fat, oil

The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Mark 14:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:4:

  • Uma: “Several people who were there, they were angry seeing what the woman did. They spoke to each other, they said: ‘What is the use of fragrant oil being wasted like that!” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But some people who were there were angry and they spoke, ‘Why was that fragrant oil wasted/spoiled like that?’ they said.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Some of the people who saw this did not like it. They spoke to each other saying, ‘Why was the perfume wasted for no reason?” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Whereupon some who were there became-angry and spoke-to-one-another, ‘What-a-waste!” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Some of those there became angry. They were saying, ‘Why is that perfume being wasted?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

complete verse (Mark 14:4)

Translation commentary on Mark 14:4

Exegesis:

aganaktountes (cf. 10.14) ‘indignant,’ ‘angry.’ The Greek verbal phrase ēsan … aganaktountes ‘were … angry’ must be given some sense such as Revised Standard Version gives it, ‘were saying indignantly.’

pros heautous (cf. 9.10; 10.26; 11.31; 12.7; 16.3) literally ‘to themselves,’ meaning ‘to one another,’ ‘among themselves,’ as in the other passages where the phrase occurs. Black suggests this represents the Aramaic ethical dative, meaning ‘some were indeed vexed.’

eis ti (15.34) ‘for what reason?,’ ‘for what purpose?,’ ‘why?.’

hē apōleia (only here in Mark) ‘destruction,’ ‘waste.’

gegonen ‘has happened,’ ‘took place.’ Literally the question reads: ‘For what purpose did this waste of the ointment occur?’

Translation:

To themselves must be understood as reciprocal, not reflexive, e.g. ‘they were saying to each other.’

Indignantly must often be treated as a separate verb expression, e.g. ‘some of the people there were angry and they said to each other.’

Wasted may be translatable in terms of (1) discard, i.e. ‘thrown away’ or ‘used for no good purpose,’ or (2) failure to use properly, e.g. ‘not used for a good purpose.’

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 .