He gave freedom to those in bondage of evil (image)

“In Thai society, those who are possessed by evil spirits are usually the weak or mentally unstable. This man is shown as freed from his spiritual and physical chains. Even though he is naked Jesus is not ashamed to be close to him.”

Drawing by Sawai Chinnawong who employs northern and central Thailand’s popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes; explanation by Paul DeNeui. From That Man Who Came to Save Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul H. DeNeui, William Carey Library, 2010.

For more images by Sawai Chinnatong in TIPs see here.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Mark 5:12)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding Jesus).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Mark 5:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 5:12:

  • Uma: “Those evil-spirit requested of Yesus, they said: ‘Order us (excl.) to enter into those pigs over there.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The demons begged Isa, they said, ‘Command us to go to those pigs and cause us to enter their bodies.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the demons begged Jesus, they said, ‘Let us go over to those pigs so that we might enter into them.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “therefore the spirits begged saying, ‘Please permit (sing.) that we (excl.) go possess those many-pigs.’ ‘Yes, indeed,’ he said.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Those evil spirits again begged-for-pity from Jesus. They said, ‘Just leave us alone to transfer to those pigs.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 5:11 – 5:12

Text:

Verse 12. After auton ‘him’ Textus Receptus adds pantes hoi daimones ‘all the demons’ which is omitted by all modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

ēn … boskomenē ‘it was … feeding’: according to Marcan usage, the two are to be taken together as a single verbal phrase (cf. ēn esthōn ‘he was eating’ in 1.6).

boskō (5.14) ‘graze,’ ‘feed’ (in the passive, of livestock); ‘tend,’ ‘feed,’ (in the active, of herdsmen – v. 14).

agelē (5.13) choirōn (5.13, 16) ‘a herd of pigs’ (this would be in Gentile territory, on the east side of the Lake of Galilee – cf. Lagrange).

kai parekalesan auton legontes ‘and they begged him saying’: the subject is neuter ‘the unclean spirits’ and the nominative masculine participle legontes ‘saying’ must be taken in a general way, the concordance not being precise.

parakaleō (cf. 1.40) ‘beg,’ ‘entreat,’ ‘implore.’

pempson hēmas eis tous choirous ‘send us to the hogs.’

pempō (only here in Mark) ‘send.’

eis ‘into’ (American Standard Version, Translator’s New Testament, Moffatt), ‘among’ (Manson), or ‘to’ (Revised Standard Version, The Modern Speech New Testament, Berkeley, O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada, Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale). The translation of this eis will depend on the translation of the next clause; ‘to,’ however, seems preferable here.

hina eis autous eiselthōmen ‘so that we might enter (into) them’: if hina here be taken to denote purpose ‘in order that,’ ‘so that,’ it would seem that eis in the former clause (see above) means ‘to,’ since eis here is manifestly ‘into.’ It is possible, however, to take hina in the imperative sense (as it is often used in the N.T.) and understand this second clause simply as a repetition of the first clause, which is imperatival (pempson ‘send’): ‘Send us to (into, among) the hogs, let us enter them’ (so Goodspeed, Translator’s New Testament, Revised Standard Version).

Translation:

In some languages careful distinctions are made in words designating a ‘herd,’ depending upon what types of animals are involved. (Compare the English use of herd of cattle, flock of geese, swarm of bees, and covey of quails.)

Swine must be a domesticated variety, or the following portion of the story will be incomprehensible. Where pigs are not known, a borrowed word may be used with a classifier, e.g. ‘animals called pigs,’ or some descriptive expression, if possible one already employed by the people, e.g. ‘queer deer,’ a phrase in use among the Barrow Eskimo.

Note that though the man is the subject of the entreaty in verse 10, the unclean spirits are specifically identified as the subject of the begging in verse 12.

Let us is equivalent to ‘permit us’ or ‘allow us.’

Was feeding may be rendered in terms of ‘being pastured’ or ‘hunting for something to eat’ (Tabasco Chontal).

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 .