[B-Greek] Translating Mark 1:8
J. Ted Blakley
jtedblakley at gmail.com
Thu Nov 3 04:27:56 EST 2005
Dan,
I'm not to sure that "immersion" may be the best understanding of BAPTIZW
here because it strikes me that it focuses upon a particular way in which
BAPTIZW can be carried out but does not get at the basic sense of BAPTIZW
which has to do with washing and cleansing and purification. JBap is saying
something to the effect, "I have washed (or cleansed or purified) you
in/with/by means of water, but he will wash (or cleanse or purify) you
in/with/by means of a holy spirit."
That being said, the decisions regarding BAPTIZW and PNEUMATI AGIW can not
be made without recourse to Mark's wider usage, both his usage of these
words in other contexts but also contexts in which these words do not occur
but nevertheless are related to 1:8. For example, some have argued that for
Mark's narrative, this reference to AUTOS DE BAPTISEI UMAS EN PNEUMATI AGIWi
is not a reference to one particular event either in the Markan narrative or
outside the Markan narrative (like Pentecost in Luke-Acts) but in fact is a
description of Jesus' ministry as a whole where Jesus' exorcisms and his
various healings (a leper, a deaf mute, a blind man, a woman with a flow of
blood, a corpse) and even his table fellowship are all acts of purification
when one considers the concerns over ritual purity play such a role in first
century Palestine and indeed in Mark's narrative. Now this may be getting
outside the parameters of the list guidelines, and I do want to honor those,
but ISTM that the translation questions you have posed can only be answered
in the context of and in appreciation of the wider narrative context.
Sincerely,
Ted
On 11/3/05, Dan Gleason <dan-bgreek at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Translating Mark 1:8
>
> EGW EBAPTISA UMAS UDATI
> I immersed you in Water ...
>
> AUTOS DE BAPTISEI UMAS EN PNEUMATI AGIWi
> but he will-immerse you in a-Holy Spirit.
>
> Re: any errors in this translation?
>
> _________________________
>
> Thank you everybody for your feedback on this question.
> The two points of contention were "immersed" vs "baptised"
> and "a HS" vs "the HS"
>
> Various people said yes, no, maybe, and I don't know.
> I guess I'll take that as a maybe.
> My tentative position is that my above translation may be correct.
> If anyone has more to add please do so.
>
> I will soon post a followup question.
>
> Dan Gleason
>
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--
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J. Ted Blakley
Ph.D. Candidate
University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK
Thesis: Contributions of the Episodic Sea Crossings to the Purpose of Mark's
Gospel:
A Narrative-Critical Study of Mark 4:1–8:26"
Email 1: jtb1 at st-andrews.ac.uk
Email 2: jtedblakley at gmail.com
Online CV: www.blakleycreative.com/jtb <http://www.blakleycreative.com/jtb>
Hebrew 2 Hub: www.blakleycreative.com/jtb/Hebrew.htm<http://www.blakleycreative.com/jtb/Hebrew.htm>
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