MARK 8:11 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) [ref]Some men from the Pharisee party came out to Yeshua and started arguing with him. They were checking him out and wanted to see a miracle.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, testing him.

UST Some Pharisees came to Jesus and started to debate with him. They wanted to investigate him, so they asked him to perform a miracle that showed that God had sent him.

BLB And the Pharisees went out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.

AICNT And the Pharisees went out and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, {testing him}.[fn]

8:11, testing him: Some manuscripts use the term “argue” or “dispute”, while others use “test” or “tempt” to describe the Pharisees' action with Jesus.

OEB Here the Pharisees came out, and began to argue with Jesus, asking him for some sign from the heavens, to test him.

WEBBE The Pharisees came out and began to question him, seeking from him a sign from heaven and testing him.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, asking for a sign from heaven to test him.

LSV and the Pharisees came forth, and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from Heaven, tempting Him;

FBV The Pharisees arrived and began to argue with him, wanting him to give them a miraculous sign from heaven, trying to get him to prove himself.

TCNT Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him.

T4T In those days some Pharisees came to Jesus. They asked him to perform a miracle that would show that God had sent him. They wanted to find a way by which they could convince the people to reject him. So they started to argue with him.

LEB ¶ And the Pharisees came and began to argue with him, demanding from him a sign from heaven in order to[fn] test him.

8:11 *Here “in order to” is supplied as a component of the participle (“test”) which is understood as purpose

BBE And the Pharisees came out and put questions to him, requesting from him a sign from heaven, testing him.

Moff Now the Pharisees came out and started to argue with him, asking him for a Sign from heaven, by way of tempting him.

Wymth The Pharisees followed Him and began to dispute with Him, asking Him for a sign in the sky, to make trial of Him.

ASV And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, trying him.

DRA And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, asking him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

YLT and the Pharisees came forth, and began to dispute with him, seeking from him a sign from the heaven, tempting him;

Drby And the Pharisees went out and began to dispute against him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

RV And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

SLT And the Pharisees came out, and began to search out with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

Wbstr And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

KJB-1769 And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

KJB-1611 And the Pharisees came foorth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a signe from heauen, tempting him.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps And the Pharisees came foorth, and began to dispute with hym, sekyng of him a signe from heauen, tempting him.
(And the Pharisees came forth, and began to dispute with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.)

Gnva And the Pharises came foorth, and began to dispute with him, seeking of him a signe from heauen, and tempting him.
(And the Pharisees came forth, and began to dispute with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, and tempting him. )

Cvdl And the Pharises wente out, and begane to dispute with him, and tempted him, and desyred a token of him from heaue.
(And the Pharisees went out, and began to dispute with him, and tempted him, and desired a token of him from heaven.)

TNT And the pharises cam forth and begane to dispute with him sekinge of him a signe from heven and temptinge him.
(And the Pharisees came forth and began to dispute with him sekinge of him a sign from heaven and temptinge him. )

Wycl And the Farisees wenten out, and bigunnen to dispuyte with hym, and axiden a tokne of hym fro heuene, and temptiden hym.
(And the Pharisees went out, and began to dispuyte with him, and asked a tokne of him from heaven, and tempted him.)

Luth Und die Pharisäer gingen heraus und fingen an, sich mit ihm zu befragen, versuchten ihn und begehrten von ihm ein Zeichen vom Himmel.
(And the Pharisees went out_of_here and started an, itself/yourself/themselves with him to/for befragen, tried him/it and highly_sought_after from him a sign from_the heaven.)

ClVg Et exierunt pharisæi, et cœperunt conquirere cum eo, quærentes ab illo signum de cælo, tentantes eum.[fn]
(And they_went_out Pharisees, and they_began conquirere when/with by_him, seeking away that/there sign/signal from/about the_sky, tempting him. )

8.11 Quærentes, etc. Quasi ea quæ viderant, non fuissent signa. Sed quid quærant per hoc determinatur, de cœlo, vel in morem Eliæ ignem de sublimi, vel ad similitudinem Samuelis æstivo tempore mugire tonitrua, vel fulgura vel imbres, quasi non possent et hæc calumniari qui ea calumniabantur quæ oculis viderant, manu tangebant, utilitate sentiebant. Vel signa de cœlo, manna, ut qui paucis panibus multa hominum millia satiavit, nunc sicut Moyses manna cœlitus misso populum omnem passim reficiat. Unde Joannes post edulium panum turbas quæsisse dicit: Quid operaris? Patres nostri manducaverunt manna in deserto Joan. 6., etc.

8.11 Whichrentes, etc. As_if them which they_had_seen, not/no they_would_have_been signs. But what they_seek through this determinatur, from/about sky, or in/into/on custom Eliyah fire from/about sublimi, or to similarity Samuelis brasstivo at_the_time mugire tonitrua, or lightning or imbres, as_if not/no they_could and these_things calumniari who/which them calumniabantur which eyes they_had_seen, by_hand they_were_touching, usefulness sentiebant. Or signs from/about sky, manna, as who/which in_a_few bread fine of_men thousands satiavit, now like Moses manna heavenly sent the_people all passim reficiat. From_where/who Yoannes after edulium bread/food crowds whichsisse he_says: What to_works? Fathers our they_ate manna in/into/on in_the_desert Yohan 6., etc.

UGNT καὶ ἐξῆλθον οἱ Φαρισαῖοι καὶ, ἤρξαντο συνζητεῖν αὐτῷ, ζητοῦντες παρ’ αὐτοῦ σημεῖον ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πειράζοντες αὐτόν.
(kai exaʸlthon hoi Farisaioi kai, aʸrxanto sunzaʸtein autōi, zaʸtountes par’ autou saʸmeion apo tou ouranou, peirazontes auton.)

SBL-GNT Καὶ ἐξῆλθον οἱ Φαρισαῖοι καὶ ἤρξαντο συζητεῖν αὐτῷ, ζητοῦντες παρʼ αὐτοῦ σημεῖον ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πειράζοντες αὐτόν.
(Kai exaʸlthon hoi Farisaioi kai aʸrxanto suzaʸtein autōi, zaʸtountes parʼ autou saʸmeion apo tou ouranou, peirazontes auton.)

RP-GNT Καὶ ἐξῆλθον οἱ Φαρισαῖοι, καὶ ἤρξαντο συζητεῖν αὐτῷ, ζητοῦντες παρ' αὐτοῦ σημεῖον ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πειράζοντες αὐτόν.
(Kai exaʸlthon hoi Farisaioi, kai aʸrxanto suzaʸtein autōi, zaʸtountes par' autou saʸmeion apo tou ouranou, peirazontes auton.)

TC-GNT Καὶ ἐξῆλθον οἱ Φαρισαῖοι, καὶ ἤρξαντο [fn]συζητεῖν αὐτῷ, ζητοῦντες παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ σημεῖον ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πειράζοντες αὐτόν.
(Kai exaʸlthon hoi Farisaioi, kai aʸrxanto suzaʸtein autōi, zaʸtountes par autou saʸmeion apo tou ouranou, peirazontes auton. )

8:11 συζητειν ¦ συνζητειν TH WH

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 8:11–13: The Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign from heaven

According to 8:10, Jesus and his disciples traveled in a boat to the region of Dalmanutha. Some time after they arrived, some Pharisees came to Jesus. We do not know the specific time or place. They demanded that he show them a sign from heaven, but Jesus refused and left their area.

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 demand of the Pharisees for a sign from heaven

The Pharisees demand a miraculous sign

There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 16:1–4.

8:11a

Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus,

¶ There were some Pharisees who came to Jesus and began to argue with him.
¶ Some Pharisees approached Jesus and began to dispute with him.

Then: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Then introduces the next story. It is uncertain exactly when this story happened in relation to the previous story.Mark 8:10 mentions that Jesus and the disciples went to Dalmanutha, and the parallel in Matthew also occurs in the section following Jesus’ arrival in Magadan (perhaps another name for Dalmanutha). However, Wessel (page 688), Hiebert (page 194) and Lane (page 276) all feel that there is no explicit connection. Gundry (page 401), Edwards (page 235) and France (page 311) understand Dalmanutha as the likely setting, but Hiebert (page 194) and Lenski (page 320) mention the possibility that the Pharisees had come from Capernaum or that Jesus had gone to Capernaum. This may be the reason why many English versions do not translate this word here. If you need to make a time or place connection explicit in your language, try to use a general expression.

the Pharisees came: The phrase the Pharisees came indicates here that some of the Pharisees came to Jesus. It does not mean that all of the Pharisees came. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate this. For example, the GNT says:

Some Pharisees came to Jesus

Pharisees: The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group or party. It was very important to them to obey all of the Jewish religious laws very carefully and in detail. Here are some ways to translate this word:

Transliterate the word Pharisees according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to people. For example:
Farisi members
Parise adherents
Transliterate the word Pharisees and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:
people belonging to the Farise religious sect/group
members of the religious group called the Farasi

You may also want to include an explanation of Pharisees in the glossary of your translation. Refer to how you translated Pharisees in 2:16a and 7:5a.

and began to argue with Jesus: The Greek word that the BSB translates as argue with means “question” or “debate” in this context. The Pharisees were opposed to Jesus. So they did not want information from him, and they did not want to have a friendly conversation with him.

Here are some other ways to translate argue with:

question (NIV)

dispute (NKJV)

8:11b

testing Him by demanding from Him a sign from heaven.

They demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from God/heaven. They were demanding this in order to test him.
They wanted to trap him, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God had given him his authority/power.
They said, “If you^(sing) are truly from God, perform a miracle to show it.”

testing Him: The phrase testing Him indicates the purpose for the next clause. The Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. That is the reason they asked him to show them a sign. The Greek text places the purpose phrase at the end of this verse, as in the RSV. Place it where it is natural in your language.

testing: The Greek word that the BSB translates as testing refers here to an attempt to cause someone to make a mistake, often by tricking him. In this context the Pharisees tried to cause Jesus to say or do something that would make the people think that he was not from God. Their purpose was to discredit Jesus so that people would not listen to him.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Hoping to trap him…

They wanted to discredit him, so they…

demanding from Him a sign from heaven: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as demanding means “requesting.” It can be used for either a polite request or a demand. Use an appropriate verb in your language.

In some languages it may be necessary to express this request as a direct quote. For example, the NLT96 says:

…they demanded, “Give us a miraculous sign from heaven to prove yourself.”

a sign from heaven: The phrase a sign from heaven here means “a sign from God.”Some commentaries (Lenski page 321, Gould page 144, etc.) interpret “from heaven” to mean “in the skies/space.” That is, the Pharisees were asking for a celestial phenomenon rather than a miracle on earth to serve as attestation that Jesus’ teaching came from God. No major English version explicitly follows this interpretation. The Pharisees did not believe that Jesus had power from God. They asked him to do a special miracle to prove that his power came from God. They thought he would not be able to do this.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

a special miracle to show that his power came from God

a miracle to show that God approved of him (GNT)

See heaven, Meaning 3, in the Glossary.

sign: The word sign refers to a miracle that has a meaning. In this context, the Pharisees wanted Jesus to perform a miracle that would prove that his power came from God.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-newevent

καὶ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐξῆλθον οἱ Φαρισαῖοι καί ἤρξαντο συζητεῖν αὐτῷ ζητοῦντες πάρʼ αὐτοῦ σημεῖον ἀπό τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πειράζοντες αὐτόν)

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: [Then,] or [While he was there,]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐξῆλθον

came_out

Here Mark implies that the Pharisees came out from wherever they were and went to where Jesus was. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [departed to Jesus] or [left where they were and went to where Jesus was]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / go

ἐξῆλθον

came_out

In a context such as this, your language might say “went” instead of came. Alternate translation: [went out]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / quotations

ζητοῦντες παρ’ αὐτοῦ σημεῖον ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πειράζοντες αὐτόν

seeking (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐξῆλθον οἱ Φαρισαῖοι καί ἤρξαντο συζητεῖν αὐτῷ ζητοῦντες πάρʼ αὐτοῦ σημεῖον ἀπό τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πειράζοντες αὐτόν)

It may be more natural in your language to have a direct quotation here. Alternate translation: [asking him, “Give us a sign from heaven,” testing him]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

σημεῖον ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ

˓a˒_sign (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐξῆλθον οἱ Φαρισαῖοι καί ἤρξαντο συζητεῖν αὐτῷ ζητοῦντες πάρʼ αὐτοῦ σημεῖον ἀπό τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πειράζοντες αὐτόν)

The implication is that the Pharisees wanted Jesus to do a miracle to prove that his authority came from God. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [a sign from heaven that proved that his authority was from God]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ

Here, the phrase from heaven indicates that the sign originates in heaven, where God rules. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [from heaven, where God rules] or [that comes from the place where God is]

Note 7 topic: grammar-connect-logic-goal

πειράζοντες αὐτόν

testing him

Here, the word testing introduces the purpose for which the Pharisees came to Jesus and were seeking a sign from heaven. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces a purpose. Alternate translation: [in order to him]

Parallel MARK 8:11

Section 8:11–13: The Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign from heaven

8:11a

8:11b