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.

complete verse (Mark 5:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 5:14:

  • Uma: “When the people who were with the pigs saw what happened, off they ran to the near-by village(s) and gardens announcing that happening. That’s why the villagers came, wanting to see what had happened.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then the people who were looking after those pigs ran and told there in the town and in the up-country. So-then the people went to see what had happened.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there were some men taking care of the pigs and they ran to the town and to the homesteads nearby to tell what had happened. And when the people heard it, they went out to Jesus to see what had happened.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “As-for the ones-watching/guarding the many-pigs, they up-and-ran to their town and to the surrounding places to go report it to the inhabitants there. Therefore the many-people, they went to see what had happened.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When the herdsmen of those pigs observed, they ran telling everyone in the town and in the houses nearby. When the people knew, they went there so that they would see the truth of that which was being told.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 5:14

Exegesis:

kai hoi boskountes autous ‘and the men tending them (the pigs),’ i.e. ‘the (their) herdsmen.’

ephugon (13.14; 14.50, 52; 16.8) ‘they fled,’ ‘they ran away.’

apēggeilan (5.19; 6.30; 16.10, 13) ‘they announced,’ ‘they told,’ ‘they related.’

eis tēn polin kai eis tous agrous ‘in the city and in the country towns.’

hē polis ‘the city,’ would be here the important city of that region.

agros ‘field,’ ‘country’: the word is used in three ways in Mark: (1) meaning literally ‘field’ (i.e. a plot of ground) in singular and plural, 10.29, 30; 11.8; 13.16; (2) meaning ‘country towns,’ ‘hamlets,’ in the plural only, 5.14; 6.36, 56; (3) meaning ‘rural region,’ ‘country district’ (as opposed to the urban region), in the singular and without the definite article, 15.21; 16.12.

ti estin to gegonos ‘what is it that has happened’: the neuter perfect participle of ginomai ‘happen,’ ‘take place.’

ēlthon ‘they came’: another impersonal plural, i.e. ‘people’ in general (Revised Standard Version), ‘men’ (Translator’s New Testament).

Translation:

The herdsmen are ‘those who watched the pigs,’ or ‘those who took care of the pigs,’ or ‘those who guarded the pigs while they ate.’

Told it must in some instances be expanded to ‘told the people what had happened.’

In the city and in the country must usually modify ‘people,’ i.e. ‘told the news to the people in the city and the people in the country.’ The repetition of ‘people’ may be required because the same people could not be both in the city and in the country at the same time.

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 .