miracle, miraculous power

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The Greek and Hebrew that are often translated as “miracles” or “miraculous powers” into English are translated as “thing which no one has ever seen before” (San Blas Kuna), “thing marveled at” (Tepeuxila Cuicatec), “breathtaking thing” (Ngäbere), “long-necked thing” (referring to the onlookers who stretch their necks to see) (Huautla Mazatec), “sign done by God’s power” (Mossi), “supernatural power” (Javanese), “thing that has heaven-strength” (Highland Totonac) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida), “amazing thing” (Muna) (source: René van den Berg), “sign no one else could do” (Tenango Otomi) (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125), or “impossible thing” (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter 2004).

See also wonder.

lay hands on

The Greek that is translated as “lay hands on (someone)” in English is translated in Tae’ with “‘He-pressed-down,’ a verb that in former times was used with the specific meaning of ‘to press down one’s hand on a person’s head,’ in order to fortify his soul after a dangerous experience, but in Christian usage came to refer to the gesture made when blessing a person.”

complete verse (Mark 6:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 6:5:

  • Uma: “So, Yesus expressed-surprised / was-critical-of them for they did not believe. That’s why he couldn’t do many surprising things there. The only thing he did was to lay-hands on several sick people to heal them. Yesus wandered around paying-visits-to villages and teaching people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And Isa could not do powerful deeds there, except that he placed his hands on a number of sick people and healed them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “That’s why there was no miracle that Jesus could do in that village. He laid his hands on just a few sick people, and they got well.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There were a few sick that Jesus put-his-hands-on to heal, but he had no way to do many miracles there.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well since it was like that, Jesus didn’t do any amazing things there, except that a few sick people he touched/put-his-hand-on and healed them.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 6:5 – 6:6

Exegesis:

dunamin (cf. 5.30; 6.2) ‘mighty work,’ ‘miracle.’

oligois arrōstois epitheis tas cheiras etherapeusen ‘(by) laying his hands on a few sick ones he healed (them).’

arrōstos (6.13; 16.18) ‘powerless,’ i.e. ‘sick,’ ‘ill.’

epitithenai tas cheiras (cf. 5.23) ‘to lay hands upon.’

therapeuō (cf. 1.34) ‘heal,’ ‘cure.’

ethaumasen (cf. 5.20) ‘he marveled,’ ‘he was surprised.’

dia tēn apistian autōn ‘on account of their unbelief’: most English translations (cf. also Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale, Lagrange, O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada) have it ‘at their unbelief’ translating dia not as cause but as the object of the surprise of Jesus.

apistia (9.24; 16.14) ‘lack of belief,’ ‘lack of trust’ in Jesus (cf. faith, confidence, in Jesus, 2.5; 5.34). In this context the word describes the unwillingness of the people of Nazareth to believe that Jesus could work miracles.

kai periēgen tas kōmas kuklō didaskōn ‘and he went around among the adjacent villages teaching.’

periagō (only here in Mark) ‘go about,’ ‘make a tour.’

kōmē (6.36, 56; 8.23, 26, 27; 11.2; cf. agros 5.14) ‘village,’ ‘small town’; in general smaller than polis ‘city’ but larger than agros ‘hamlet’ – cf. especially 6.36, 56.

kuklō (cf. 3.34) ‘round about,’ ‘around’: here modifies tas kōmas ‘surrounding villages.’

Translation:

Could evidently means that though Jesus had the power to perform miracles, in Nazareth he was unable to use his power because of the lack of faith on the part of the people.

For mighty work, see 6.2.

Few is a relative word, which receives its meaning from the context. In other languages there are often equally arbitrary delimitations. For example, in Tzeltal the equivalent of few is ‘two or three,’ but this does not mean literally two or three, but as in the case of English few acquires its meaning from the context; compare ‘a few people in town’ and ‘a few people in our living room,’ obviously capable of quite different meanings.

Unbelief may be rendered as a phrase ‘they did not believe’ or ‘they did not have confidence in him.’

Villages would imply the hamlets surrounding Nazareth, e.g. ‘he went around from hamlet to hamlet, teaching the people.’

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 .