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Mark 5 V1 V3 V5 V7 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43
OET (OET-LV) And he_was_asking him:
What is the_name of_you?
And he_is_saying to_him:
Many_thousands is the_name to_me, because we_are many.
OET (OET-RV) Yeshua asked, “What’s your name?”
¶ The man answered, “My name is ‘Thousands’ because there’s many of us,”
After the storm, Jesus and his disciples arrived at the northeastern shore of Lake Galilee. This was a region where many Gentiles lived.
When Jesus and his disciples arrived, a man who was controlled by many evil spirits immediately came to Jesus. Jesus commanded the evil spirits to leave the man. When the evil spirits left, they went to control a large herd of pigs and destroyed those pigs.
“Uncleanness” is a theme in this story. The evil spirits that controlled the man were called “unclean” spirits. Tombs were “unclean.” Jews also considered pigs to be “unclean.” Jesus showed his power over evil spirits when he healed the man.
It is good if you translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus commanded many unclean spirits to leave a man
The deliverance of a man who was controlled by many unclean spirits
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 8:28–34 and Luke 8:26–39.
In this paragraph, it is not always clear whether the text refers to the unclean spirit that controlled the man or to the man himself. Languages have different ways of referring to the actions and speech of people who are controlled by unclean spirits. Some languages use different pronouns or other forms to refer to people and spirits. Use natural ways in your language to refer to the unclean spirit and the man in each context.
“What is your name?” Jesus asked.
And Jesus asked him, “What is your(sing) name?”
Jesus asked him his name.
“What is your name?” Jesus asked: The pronoun your here could refer either to the man or to the evil spirit that was controlling him. The Greek text says that Jesus specifically asked “him” this question. The pronoun “him” could similarly refer either to the man or to the spirit. If you must choose, use a word that refers to the spirit, since the answer to Jesus’ question was a name that referred to the spirit. (See the note on Paragraph 5:6–10 for further discussion.) For example, the NIRV says:
Then Jesus asked the demon, “What is your name?”
In some languages it may be more natural to use indirect speech to translate the quotes in these verses. For example:
For Jesus had just commanded the unclean spirit to leave the man. Then Jesus asked him what his name was.
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”
He replied, “My name is ‘Army’ because there are many of us.(excl)”
He answered, “We(excl) are called ‘Thousands’ because there are so many of us.(excl)”
My name is Legion…for we are many: In some languages, it may not be natural to say My name (singular), and then to say we are (plural). You may need to use either the singular or plural for both parts of this statement. For example:
Our name is Legion, for we are many
My name is Legion, for I speak for many unclean spirits who control this man.
My name is Legion, for there are many unclean spirits in this man.
Legion: The word Legion was the name of the largest unit of soldiers in the Roman army. A legion had between four thousand and six thousand soldiers. The unclean spirit called himself Legion because there were many unclean spirits along with him that were controlling the man.
Here are some ways to translate Legion in this context:
Use a military word that describes a large group of soldiers. For example:
Army
Regiment
Thousands of Soldiers If it is natural in your language, this is the ideal option.
Use a word that describes a large number. It should be large enough to go well with the two thousand pigs mentioned in 5:13. For example:
Hundreds/Thousands
Use a word that describes a very large group of people. For example:
Crowd
Horde
Mob (GNT)
for we are many: The Greek word that the BSB translates here as for introduces an explanation of the unclean spirit’s name. Indicate this in a natural way in your language.
Here are some other ways to translate for we are many:
since there are many of us
because our number is great
he replied: In the Greek text, the words that the BSB translates as he replied come before the unclean spirit’s speech. The BSB has placed the phrase he replied in the middle of what the unclean spirit said. Place it where it is most natural in your language.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
Λεγιὼν ὄνομά μοι, ὅτι πολλοί ἐσμεν.
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐπηρώτα αὐτόν Τί ὄνομα σοί Καί λέγει αὐτῷ Λεγιών ὄνομα μοί ὅτι πολλοί ἐσμέν)
If it would be more natural in your language, you could reverse the order of these clauses, since the second clause gives the reason for the result that the first clause describes. Alternate translation: [We are many, so my name is Legion]
Note 2 topic: translate-names
Λεγιὼν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐπηρώτα αὐτόν Τί ὄνομα σοί Καί λέγει αὐτῷ Λεγιών ὄνομα μοί ὅτι πολλοί ἐσμέν)
A Legion is the name of a group of about 6,000 soldiers. So, translate the word Legion with a word in your language that refers to a large number of soldiers. You could show that this was the name of the man by using the convention in your language for proper names. Alternate translation: [is Army] or [is Battalion] or [is Brigade]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
πολλοί ἐσμεν
many (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐπηρώτα αὐτόν Τί ὄνομα σοί Καί λέγει αὐτῷ Λεγιών ὄνομα μοί ὅτι πολλοί ἐσμέν)
Here the demon indicates that he is speaking for many demons who are together controlling the man. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [I and the other demons with me are many]
5:9 A legion was a Roman military unit of 5,000–6,000 men. Here it describes the presence of many evil spirits.
OET (OET-LV) And he_was_asking him:
What is the_name of_you?
And he_is_saying to_him:
Many_thousands is the_name to_me, because we_are many.
OET (OET-RV) Yeshua asked, “What’s your name?”
¶ The man answered, “My name is ‘Thousands’ because there’s many of us,”
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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