. So he came to many villages.

Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):

Дом молитвы. Иисус вышел оттуда. С ним были два ученика Иаков и Иоанн. Они пришли к дому Симона и Андрея. Там была теща Симона. У нее повысилась температура. Она заболела и лежала. Иисус зашел в дом. И услышал, что теща лежит больная. Ииусу зашел и видит, что она лежит. Он взял ее за руку и стал поднимать. Теща поднялась и вдруг обнаружила, что температуры нет! Она здоровая! Она очень обрадовалась. И она начала бодро готовить еду и раздавать ее.

В городе Капернауме собралось много людей. Они все ждали, когда солнце зайдет. Там было очень много больных, одержимых бесами. Многих людей приносили к дому Симона. Больных складывали, они заняли все место вокруг дома Симона. Они ждали, когда Иисус выйдет. Иисус вышел и лечил больных: одного исцелил, другого исцелил, из одержимого бесом изгнал беса. Бесы внутри одержимых хотели говорить об Иисусе, но Он запрещал им! Исцелял Иисус одного, другого, третьего. Бесов изгонял из одного, другого человека. И все это было до глубокой ночи.

Рано утром, когда только солнце взошло, Иисус тихонько вышел из дома Симона и искал пустынное место. Иисус начал усердно молиться Богу. А Симон и его люди стали искать Иисуса повсюду, искали-искали и, наконец, нашли. И сказали:

— Там люди, они все ждут тебя. Пойдем!

Иисус им ответил:

— Нет. Я пришел сюда, зачем? Мне нужно всем рассказать о Боге. Вы идите за мной.

В Галилее есть много разных селений. Иисус приходил в эти селения — в одно, другое, третье — заходил в дом молитвы евреев, учил там, изгонял бесов из людей, одержимых бесами. Так он приходил во многие селения.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

<< Mark 1:21-28 in Russian Sign Language

Mark 1:40-45 in Russian Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 13:6)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 13:6:

Uma: “For many people will appear who will say that they are the Redeemer King, with the result that many people will be deceived.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “For many will come calling themselves by my name and saying that they are Almasi. And they will deceive many.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For many will appear using my name, and each one of them will say that he is chosen by God to rule, and many will believe their lies.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because many are those who will come saying, ‘I emphatically am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Because many are those who will come falsely-claiming my name, saying, ‘I am the one who is meant by Cristo.’ Really many will be misled by them.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 13:6

Exegesis:

epi tō onomati mou (cf. 9.37) ‘in my name’: some difficulty arises from the fact that the phrase ordinarily means ‘on my account,’ ‘for my sake,’ ‘in my behalf’; here, however, it seems to demand the meaning, ‘representing to be me,’ ‘as though they were I,’ since they will say, “I am he.” Arndt & Gingrich suggest ‘using my name’; ‘in my name’ is the reading of most English translations (cf. Vulgate in nomine meo); Lagrange has sous mon nom. Notwithstanding the difficulty, some such translation as Revised Standard Version ‘in my name,’ or ‘under my name,’ will probably convey the meaning without involving the statement in any contradiction.

hoti ‘that’ introduces direct statement.

egō eimi literally ‘I am’ or ‘It is I’ (cf. 6.50); here, clearly, a claim to be the Messiah – ‘I am He’ (cf. 14.62), or, in accordance with Marcan language, ‘I am the Son of man’ (cf. v. 26).

Translation:

For the use of in my name see 9.37, but in this context a special rendering is often required, e.g. ‘making use of my name,’ ‘calling themselves by my name,’ or ‘applying my name to themselves.’

I am he is sometimes very ambiguous, especially as this expression is spoken by Jesus. Hence, ‘I am the Christ’ or ‘I am the Son of man’ is a much closer equivalent. In languages which generally prefer an indirect form of discourse, this statement may be less ambiguous, e.g. ‘they will say that they are I,’ or ‘they will say that they are what I am.’

A further complication may be found in the shift from plural to singular in the form of the direct discourse, e.g. ‘many will come…, each will say, I am he.’ Moreover, the plural of ‘many’ must be interpreted as distributive, not as collective, for each person claims for himself the Messiahship.

For lead many astray see the previous verse.

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 .

Step into the multitudes of languages of the Bible and join the worldwide conversation!

Verse: Mark 13:6