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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 3 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V30 V31 V32 V33 V34 V35
OET (OET-LV) But wishfully whoever may_slander against the the holy spirit, is_ not _having forgiveness to the eternity, but is liable of_eternal sin,
OET (OET-RV) But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven, but is eternally responsible for their sin.”
It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus is stronger than Satan
Jesus sends evil spirits away by defeating Satan
Do not insult the Holy Spirit
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 12:22–32 and Luke 11:14–23; 12:10.
In the previous paragraph, Jesus’ family decided that it was time to bring him home and restrain him. This paragraph continues Mark’s theme of people opposing Jesus. Here, Jesus’ enemies did not want to admit that Jesus was doing miracles by God’s power. So they accused him of using Satan’s power instead. Jesus had a good answer to give to them.
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit
But if someone insults the Holy Spirit,
But whoever says evil things about the Holy Spirit,
The teachers of the law had proof that Jesus was doing miracles by the power of God. However, they did not want to believe that he was from God. That is the reason they said that the Holy Spirit’s work was Satan’s work. Jesus referred to this as blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.
But: The Greek conjunction that the BSB here translates as But indicates a contrast between 3:28b and 3:29: God can forgive all blasphemies (3:28b). But (in contrast to this), there is an exception (3:29). There is a type of blasphemy that makes a person guilty forever.
whoever: The pronoun whoever refers to any person. It does not just refer to the teachers of the law. Another way to say this is “anyone.”
blasphemes: The Greek word that the BSB translates as blasphemes is the verb form of the noun “blasphemies” in 3:28b. This word refers to dishonoring or insulting God.
Here are some other ways to translate the word blasphemes:
slanders (REB)
speaks against (NCV)
Holy Spirit: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as Holy Spirit refers to the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is God, together with God the Father and God the Son. The Holy Spirit is Spirit in the sense that he is a living being who does not have a physical body. He is Holy in the sense that he is God and unique from every other being. He is perfect in every way and is completely pure and sinless.
Here are some other ways to translate Holy Spirit:
Spirit/Breath of/from God
Holy/Sacred Spirit
Do not imply that the Holy Spirit is like the ghost of a dead person or that God has died.
See the note in 1:8b.
3:29b and 3:29c have the same meaning. For suggestions about ways to express 3:29b–c as one statement, see the General Comment on 3:29b–c at the end on the note on 3:29c.
will never be forgiven;
will never be forgiven by God.
that is unforgivable.
God will never forgive him for this.
will never be forgiven: The words will never be forgiven are similar to the phrase “will be forgiven” in 3:28b. If you need to indicate who will never forgive the blasphemy in 3:29, you should say “God.” For example:
God will never forgive him
See the note on 3:28b for suggestions about how to translate will…be forgiven.
he is guilty of eternal sin.”
He is guilty forever of that sin.”
God will hold/consider that person guilty forever for that sin.”
He has done something wrong for which God will blame him forever.”
he is guilty of eternal sin: The clause he is guilty of eternal sin indicates that the person has committed a sin that God will never forgive. God will forever blame that person for that sin.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
That sin will be held against you forever. (CEV)
This is a sin with eternal consequences. (NLT)
Verse 3:29c uses different words to express the same meaning as 3:29b. In some languages, it will be more natural to translate these two parts of the verse as one statement. For example:
God will blame him forever for that sin.
God will never forgive him for that sin.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
οὐκ ἔχει ἄφεσιν
not ˓is˒_having forgiveness
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of forgiveness, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [will not be forgiven]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα
against to (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὅς Δʼ ἄν βλασφημήσῃ εἰς τό Πνεῦμα τό Ἅγιον οὐκ ἔχει ἄφεσιν εἰς τόν αἰῶνα ἀλλά ἔνοχος ἐστίν αἰωνίου ἁμαρτήματος)
Here, the phrase to eternity means that something lasts forever. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable phrase or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [forever]
Note 3 topic: translate-textvariants
ἔνοχός & αἰωνίου ἁμαρτήματος
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὅς Δʼ ἄν βλασφημήσῃ εἰς τό Πνεῦμα τό Ἅγιον οὐκ ἔχει ἄφεσιν εἰς τόν αἰῶνα ἀλλά ἔνοχος ἐστίν αἰωνίου ἁμαρτήματος)
Many ancient manuscripts read guilty of an eternal sin. The ULT follows that reading. Other ancient manuscripts read “deserving of eternal judgment.” If a translation of the Bible exists in your region, you may wish to use the reading that it uses. If a translation of the Bible does not exist in your region, you may wish to use the reading of the ULT.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
αἰωνίου ἁμαρτήματος
˱of˲_eternal sin
Here Jesus means that the sin has eternal consequences. In other words, the person who commits this sin will always be guilty for it. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [a sin with eternal consequences] or [eternally of this sin]
3:20-35 This story about Jesus and his family (3:20-21 and 31-35) brackets a controversy story about Jesus’ exorcisms (3:22-30); this arrangement identifies Jesus’ family with the religious leaders in opposing him.
OET (OET-LV) But wishfully whoever may_slander against the the holy spirit, is_ not _having forgiveness to the eternity, but is liable of_eternal sin,
OET (OET-RV) But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven, but is eternally responsible for their sin.”
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.
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