gave them authority over the unclean spirits

The Greek that is translated in English as “gave them authority over the unclean spirits” or similar is translated in Teutila Cuicatec as “gave them the work that they should take out evil spirits.” In Teutila Cuicatec, “authority” is never spoken of as being “given”.Rather it is considered to be the automatic possession of one who has been given a “work” by a recognized authority. (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

unclean spirit / evil spirit

The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated/transliterated in English as “unclean spirit” or “evil spirit” is translated in Paasaal it is translated as gyɩŋbɔmɔ, which is also the term used for “demon (see here. Wyɩŋbɔmɔ are “beings that are in the wild and can only be seen when they choose to reveal themselves to certain people. They can ‘capture’ humans and keep them in hiding while they train the person in herbalism and divination. After the training period, which can range from a week to many years, the ‘captured’ individual is released to go back into society as a healer and a diviner. The gyɩŋbɔmɔ can also be evil, striking humans with mental diseases and causing individuals to get lost in the wild. The Pasaale worldview about demons is like that of others of the language groups in the area.” (Source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)

complete verse (Mark 6:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 6:7:

  • Uma: “He called his twelve disciples, he sent [with a message–implied in verb; this is the root word we use for "apostle"] them in groups of two, and he gave them authority to expel evil-spirits.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then he called his twelve disciples to him and he told/commanded them to go two-together to proclaim the word/message of God. He also gave them power to cast out demons.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “He gathered together his twelve disciples to send them out. He divided them up by twos, and he also gave them power to drive away demons.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then he called/invited his twelve disciples to send them by-twos. He gave them authority to make-evil-spirits -leave” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And then he gathered together his twelve disciples for he was going to send them out in twos. He gave them authority with which to drive out evil spirits from the people being possessed.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 6:7

Exegesis:

proskaleitai (cf. 3.13) ‘he summons,’ ‘he calls to himself.’

hoi dōdeka (cf. 3.14, 16) ‘the Twelve’ as a title, not simply as a number of men (Revised Standard Version ‘the twelve’).

apostellein (cf. 1.2; 3.14) ‘to send off’: a commission and authority to carry out the ministry of Jesus, in accordance with their call as disciples (cf. 3.14-15).

duo duo ‘by the twos,’ ‘two by two’: the use of the cardinal numbers in a distributive sense is not only Semitic but thoroughly Greek as well.

exousian tōn pneumatōn tōn akathartōn ‘authority over the unclean spirits,’ i.e. authority or power to cast them out.

exousia (cf. 1.23; 3.15) ‘authority,’ ‘capacity,’ ‘power.’

ta pneumata ta akatharta (cf. 1.23) ‘the unclean spirits.’

Translation:

For problems in translating the twelve, see 3.14. For authority see 2.10, and for unclean spirits see 1.26.

Called must not be interpreted in the sense of ‘call out to’ or ‘to summon’ (in the legal sense). Moreover, in this context, we are not dealing with the ‘commissioning’ of 3.13. In some languages the equivalent is ‘he spoke especially to the twelve followers’ or ‘he addressed himself to the twelve learners.’

Send them out may be rendered as ‘told them to go out,’ for their going out was in response to a verbal command.

Two by two must be distributive, not collective, i.e. two men went in one direction and two others in another.

Authority over may be rendered simply as ‘power (or ‘strength’) to cast out’ (or ‘to command’). It should be noted, however, that this was a delegated power, not an inherent capacity.

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 .