complete verse (Mark 16:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 16:2:

  • Uma: “So, very early Sunday morning, at the first sign of light, they went to the grave.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then early-in-the morning of Sunday, they went to the grave.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And in the morning when the sun had just come up on the first day of the week, they went to where Jesus was buried.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When it was then dawning on Sunday, they went to his burial-place. It was already day when they arrived.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Next day, they set out very early. The proof of that was, when they arrived at the grave, only then was sunrise, it being Sunday.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 16:2

Exegesis:

lian prōi tē mia tōn sabbatōn … anateilantos tou hēliou ‘very early on the first day of the week … when the sun had risen’: this is Sunday morning (following the Saturday evening of the previous verse) at or soon after sunrise.

lian prōi (cf. 1.35) ‘exceedingly early.’

tē mia tōn sabbatōn (only here in Mark; cf. Mt. 28.1, Lk. 24.1, Jn. 20.1, 19, Acts 20.7, 1 Co. 16.2) ‘the first (day) of the week.’

anatellō (cf. 4.6) ‘come up,’ ‘rise’: the aorist participle indicates that the sun had risen.

erchontai epi to mnēma ‘they come to the tomb.’

mnēma (cf. 5.3) ‘tomb.’

Translation:

Week is not usually difficult to translate since the division of the month into four units, representing different phases of the moon, is widely employed. However, where a term for week is not known, one can say ‘the first of the seven days.’ There is, however, a further difficulty with the phrase ‘first day of the week’ in that in many parts of the world Monday is regarded as the first day of the week. Nevertheless, the only solution seems to be to translate the phrase as it stands and depend on explanation to correct any local usage.

It is important that a translation of very early does not contradict the meaning of when the sun had risen, for in many languages, ‘very early in the morning’ means well before sunrise.

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 .