complete verse (Mark 6:53)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 6:53:

  • Uma: “When they arrived at the other side of the lake, they landed at a place called Genesaret.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When they had crossed over, they arrived in the place Gennesaret and they made-fast/docked at the shore.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “When they had arrived at the other side of the lake, they went ashore at the village of Genesaret.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When they had-crossed-over and they had come-to-land in the region of Gennesaret, they tied the boat (to something) at the edge of the lake.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When they had crossed over, there at Genesaret is where they came to land, and when they had anchored the boat, they went ashore there.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 6:53

Text:

Instead of diaperasantes epi tēn gēn ēlthon eis Gennēsaret ‘having crossed over to the land they came to Gennesaret’ of all modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus has diaperasantes ēlthon epi tēn gēn Gennēsaret ‘having crossed over they came to the land of Gennesaret.’

Exegesis:

diaperasantes (cf. 5.21) ‘having crossed (the Lake of Galilee).’

epi tēn gēn ‘to land,’ ‘to the land’: some take this phrase with diaperasantes ‘having crossed’ (Translator’s New Testament), but most translations take it with ēlthon ‘they came’ (Revised Standard Version, The Modern Speech New Testament, Lagrange, O Novo Testamento de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Revisdo Autorizada).

prosōrmisthēsan (only here in the N.T.) ‘they came to anchor,’ ‘they came to harbor.’

Translation:

For problems involved in crossed over see 4.35. In this instance it would appear that a complete crossing is implied, not just from one point of land to another, but the geographical details are not certain.

Land at Gennesaret is the ‘region of Gennesaret,’ probably a fertile plain south of Capernaum.

In some languages the equivalent of moored to the shore is ‘tied to the shore’ or ‘drew the boat up on the shore.’

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 .