CHAPTER 1
The Gospel of Mark
Introduction to the Translation
The translation that follows is set out as a short story without chapter and verse designations, so that readers may experience the narrative as an integrated whole.1 The paragraph divisions mark a shift in scene, a change of speaker, or the end of a conflict. Punctuation often serves to establish connections in the narrative and to emphasize the developing action. None of these features appears in the early manuscripts, and so it is the work of translators to provide what they consider appropriate to the meaning and impact of the language. We have translated so as to bring out the drama of the story, as we see it, from the original Greek language.2
We have based this translation on a standard reconstruction of the original Greek text. The earliest copies of Mark in handwritten manuscript form have been lost to us, and our only extant copies are from a time several centuries later than when Mark first composed his Gospel. Early copies of Mark from the first century have not survived. At this early stage, no two copies would have been alike. Scholars have sought to reconstruct Mark’s original wording by assessing the variations found in the later extant copies.3 This reconstructed text is the text upon which we depend for our translation.
Mark’s Gospel ends with the shocking and powerful line, “And they [the women at the grave] said nothing to anyone at all, for they were afraid.” Some Greek manuscripts have variant endings that briefly extend the story and bring the Gospel to different conclusions. However, scholars generally consider the line just quoted to be the actual last line of the original manuscripts of the Gospel. Most contemporary translations print the variant endings in a footnote or with the observation that “the earliest manuscripts do not have these endings.”4 The original ending is a powerful finale to Mark’s story and has significant implications for interpreting the whole drama. This ending of Mark is the ending we honor with our translation.
Translators strive to capture the meaning and impact of the original language. Yet every translation is an interpretation, reflecting choices in which some meanings and connotations are captured and others are lost. This translation is a word-for-word style of translation, in contrast to a translation of dynamic equivalence or a paraphrase.5 We have tried to find single words or brief phrases that most faithfully render the Greek words. Furthermore, because Mark composed his story about Jesus in the everyday language of the first century, we have used everyday English words for the translation.
We have tried to select words that are appropriate to the atmosphere, character traits, conflicts, and emotions in Mark’s story. Often we have avoided overused words, such as kingdom, repentance, forgiveness, and parable. Instead, we have chosen words with nuances from the Greek not always highlighted, such as rule of God, turning around, pardon of sins, and riddles. Where formal names have a meaning in the Greek, we have conveyed that meaning in English, such as the Decapolis as the “Ten Cities,” the Christ as “the anointed one,” and Peter as “Rock.” That is how they would have been heard in the Greek language of the first century.
Our choice of words takes into account the context of the whole story. Most translations render the same recurring Greek word differently from episode to episode. For example, the recurring Greek word hodos is rendered “way,” “journey,” or “road” at various places in the same translation. Similarly, paradidōmi is rendered “arrested,” “handed over,” “delivered up,” and “betrayed.” Thus readers of these English translations cannot see the verbal motifs that are part of the Greek. By contrast, wherever possible, we have translated the same recurring Greek word with the same English word, so that today’s readers can see such verbal motifs recurring as they do in the Greek.6 Repetitions of the same word would have echoed as motifs in the hearing of audiences in the first century.
Two additional word choices need comment. First, we have translated the word kardia, the Greek word for heart, as “mind” as in “hardness [or rigidity] of mind.” For ancients, the heart was not considered the seat of the emotions but the place of thought and will; so “mind” is a closer English equivalent. Second, we have translated the Greek word Ioudaioi as Judeans rather than Jews, as in “king of the Judeans.” This is a more literal translation, and it helps to clarify that the story came from the first century and that these are characters in Mark’s story world.7
Also, we have sought to be faithful to most elements of the Markan oral style, even when they seem awkward—word order, the frequent use of participles, the recurring use of the word and to introduce sentences, the various functions of the imperfect tense, the emphatic pronouns (rendered in italics), the emphatic negatives, and formulaic phrases.8 We have also translated so as to reflect oral stylistic devices such as the two-step progressions, various forms of repetition, concentric structures, and narrative asides, all of which contribute to the suspense and drama of the story.
Finally, we have retained the male gender preference for the depictions of God and Satan in Mark’s story.9 At the same time, we have appropriately translated the inclusive meanings of Mark’s gender language for people, rendering the masculine anthrōpos as “human,” “humans,” or “humanity” instead of “man,” “men,” or “mankind.” In so doing, we have retained Mark’s plays on words, such as the play on words between “humans” and “the son of humanity” and the contrast between thinking in “God’s terms” and thinking in “human terms.” Also, we emphasize the inclusive meaning of Mark’s singular masculine pronoun by rendering it in the plural “they” or “all who” or with the pronouns “whoever” or “any.” These inclusive translations are faithful to the composer’s creation of a story that urges audiences to welcome all people.
The Gospel of Mark
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the anointed one, the son of God, was just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will pave your way,
the cry of one shouting in the desert,
‘Prepare the way of the lord.
Make his paths straight.’ ”
It was John baptizing in the desert and proclaiming a baptism of turning around for pardon of sins. And the whole Judean countryside and all the Jerusalemites were going out to him and being baptized by him in the Jordan River, publicly admitting their sins.
And John was wearing camel’s hair with a leather band around his waist, and he was eating grasshoppers and wild honey. And he was proclaiming, saying, “After me is coming one stronger than I am, the strap of whose sandals I’m not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with holy spirit.”
And it happened—in those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. And coming up from the water, immediately he saw the heavens being ripped open and the spirit like a dove coming down onto him. And there was a voice from the heavens, “You are my beloved son. I delighted choosing you.”
And immediately the spirit drove him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days tested by Satan. And he was among the wild animals, and the angels were serving him.
Now after John was handed over to prison, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the good news about God, and saying, “The right time is fulfilled, and the rule of God has arrived. Turn around and put faith in the good news.”
And going along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting nets in the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I’ll make you become fishers for people.”
And immediately leaving the nets they followed him. And going ahead a little further, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother in the boat preparing the nets. And immediately he called them. And leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers, they went off after him.
And they entered into Capernaum. And immediately on the sabbath he entered into the synagogue and began teaching. And people were astounded by his teaching, for he was teaching them as one having authority and not like the legal experts.
And immediately in their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit. And it screamed out, saying, “What do you have against us, Jesus Nazarene? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the holy one of God.”
And Jesus rebuked it, saying, “Shut up, and get out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing the man and crying in a loud cry, came out of him.
And everyone was so astonished that they were arguing among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority? He gives orders even to the unclean spirits and they obey him.” And the report about him immediately went out everywhere, into the whole surrounding countryside of Galilee.
And immediately coming out of the synagogue they went into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying down with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And approaching her, he grasped her hand and raised her up. And the fever left her and she began serving them.
Now when it was evening, after the sun set, people were bringing to him all the sick and the demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various illnesses and he drove out many demons. And he would not let the demons talk, because they knew him.
And early in the morning, while still quite dark, he arose, came out, and went off to a desert place and was there praying. And Simon and those with him tracked him down and found him and said to him, “Everyone’s seeking you.”
And he said to them, “Let’s go elsewhere, to the next villages, so I might proclaim there too, for that’s why I came out.” And he went proclaiming in their synagogues, in all Galilee, and d...