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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Mark C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16
Mark 12 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V37 V39 V41 V43
OET (OET-LV) And the Yaʸsous answering, teaching in the temple was_saying:
How are_ the scribes _saying that the chosen_one/messiah is the_son of_Dawid/(Dāvid)?
OET (OET-RV) Later when Yeshua was teaching in the temple, he asked the people, “How is it that the teachers here say that the messiah is a descendant of King David?
In this section Jesus was still teaching in the courtyard of the temple. Many people listened to him there. When he taught, he asked them about the Christ (Messiah) and his relationship to King David. Jesus asked this because he wanted the people to think about two things that the Scriptures say about the Messiah:
The Scriptures prophesied that the Messiah (Christ) would be a descendant of King David.
In the Scriptures King David called the Messiah “Lord.” This showed that the Messiah would be much greater than King David.
To Jewish people, it was difficult to explain how these two things could agree. They thought that an ancestor must be greater than his descendant. Jesus wanted them to know that the Messiah would be much greater than the earthly ruler that they expected him to be. He would be greater than David. The Messiah would be a descendant of David and would be a great ruler, but he would also share the throne of God.This section introduction includes a summary of statements by N. Geldenhuys, The Gospel of Luke, 1951; and Ray Summers, Commentary on Luke, 1972; and G. B Caird, Saint Luke, 1963.
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 Question about the Messiah (GNT)
Whose Son Is the Christ? (ESV)
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 22:41–46 and Luke 20:41–44.
While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts,
¶ When Jesus was teaching in the courtyard of the house of sacrifice/God,
¶ While Jesus was teaching God’s word to people in the area around the temple building,
While: This verse is the beginning of a new section. The events of this section probably happened soon after the events of the preceding section. In 11:27 Mark mentioned that Jesus was in the temple courts. In this section he was still teaching people there. Introduce the section in a natural way in your language.
Jesus was teaching: In 12:37 Mark indicated that a large crowd was listening to Jesus. Jesus was teaching them about God. In some languages it may be necessary to say whom Jesus was teaching and what he was teaching them. For example:
Jesus was teaching God’s word to people
temple courts: The Greek word that the BSB translates as temple courts is literally “temple,” as in most English versions. The temple consisted of the temple building itself and the walls and courtyards that surrounded it. Here “temple” refers specifically to the courtyard. People did not meet inside the temple building because only the priests could enter it.
Some English versions have made this clear by translating “temple” as temple courts (BSB, NIV, NET) or “temple courtyard” (GW). You may want to do this also if your word for “temple” would imply that Jesus and the crowd were inside the temple building.
Here are some other ways to translate the term temple courts:
Use a descriptive phrase. For example:
courtyard of the house of God
courtyard of the house of sacrifice
holy/sacred house courtyard
If your language has a word for “temple,” you could use it here. But you may need to modify it by saying something like:
courtyard of the temple of the Jews/Lord
big/great temple courtyard
See how you translated this word in 11:16. See temple, Meaning 1, in the Glossary for more information about the temple and how to translate it.
How can the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?: Jesus asked this question in order to encourage the people who were listening to him to think carefully about who the Messiah was.It was not difficult for any Jew to understand that the Messiah was (or was to be) a descendant of King David. What was difficult was to be able to understand how David could refer to his own descendant as his Lord. He wanted them to realize that the Messiah was even greater than they thought.
Here are some other ways to translate this question:
What do you understand the experts in the law to mean when they teach that the Christ is David’s son?
The teachers of the law say that the Messiah is David’s son. What do they mean when they say that?
Jesus wanted people to think about how this related to another Scripture that he quoted in 12:36b–d. Translate the question so that it will connect well with that verse also. For example:
The reason I ask this question is because David himself…
He asked, “How can the scribes say
he asked them, “Can you explain what the teachers of the Law of Moses mean by saying
he said to the people, “What do the experts in the law mean when they say,
He asked: Jesus asked the people who were listening to him. In some languages it may be necessary to make that explicit. See the 12:35b in the Display.
the 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 teacher of the law in the Glossary.
say: In this context the verb say refers to something that the scribes taught people about the Christ. They said it often in their teaching.
that the Christ is the Son of David?
that the Christ is a descendant of King David?
‘The Messiah will be the descendant of King David’?
the Christ: The Jews used the title Christ to refer to the special person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior. The title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” and the two words have the same meaning.
Here are some other ways to translate Christ:
Transliterate it according to the sounds of your language. For example:
Krais
Karisiti
Transliterate it and indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:
the Christ
the Kirisita
Transliterate Christ and include a phrase that explains the meaning. For example:
Christ, the appointed one
Cristo, the savior God promised
the Christ who comes from God
If you do not indicate the meaning of Christ in the text, you may want to include a footnote. For example:
The word/title “Christ” refers to the King and Savior whom God had promised to send.
See how you translated the word Christ in 1:1. See also Christ in the Glossary.
Son of David: The phrase Son of David is another title for the Messiah. It refers to the Messiah as a descendant of King David. The word Son here means “descendant.” It does not mean that the Messiah would be David’s own son. David had been the king of Israel a thousand years before Jesus lived on earth. The GNT makes this clear by translating the phrase as:
the descendant of David
Note 1 topic: writing-newevent
καὶ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἔλεγεν διδάσκων ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ Πῶς λέγουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς ὅτι ὁ Χριστός υἱός Δαυίδ ἐστίν)
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,] or [Sometime later,]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἀποκριθεὶς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἔλεγεν διδάσκων ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ Πῶς λέγουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς ὅτι ὁ Χριστός υἱός Δαυίδ ἐστίν)
Here, the word answering indicates that Jesus asked this question in response to how the Jewish leaders had been trying to trick and trap him with their questions. Jesus was not directly responding to anyone’s question. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [in response to how the Jewish leaders had been testing him] or [after the Jewish leaders had tested him]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche
ἱερῷ
temple
Here Mark means that Jesus was teaching in the temple area. He does not mean that Jesus was in the most sacred parts of the temple building. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. See you translated this word in [11:11](../11/11.md). Alternate translation: [temple courtyard]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
πῶς λέγουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς, υἱὸς Δαυείδ ἐστιν?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἔλεγεν διδάσκων ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ Πῶς λέγουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς ὅτι ὁ Χριστός υἱός Δαυίδ ἐστίν)
This is not a rhetorical question. Rather, Jesus’ listeners had asked him some difficult questions, and they had admitted that he answered them well. Now, in return, he is asking them a difficult question. None of them will be able to answer it, and this will demonstrate his wisdom even further. His question actually will teach something to those who are able to recognize its implications. But it would be appropriate to leave it in question form and not translate it as a statement.
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
υἱὸς Δαυείδ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἔλεγεν διδάσκων ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ Πῶς λέγουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς ὅτι ὁ Χριστός υἱός Δαυίδ ἐστίν)
Here, the word son refers to a male descendant. It does not mean that the Christ is the direct son of David. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [descended from David] or [in the lineage of David]
12:35-37 After having answered various questions, mostly from opponents, Jesus now asked a question (see 8:27; Matt 17:25; 21:31; Luke 10:36). The Messiah was considered the son of David because of such passages as Isa 9:2-7; 11:1-5; Jer 23:5-6; 33:15-16; Ezek 34:23-24; 37:24-28. With his question, Jesus did not deny that the Messiah was a descendant of David (Mark 10:47-48; 11:10; see Rom 1:3-4), but he demonstrated that this description, while correct, is inadequate. The Messiah is far more!
OET (OET-LV) And the Yaʸsous answering, teaching in the temple was_saying:
How are_ the scribes _saying that the chosen_one/messiah is the_son of_Dawid/(Dāvid)?
OET (OET-RV) Later when Yeshua was teaching in the temple, he asked the people, “How is it that the teachers here say that the messiah is a descendant of King David?
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.