MARK 12:28 Interlinear View

1. Greek word
2. Greek lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. Καί
2. kai
3. And
4. Then
5. 25320
6. C·······
7. and
8. and
9. PS
10. Y33
11. 33031
1. προελθών
2. proerχomai
3. -
4. -
5. 42810
6. VPAA·NMS
7. ˓having˒ gone_ahead
8. ˓having˒ gone_ahead
9. -
10. -
11. 33032
1. προσελθών
2. proserχomai
3. having approached
4. ≈came closer
5. 43340
6. VPAA·NMS
7. ˓having˒ approached
8. ˓having˒ approached
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33033
1. εἱς
2. heis
3. one
4. one
5. 15200
6. S····NMS
7. one
8. one
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33034
1. τῶν
2. ho
3. of the
4. the
5. 35880
6. E····GMP
7. ˱of˲ the
8. ˱of˲ the
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33035
1. γραμματέων
2. grammateus
3. scribes
4. religious teachers
5. 11220
6. N····GMP
7. scribes
8. scribes
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33036
1. ἀκούσας
2. akouō
3. having heard
4. heard
5. 1910
6. VPAA·NMS
7. ˓having˒ heard
8. ˓having˒ heard
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33037
1. ἀκούων
2. akouō
3. -
4. -
5. 1910
6. VPPA·NMS
7. hearing
8. hearing
9. -
10. -
11. 33038
1. αὐτῶν
2. autos
3. of them
4. their
5. 8460
6. R···3GMP
7. ˱of˲ them
8. ˱of˲ them
9. -
10. Y33; R32938; Person=Jesus; R32797
11. 33039
1. αὐτῷ
2. autos
3. -
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMS
7. ˱with˲ him
8. ˱with˲ him
9. -
10. -
11. 33040
1. συζητούντων
2. suzēteō
3. debating
4. -
5. 48020
6. VPPA·GMP
7. debating
8. debating
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33041
1. καί
2. kai
3. -
4. -
5. 25320
6. C·······
7. and
8. and
9. -
10. -
11. 33042
1. ἰδών
2. horaō
3. having seen
4. -
5. 37080
6. VPAA·NMS
7. ˓having˒ seen
8. ˓having˒ seen
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33043
1. εἰδώς
2. eidō
3. -
4. -
5. 14920
6. VPEA·NMS
7. ˓having˒ known
8. ˓having˒ known
9. -
10. -
11. 33044
1. ὅτι
2. hoti
3. that
4. -
5. 37540
6. C·······
7. that
8. that
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33045
1. καλῶς
2. kalōs
3. well
4. -
5. 25730
6. D·······
7. well
8. well
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33046
1. αὐτοῖς
2. autos
3. -
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMP
7. ˱to˲ them
8. ˱to˲ them
9. -
10. R32797
11. 33047
1. ἀπεκρίθη
2. apokrinō
3. he answered
4. answer
5. 6110
6. VIAP3··S
7. ˱he˲ answered
8. ˱he˲ answered
9. -
10. Y33; R32938; Person=Jesus
11. 33048
1. αὐτοῖς
2. autos
3. to them
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMP
7. ˱to˲ them
8. ˱to˲ them
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33049
1. ἐπηρώτησεν
2. eperōtaō
3. asked
4. asked
5. 19050
6. VIAA3··S
7. asked
8. asked
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33050
1. αὐτόν
2. autos
3. him
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3AMS
7. him
8. him
9. -
10. Y33; R32938; Person=Jesus
11. 33051
1. λέγων
2. legō
3. -
4. -
5. 30040
6. VPPA·NMS
7. saying
8. saying
9. -
10. -
11. 33052
1. Διδάσκαλε
2. didaskalos
3. -
4. -
5. 13200
6. N····VMS
7. Teacher
8. Teacher
9. V
10. -
11. 33053
1. Ποία
2. poios
3. Which
4. “Which
5. 41690
6. R····NFS
7. which
8. which
9. D
10. Y33
11. 33054
1. ἐστίν
2. eimi
3. is
4. is
5. 15100
6. VIPA3··S
7. is
8. is
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33055
1. ἐντολή
2. entolē
3. command
4. commands
5. 17850
6. N····NFS
7. command
8. commandment
9. -
10. Y33; F33073
11. 33056
1. πρώτη
2. prōtos
3. +the first
4. ≈most important
5. 44130
6. E····NFS
7. ˓the˒ first
8. ˓the˒ first
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33057
1. πάντων
2. pas
3. of all
4. -
5. 39560
6. S····GNP
7. ˱of˲ all
8. ˱of˲ all
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33058
1. πασῶν
2. pas
3. -
4. -
5. 39560
6. S····GFP
7. ˱of˲ all
8. ˱of˲ all
9. -
10. -
11. 33059
1. ἐντολή
2. entolē
3. -
4. -
5. 17850
6. N····NFS
7. command
8. commandment
9. -
10. -
11. 33060

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 12:28–34: Jesus taught people which command is the most important

A scribe asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment in the law. Jesus said that there are two great commands: love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.

The scribe in this section may have been honestly seeking the truth. Or he may have been trying to discredit Jesus by asking him a difficult question.Mark 12:34 may imply that the man truly wanted to know the answer. In the parallel passage in Matthew 22:34–40, a scribe asked this same question to test Jesus. Nothing in this section in Mark suggests that the scribe was testing Jesus. It would be good to translate this section so that either interpretation is possible.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Most Important Commandment (CEV, NLT)

God’s greatest command is to love him and our neighbors

There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 22:34–40. Mark 12:30–31 is also parallel to Luke 10:27.

12:28a

Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate.

¶ One of the teachers of the law was there listening to their debate/discussion.
¶ One of the experts in the law had come there and heard what Jesus and the Sadducees were discussing with each other.

Now one of the scribes had come up and heard: The scribe had approached or arrived at the place where Jesus was. He had heard the discussion between Jesus and the Sadducees.

In some languages it may be necessary to indicate that the scribe had arrived before the discussion took place. This may be done in several ways. For example:

One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. (NLT)

One of the teachers of the Law of Moses came up while Jesus and the Sadducees were arguing. (CEV)

scribes: The Greek word that the BSB translates as scribes refers to men who studied, interpreted, and taught the law of Moses. These men are called scribes because their original work was to copy the laws of Moses by hand. In New Testament times, this was no longer their main task. This word is sometimes translated as “teachers of the law,” as in the NIV.

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

teachers of the Law of Moses. (CEV)

teachers of religious law. (NLT)

experts on the law.

See how you translated this in 11:27c. Also see teacher of the law in the Glossary.

their: The Greek word that the BSB translates as their refers to the Sadducees and Jesus. In 12:18–27 they had been talking about whether or not God raised dead people to life.

debate: The Greek word that the BSB translates as debate refers to an “argument” or “disagreement” about something.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

argument (GW)

disagreement

12:28b

Noticing how well Jesus had answered them,

When he realized that Jesus had answered their question well,
When he noticed that Jesus had wisely answered their question,
He heard Jesus reply well/wisely to the Sadducees, so

Noticing how well Jesus had answered them: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Noticing is literally “seeing.” Here it means “realizing.” The scribe realized that Jesus had wisely answered the Sadducees’ question. The NLT says:

He realized that Jesus had answered well.

General Comment on 12:28a–b

In some languages it may be necessary to reorder some of the information in 12:28a–b so that the order of events is clear. In the examples below, the action of coming closer to Jesus occurs after 12:28b:

^28aA teacher of the law heard their arguing. ^28bHe realized that Jesus’ answer was good/correct, ^28aso he approached…

^28aA teacher of the law was standing there listening to their discussion. ^28bWhen he observed that Jesus’ answer to them was good, ^28ahe went closer to Jesus…

12:28c

he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

the teacher of the law asked Jesus, “Which command of God is the most important one?”
he asked him/Jesus, “Which of the commands that God gave to Moses is more important than all the others?”
he asked Jesus to tell him the commandment that was most important.

he asked Him: This phrase expresses a result of 12:28b. Some English versions use a connector like “so” here to indicate the connection. Others do not use a connector. Use a natural way to show the connection in your language.

he…Him: The pronoun he refers to the scribe. The pronoun Him refers to Jesus.

asked: The text does not indicate here whether the scribe asked his question in order to trick Jesus. Your translation also should not indicate this.

Which commandment is the most important of all: This question implies that Jesus should consider all the commands that God had given his people. Then Jesus should say which command was the most important. Jewish religious leaders often discussed which of God’s commands was the most important.They would say “Which is heavier (more important)?” or “Which is lighter (less important)?” (Keener, page 169). They did not imply that some commands were not important. All were important, but some were more important than others.

Here are some other ways to translate this question:

Which commandment is the most important of all? (GNT)

What is the most important commandment? (CEV)

In some languages it may be helpful to include the implied information that the commandments were from God. For example:

God gave us many commandments. Which one is the most important?

Which commandment: The phrase Which commandment asks about all the commands that God gave to his people. The scribe may have meant any command in the Old Testament. However, he probably referred primarily to the Law of Moses, the first five books of the Old Testament. The word “command” has the same meaning in English as commandment. It has the same meaning as “law.” In some languages there may not be separate words for “law” and “commandment.” In such languages, this phrase may be translated as:

Which law

commandment: The word commandment here refers to what God told the Jewish people to do and also to what he told them not to do. In some languages it may be necessary to use a more explicit expression for this idea. For example:

God told us what we should do and what we should not do.

is the most important of all: The Greek word that the BSB translates as important is literally “first.” In this context it means “first in importance” or “more important than all the rest.” In some languages it may be difficult to express this comparison. If that is true in your language, you may be able to say:

is important surpassing all the others?

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-newevent

καὶ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί προσελθών εἱς τῶν γραμματέων ἀκούσας αὐτῶν συζητούντων ἰδών ὅτι καλῶς ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτόν Ποία ἐστίν ἐντολή πρώτη πάντων)

Here, the word And introduces the next major event in the story. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces the next event, or you could leave And untranslated. Alternate translation: [After that,]

Note 2 topic: writing-participants

προσελθὼν εἷς τῶν γραμματέων, ἀκούσας αὐτῶν συνζητούντων, ἰδὼν ὅτι καλῶς ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς, ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτόν

Here Mark introduces one of the scribes as a new character in the story. Use a natural form in your language for introducing a new character. Alternate translation: [there a scribe there. When he came up, he heard them discussing this together. He saw that Jesus answered them well, and he questioned him]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / go

προσελθὼν

In a context such as this, your language might say “gone” instead of come. Alternate translation: [having gone up]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

αὐτῶν συνζητούντων

˱of˲_them (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί προσελθών εἱς τῶν γραμματέων ἀκούσας αὐτῶν συζητούντων ἰδών ὅτι καλῶς ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτόν Ποία ἐστίν ἐντολή πρώτη πάντων)

Here Mark implies that the scribe heard Jesus and the Sadducees discussing whether people rise from the dead and what happens to them then. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [them discussing the resurrection of the dead together]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

ἰδὼν

Here, Mark is using the word seen to mean “observed” or “knew.” He is describing something a person would perceive with their mind by association with their eyes. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or plain language. Alternate translation: [having understood] or [having observed]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ποία ἐστὶν ἐντολὴ πρώτη πάντων

Here, the scribe is using the word first to refer to what is most important. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable figure of speech or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [Which is the most significant commandment of all] or [Which commandment is the greatest of all]

Note 7 topic: translate-ordinal

ἐντολὴ πρώτη πάντων

If your language does not use ordinal numbers, you could use a cardinal number here or an equivalent expression. Alternate translation: [commandment number one]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

πάντων

˱of˲_all

The scribe is using the adjective all as a noun to mean all the commandments. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: [of all the commandments]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

1. OET-LV words
2. OET-RV words
3. Strongs
4. Greek word
5. Greek lemma
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. And
2. Then
3. 25320
4. PS
5. kai
6. C-·······
7. and
8. and
9. PS
10. Y33
11. 33031
1. one
2. one
3. 15200
5. heis
6. S-····NMS
7. one
8. one
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33034
1. of the
2. the
3. 35880
5. ho
6. E-····GMP
7. ˱of˲ the
8. ˱of˲ the
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33035
1. scribes
2. religious teachers
3. 11220
5. grammateus
6. N-····GMP
7. scribes
8. scribes
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33036
1. having approached
2. ≈came closer
3. 43340
5. proserχomai
6. V-PAA·NMS
7. ˓having˒ approached
8. ˓having˒ approached
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33033
1. having heard
2. heard
3. 1910
5. akouō
6. V-PAA·NMS
7. ˓having˒ heard
8. ˓having˒ heard
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33037
1. of them
2. their
3. 8460
5. autos
6. R-···3GMP
7. ˱of˲ them
8. ˱of˲ them
9. -
10. Y33; R32938; Person=Jesus; R32797
11. 33039
1. debating
2. -
3. 48020
5. suzēteō
6. V-PPA·GMP
7. debating
8. debating
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33041
1. having seen
2. -
3. 37080
5. horaō
6. V-PAA·NMS
7. ˓having˒ seen
8. ˓having˒ seen
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33043
1. that
2. -
3. 37540
5. hoti
6. C-·······
7. that
8. that
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33045
1. he answered
2. answer
3. 6110
5. apokrinō
6. V-IAP3··S
7. ˱he˲ answered
8. ˱he˲ answered
9. -
10. Y33; R32938; Person=Jesus
11. 33048
1. well
2. -
3. 25730
5. kalōs
6. D-·······
7. well
8. well
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33046
1. to them
2. -
3. 8460
5. autos
6. R-···3DMP
7. ˱to˲ them
8. ˱to˲ them
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33049
1. asked
2. asked
3. 19050
5. eperōtaō
6. V-IAA3··S
7. asked
8. asked
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33050
1. him
2. -
3. 8460
5. autos
6. R-···3AMS
7. him
8. him
9. -
10. Y33; R32938; Person=Jesus
11. 33051
1. Which
2. “Which
3. 41690
4. D
5. poios
6. R-····NFS
7. which
8. which
9. D
10. Y33
11. 33054
1. command
2. commands
3. 17850
5. entolē
6. N-····NFS
7. command
8. commandment
9. -
10. Y33; F33073
11. 33056
1. is
2. is
3. 15100
5. eimi
6. V-IPA3··S
7. is
8. is
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33055
1. +the first
2. ≈most important
3. 44130
5. prōtos
6. E-····NFS
7. ˓the˒ first
8. ˓the˒ first
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33057
1. of all
2. -
3. 39560
5. pas
6. S-····GNP
7. ˱of˲ all
8. ˱of˲ all
9. -
10. Y33
11. 33058

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.