OET interlinear MARK 4:31

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / parables

ὡς κόκκῳ σινάπεως

as ˱to˲_/a/_seed ˱of˲_mustard

To teach his audience, Jesus offers a story or illustration. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate that explicitly. Alternate translation: “Listen to this story: It is like a mustard seed”

Note 2 topic: translate-unknown

κόκκῳ σινάπεως

˱to˲_/a/_seed ˱of˲_mustard

A mustard seed is a very small seed that grows into a large plant. If your readers would not be familiar with this kind of seed, in your translation you could use the name of another seed like it, or you could use a general phrase. Alternate translation: “a very small seed”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicitinfo

ὃς ὅταν σπαρῇ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, μικρότερον ὂν πάντων τῶν σπερμάτων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς & καὶ ὅταν σπαρῇ, ἀναβαίνει

which whenever ˱it˲_/may_be/_sown on the earth smaller_‹than› being all the seeds which on the earth & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὡς κόκκῳ σινάπεως ὃς ὅταν σπαρῇ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς μικρότερον ὂν πάντων τῶν σπερμάτων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς)

Here Jesus repeats the clause when it has been sown. This was a natural way in his language to describe the seed and the action. If repeating this clause would be redundant in your language, you could rearrange the clauses and only include the repeated clause once. Alternate translation: “which, being the smallest of all the seeds on the earth, when it has been sown, grows”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

σπαρῇ

˱it˲_/may_be/_sown

If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who did the action, you could use an indefinite subject. Alternate translation: “a person has sown it” or “they have sown it”