complete verse (Mark 6:49)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 6:49:

  • Uma: “When they saw there was someone walking on the water, they cried out in fear, they said: ‘There’s a ghost [lit., scary-thing]!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “but his disciples saw him walking on the skin of the lake and they thought-mistakenly that he was a ghost. They really shouted/screamed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “but when the disciples saw him walking on the water their breaths were startled because they thought that was he was a soul (ghost). They cried out” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “but when they saw him walking on the surface of the water, the fear of them all was extreme and they screamed, because they thought it was a ghost. Jesus immediately-spoke to them and said, ‘Be-reassured! This is I. Don’t be afraid!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But those disciples saw the one walking on top of the water. They cried out in fear for they thought that one walking was one-who-had-died.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 6:49

Exegesis:

edoxan (10.42) ‘they thought,’ ‘they supposed.’

phantasma (only here in Mark) ‘apparition,’ ‘ghost.’

anekraxan (cf. 1.23) ‘they cried out,’ ‘they screamed’ in terror.

Translation:

Ghost is usually quite easily translated, for most peoples claim to have seen apparitions of dead people moving in shadowy forms, and for such spectres they usually have a name. In fact, in some languages there are several different names, depending upon the size and definiteness of form of the object in question.

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 .