Spoken to:
The scribe agrees with Jesus about the most important commandments
KJV:
Mark 12:34 Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.
NIV :
Mark 12:34 You are not far from the Kingdom of God.
3RD (NLT, if not otherwise identified):
Mark 12:34 You are not far from the kingdom of God.
LISTENERS HEARD:
Not far are you from the realm of the Divine.
MY TAKE:
These two commandments put what is coming into concise terms.
GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page):
GREEK ORDER:
LOST IN TRANSLATION:
The adverb "far" is only used twice by Jesus, once in a parable where he refers to a great distance. The word, however, refers both to far in space and time. Jesus is commenting here on the scribe repeating back to him what the two commandments from the Old Testament. The word "far" here when used about speaking means "to speak at length." So "not far" means "to speak concisely." The sense is that these two commandments summarize the Law and therefore describe the realm of the Divine.
# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES:
- MW - Missing Word -- The article "the" before "God" is not shown in the English translation.
# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES:
- MW - Missing Word -- The article "the" before "God" is not shown in the English translation.
# 3RD TRANSLATION ISSUES:
- MW - Missing Word -- The article "the" before "God" is not shown in the English translation.
EACH WORD of KJV :
Thou -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the following verb.
art -- The verb "art" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics.
not -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea.
far -- "Far" is from an adverb that Jesus only uses twice, which means "far," and "long."
from -- The word translated as "from" means "from" in both location and when referring to a source.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
kingdom -- The word translated as "kingdom" can be the region, the reign, the castle or the authority of a ruler. Christ does not seem to use it to mean a physical region, so its translation as "reign" or "realm" seems more appropriate. This is especially true because the "reign" of a king means the execution of his will.
of -- This word comes from the genitive case of the following word(s) that required the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession, but it can also mean "belonging to," "part of", "which is", "than" (in comparisons), or "for", "concerning" or "about" with transitive verbs.
missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "thatViews", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
God. -- The word translated as "God" means "God" and "deity." It is introduced with an article, so "the God." Jesus often uses it this way perhaps to indicate the one God as opposed to the pagan gods.
EACH WORD of NIV :
You -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the following verb.
are -- The verb "art" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics.
not -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea.
far -- "Far" is from an adverb that Jesus only uses twice, which means "far," and "long."
from -- The word translated as "from" means "from" in both location and when referring to a source.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
kingdom -- The word translated as "kingdom" can be the region, the reign, the castle or the authority of a ruler. Christ does not seem to use it to mean a physical region, so its translation as "reign" or "realm" seems more appropriate. This is especially true because the "reign" of a king means the execution of his will.
of -- This word comes from the genitive case of the following word(s) that required the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession, but it can also mean "belonging to," "part of", "which is", "than" (in comparisons), or "for", "concerning" or "about" with transitive verbs.
missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "thatViews", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
God. -- The word translated as "God" means "God" and "deity." It is introduced with an article, so "the God." Jesus often uses it this way perhaps to indicate the one God as opposed to the pagan gods.
EACH WORD 3RD (NLT or as noted):
You -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the following verb.
are -- The verb "art" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics.
not -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea.
far -- "Far" is from an adverb that Jesus only uses twice, which means "far," and "long."
from -- The word translated as "from" means "from" in both location and when referring to a source.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
kingdom -- The word translated as "kingdom" can be the region, the reign, the castle or the authority of a ruler. Christ does not seem to use it to mean a physical region, so its translation as "reign" or "realm" seems more appropriate. This is especially true because the "reign" of a king means the execution of his will.
of -- This word comes from the genitive case of the following word(s) that required the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession, but it can also mean "belonging to," "part of", "which is", "than" (in comparisons), or "for", "concerning" or "about" with transitive verbs.
missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "thatViews", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
God. -- The word translated as "God" means "God" and "deity." It is introduced with an article, so "the God." Jesus often uses it this way perhaps to indicate the one God as opposed to the pagan gods.
COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV :
Οὐ [269 verses](partic) "Not" is ou which is the negative adverb for facts and statements, negating both single words and sentences. The other negative adverb, μή applies to will and thought; οὐ denies, μή rejects; οὐ is absolute, μή relative; οὐ objective, μή subjective.
μακρὰν [2 verses](adv) "Far" is makran, which means "far," and "long."
[εἶ].[614 verses] (verb 2nd sg pres ind act ) "Art" is eimi, which means "to be", "to exist", "to be the case," of circumstance and events "to happen", and "is possible."
ἀπὸ [190 verses](prep) "From" is apo, a preposition of separation which means "from" or "away from" from when referring to place or motion, "from" or "after" when referring to time, "from" as an origin or cause.
τῆς [821 verses](article sg fem gen) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
βασιλείας [98 verses](noun sg fem gen) "Kingdom" is basileia, which means "kingdom", "dominion", "hereditary monarchy", "kingly office," (passive) "being ruled by a king," and "reign."
τοῦ [821 verses] (article) Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."
θεοῦ. [144 verses]( noun sg masc gen ) "God" is theos, which means "God," "divine," and "Deity." -- The word translated as "God" means "God" and "deity." It is introduced with an article, so "the God." Jesus often uses it this way perhaps to indicate the one God as opposed to the pagan gods.
Possible Symbolic Meaning:
If we take this statement as a message from Jesus to us today, it have a very different meaning than praise for a specific person in history, Jesus consistently describes the divine kingdom or divine rule as an on-going process. What Jesus says here is that we are all close to it, a part of it, even if we don't know what is going on.
Jesus only tells one other person, Peter, who and what they are using the second person of the verb "to be." The central question of the Gospels, using this form of the verb, is who Jesus is, not who we are. It often seems as though Jesus is constrained from telling us to much about the nature of reality, but here he gives a little bit away. We are not part of the realm of God, but we are not far from it.