MARK 16:12 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 16:12–13: Jesus appeared to two of his followers

In this section, Jesus met two of his followers on the road outside of Jerusalem. At first, the two men did not know that they were talking to Jesus.

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

Here is another possible heading for this section:

Two disciples saw the risen/living Lord Jesus

Luke 24:13–35 provides more details about the events in this paragraph.

16:12a

After this, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them

¶ After this, Jesus allowed two of his followers to see him in a form that they did not recognize,
¶ After this, Jesus changed his appearance and came to two of his followers

After this: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as After this is literally “after these things.” The words “these things” probably refer to the events in 16:9–11. According to Luke 24:13, the event in 16:12–13 happened later the same day. Use a general word or expression that can refer to several hours later.

Jesus appeared: In 16:9b, Jesus “appeared first to Mary Magdalene.” Here in 16:12, he appeared to two other disciples. The verb appeared indicates that Jesus showed himself to them, that is, he allowed them to see him. You may be able to use the same verb as you used in 16:9b.The Greek verb is slightly different here, but it has the same meaning.

in a different form: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as in a different form refers to Jesus’ outward appearance. He did not look the same as he looked before his resurrection.Some commentators say that this refers to appearing in a different form than the form in which he had appeared to Mary Magdalene. But in the story about Jesus appearing to the two disciples, they did not recognize him. Therefore, the main idea here is probably that Jesus appeared in a different form than the one they knew.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

in a form they did not recognize

he looked different than he looked before

Be careful not to translate this phrase in a way that would make people think Jesus had the form of an animal or anything other than a man.

to two of them: The phrase to two of them means “to two of Jesus’ other followers.” This phrase indicates that they were two of Jesus’ followers mentioned in 16:10. You may need to make this explicit. For example, the NCV says:

to two of his followers (NCV)

16:12b

as they walked along in the country.

as they were walking out into the open fields.
as they were on their way into the countryside.

as they walked along: Jesus met the two men as they walked along. According to Luke 24:15, he talked with them as they were walking together.

in the country: There are two ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the BSB translates as in the country:

They were going into the country. They had been in the city of Jerusalem and now were going out into the countryside. For example:
while they were on their way to the country (GNT)
as they were on their way out of the city (CEV) (GNT, RSV, CEV, NLT, NASB, REB, NET, KJV, ESV, NJB)
They were in the country (on a road); that is, between one town and another, among the farms and fields. For example:
while they were walking in the country (NCV) (BSB, NIV, NCV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

General Comment on 16:12a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of some of the information in this verse. For example:

^12aAfter that, Jesus appeared to two of his disciples ^12bas they were walking toward a rural area, ^12abut his appearance had changed.

TSN Tyndale Study Notes:

16:9-20 Nearly all scholars agree that Mark did not write the “shorter” and “longer” endings. There are clear differences in their style, vocabulary, and theology. Also, the best two available Greek manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus) lack these endings. However, there is reason to doubt that Mark intended to end his Gospel at 16:8: (1) Mark emphasizes the fulfillment of Jesus’ predictions throughout his Gospel, and if the Gospel ended with 16:8, there would be no reference to the resurrection appearance(s) of Jesus; (2) all the other Gospels contain accounts of Jesus’ appearances to the women and the disciples; (3) early readers of Mark evidently did not think the book could have ended with 16:8, because they wrote these endings; (4) there is no convincing explanation as to why Mark would have wanted to end his Gospel at 16:8 (all such explanations sound like modern existential literary interpretations that revel in paradox, very unlike the way a first-century Christian author would have thought); (5) it is strange for a Gospel to begin with a bold proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah (1:1) and end with the women’s fear; (6) it would be unique for an ancient Greek book to end with gar (“because”) as the last word—no other example of this has been found; and (7) 16:7 raises the expectation that the disciples will meet Jesus in Galilee—if 16:8 was the original ending of Mark, it is the only unfulfilled prediction in the Gospel. Many scholars conclude that the original ending was accidentally torn off and lost, or was never finished.

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

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.

OET interlinear MARK 16:12

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 16:12–13: Jesus appeared to two of his followers

16:12a

16:12b

General Comment on 16:12a–b

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