UTN uW Translation Notes:

Mark 12 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

6. Jesus in Jerusalem (11:1–13:37) * The parable of the vineyard (12:1–12) * Jesus interacts with the religious leaders (12:13–37) * Jesus debates with the Pharisees and Herodians about taxes (12:13–17) * Jesus debates with the Sadducees about the resurrection (12:18–27) * Jesus speaks with a scribe about the greatest commandment (12:28–34) * Jesus teaches about the Christ (12:35–37) * Jesus warns against the scribe (12:38–40) * Jesus teaches about a widow who gave her little money to God (12:41–44)Some translations set each line of poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to make it easier to read. The ULT does this with the poetry in 12:10–11, which is a quotation from Psalm 118:22–23, and the poetry in 12:36, which is a quotation from Psalm 110:1.

Special Concepts in this Chapter

Renting out a vineyard

In 12:1–12, Jesus tells a story about a man who built a vineyard and then rented it out to farmers. Jesus is referring to a common arrangement in which a wealthy person who owned property would have poorer people use that property for farming or tending grapes. These poorer people would do the work and then sell the produce, and they would give the person who owned the property a portion of what they made. If your readers would not be familiar with this kind of arrangement, make sure that your translation is clear about what is happening in the story.

The poll tax

The word translated “poll tax” refers to a specific amount of money that each adult person had to pay to the government. In Jesus’ time period, the Roman government required Jewish adults to pay a high tax. The Pharisees ask whether this tax that the Roman government required contradicted the law that God gave Moses. Make sure that your readers understand that the Pharisees are asking about a tax that the Roman government required each adult Jewish person to pay.

A man marrying his brother’s widow

In 12:19–23, the Sadducees question Jesus in regard to a hypothetical situation in which a woman marries seven brothers in succession. This situation is based on a command in the Jewish law that can be found in Deuteronomy 25:5–6. The law requires a woman who is widowed without children to marry a brother of her late husband. The first child that they have together will be considered the child of the dead man. In this way, that man’s family line would continue. The Sadducees present an extreme application of this law, with seven brothers successively marrying the same woman and dying without having children. They use this example to try to make the idea of resurrection look strange or silly. Make sure that your readers understand the example that the Sadducees present.

The great commandment

Jewish teachers sometimes debated which specific commandment was the greatest or most important one. This was important because, if commandments seemed to contradict each other in a specific situation, the greater one would be the correct one to obey. When the scribe asks Jesus about “the first commandment” in 12:28, he wants Jesus to offer an opinion about this debate. Make sure that your readers understand that this is what the scribe is asking about.

King David and the Christ

In 12:35–37, Jesus asks the people he is teaching about whether the Christ can be a descendant of David if David himself calls the Messiah “Lord” in Psalm 110:1. Since people in David’s culture called older and more important people “lord,” it does not make sense for David to call his own descendant “Lord.” When Jesus asks and teaches about this, he implies that the Christ is indeed King David’s descendant, but he is also more than that. Make sure that this teaching about calling the Christ “Lord” is clear to your readers.

Important Figures of Speech in this Chapter

The parable of the vineyard

In 12:1–12, Jesus tells a story about a man who planted a vineyard and rented it out to farmers. When the man sends servants to collect the rent, the farmers refuse and injure or kill the servants. When the man sends his own son, the farmers kill him as well. So, man came and destroyed the farmers and rented the vineyard to other people. When he tells this story, Jesus implies that the Jewish religious leaders are like those farmers who will be destroyed. Jesus also implies that the vineyard represents the people of Israel, the servants represent God’s messengers, the son represents Jesus himself, and the man who owned the vineyard represents God. While you should not explain the meaning more than Jesus does, make sure that your translation fits with what Jesus is illustrating. (See: figs-parables)

The stone

In 12:10–11, Jesus quotes from Psalm 118:22–23, which refers to a specific “stone.” In the Psalm, this stone most likely represents the king of Israel, or it perhaps represents the Israelite people in general. When Jesus quotes this passage, he is implicitly identifying himself with the stone. Since the stone language comes from a quotation from the Psalms, you should preserve it in some form in your translation. Also, since Jesus does not explicitly claim to be the stone, you should keep that implicit in your translation. See the notes on these verses for translation options. (See: figs-metaphor)

Other Possible Translation Difficulties in this Chapter

Singular and plural forms of “you”

Many of the forms of “you” in this chapter appear in questions that people ask of Jesus or in speeches that Jesus directs to individuals. Because of this, most forms of “you” in this chapter are singular. You should assume forms of “you” are singular unless a note specifies that the form is plural. (See: figs-yousingular)

The historic present

To call attention to a development in the story, Mark uses the present tense in past narration. In this chapter, the historic present occurs in verses 13, 14, 16, 18, and 41. If it would not be natural to do that in your language, you could use the past tense in your translation. (See: translate-tense)