1
Καὶ ἐκπορευομένου αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ λέγει αὐτῷ εἷς τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ· Διδάσκαλε, ἴδε ποταποὶ λίθοι καὶ ποταπαὶ οἰκοδομαί.
And as he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples says to him, “Teacher, look — what stones, and what buildings!”
2
καὶ ὁ ⸀Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Βλέπεις ταύτας τὰς μεγάλας οἰκοδομάς; οὐ μὴ ἀφεθῇ ⸀ὧδε λίθος ἐπὶ ⸀λίθον ὃς οὐ μὴ καταλυθῇ.
And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will certainly not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
3
Καὶ καθημένου αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ Ὄρος τῶν Ἐλαιῶν κατέναντι τοῦ ἱεροῦ ⸀ἐπηρώτα αὐτὸν κατ’ ἰδίαν Πέτρος καὶ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης καὶ Ἀνδρέας·
And as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were asking him privately,
4
Εἰπὸν ἡμῖν πότε ταῦτα ἔσται, καὶ τί τὸ σημεῖον ὅταν μέλλῃ ⸂ταῦτα συντελεῖσθαι πάντα⸃.
“Tell us, when will these things be? And what is the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”
5
ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ⸂ἤρξατο λέγειν αὐτοῖς⸃· Βλέπετε μή τις ὑμᾶς πλανήσῃ·
And Jesus began to say to them, “Watch out that no one leads you astray.
6
⸀πολλοὶ ἐλεύσονται ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου λέγοντες ὅτι Ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ πολλοὺς πλανήσουσιν.
Many will come in my name saying ‘I am he,' and they will lead many astray.
7
ὅταν δὲ ⸀ἀκούσητε πολέμους καὶ ἀκοὰς πολέμων, μὴ θροεῖσθε· ⸀δεῖ γενέσθαι, ἀλλ’ οὔπω τὸ τέλος.
And when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. It must happen — but the end is not yet.
8
ἐγερθήσεται γὰρ ἔθνος ἐπ’ ἔθνος καὶ βασιλεία ἐπὶ βασιλείαν, ⸀ἔσονται σεισμοὶ κατὰ τόπους, ⸁ἔσονται ⸀λιμοί· ⸀ἀρχὴ ὠδίνων ταῦτα.
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places, there will be famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
9
βλέπετε δὲ ὑμεῖς ἑαυτούς· ⸀παραδώσουσιν ὑμᾶς εἰς συνέδρια καὶ εἰς συναγωγὰς δαρήσεσθε καὶ ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνων καὶ βασιλέων σταθήσεσθε ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς.
But you, watch yourselves. They will hand you over to councils, and in synagogues you will be beaten, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them.
10
καὶ εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ⸂πρῶτον δεῖ⸃ κηρυχθῆναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον.
And first the gospel must be proclaimed to all the nations.
11
⸂καὶ ὅταν⸃ ⸀ἄγωσιν ὑμᾶς παραδιδόντες, μὴ προμεριμνᾶτε τί ⸀λαλήσητε, ἀλλ’ ὃ ἐὰν δοθῇ ὑμῖν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ τοῦτο λαλεῖτε, οὐ γάρ ἐστε ὑμεῖς οἱ λαλοῦντες ἀλλὰ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον.
And when they lead you away and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what to say; but whatever is given you in that hour, say that. For it is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit.
12
⸂καὶ παραδώσει⸃ ἀδελφὸς ἀδελφὸν εἰς θάνατον καὶ πατὴρ τέκνον, καὶ ἐπαναστήσονται τέκνα ἐπὶ γονεῖς καὶ θανατώσουσιν αὐτούς·
And brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and put them to death.
13
καὶ ἔσεσθε μισούμενοι ὑπὸ πάντων διὰ τὸ ὄνομά μου. ὁ δὲ ὑπομείνας εἰς τέλος οὗτος σωθήσεται.
And you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end — this one will be saved.
14
Ὅταν δὲ ἴδητε τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως ⸀ἑστηκότα ὅπου οὐ δεῖ, ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω, τότε οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ φευγέτωσαν εἰς τὰ ὄρη,
But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not — let the reader understand — then let those in Judea flee to the mountains;
Why this rendering
Mark.13.14 Observation
Syntactic observation
The gender does not agree. τὸ βδέλυγμα is neuter (accusative singular neuter), but the participle governing it, ἑστηκότα, is **masculine** (perfect active participle, accusative singular masculine). Grammar would require the neuter ἑστηκός — and the Textus Receptus does print a corrected form. It is the same kind of dissonance as the masculine καθαρίζων at 7:19, and here it changes the sense: neuter would be a thing standing; masculine is **someone** standing — not an object but a person. And into the middle of the sentence comes ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω, let the reader understand. This does not sit inside Jesus' speech; it is the narrator speaking to the reader. Of Mark's four occurrences of ἀναγινώσκω, 2:25, 12:10 and 12:26 are all Jesus asking have you not read; only 13:14 has the narrator addressing whoever is reading his book. The narrator intrudes in several places (the custom-note of 7:3-4, the comment at 7:19), but this is the only one where he **addresses** whoever is reading his book. βδέλυγμα and ἐρήμωσις are each unique in Mark. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἑστηκότα).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not — let the reader understand —”
Basis Reads the masculine participle toward a person, and sets the address to the reader off with dashes as the narrator's own.
“…standing where it should not be (let the reader understand)”
Basis Reads it as neuter, a thing.
Rejected What the base text prints is masculine. Smoothing the gender is what copyists already did (the Textus Receptus); a translation repeating that erases the dissonance the text preserves. This matches our handling of the same kind of masculine participle at 7:19.
Lost in translation
the gender clash itself Neither Korean nor English has grammatical gender on nouns, so the fact that one participle breaks agreement and turns a thing into a person has nowhere to land. Writing he, or 서 있는 자, gives the result but not the grammatical event.
15
⸀ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δώματος μὴ ⸀καταβάτω μηδὲ εἰσελθάτω ⸂τι ἆραι⸃ ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ,
let the one on the roof not come down, nor go in to take anything out of his house;
16
καὶ ὁ εἰς τὸν ⸀ἀγρὸν μὴ ἐπιστρεψάτω εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω ἆραι τὸ ἱμάτιον αὐτοῦ.
and let the one in the field not turn back to take his garment.
17
οὐαὶ δὲ ταῖς ἐν γαστρὶ ἐχούσαις καὶ ταῖς θηλαζούσαις ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις.
And woe to those who are pregnant and those nursing in those days.
18
προσεύχεσθε δὲ ἵνα μὴ ⸀γένηται χειμῶνος·
And pray that it may not happen in winter.
19
ἔσονται γὰρ αἱ ἡμέραι ἐκεῖναι θλῖψις οἵα οὐ γέγονεν τοιαύτη ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως ⸀ἣν ἔκτισεν ὁ θεὸς ἕως τοῦ νῦν καὶ οὐ μὴ γένηται.
For those days will be a tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.
20
καὶ εἰ μὴ ⸂ἐκολόβωσεν κύριος⸃ τὰς ἡμέρας, οὐκ ἂν ἐσώθη πᾶσα σάρξ. ἀλλὰ διὰ τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς οὓς ἐξελέξατο ἐκολόβωσεν τὰς ἡμέρας.
And if the Lord had not cut short those days, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen, whom he chose, he cut short the days.
21
⸀καὶ τότε ἐάν τις ὑμῖν εἴπῃ· ⸀Ἴδε ὧδε ὁ ⸀χριστός, ⸁Ἴδε ἐκεῖ, μὴ πιστεύετε·
And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,' or ‘Look, there,' do not believe it.
22
ἐγερθήσονται γὰρ ψευδόχριστοι καὶ ψευδοπροφῆται καὶ δώσουσιν σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα πρὸς τὸ ἀποπλανᾶν εἰ ⸀δυνατὸν τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς·
For false christs and false prophets will rise, and will give signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the chosen.
23
ὑμεῖς δὲ βλέπετε· ⸀προείρηκα ὑμῖν πάντα.
But you, watch out. I have told you all things beforehand.
24
Ἀλλὰ ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις μετὰ τὴν θλῖψιν ἐκείνην ὁ ἥλιος σκοτισθήσεται, καὶ ἡ σελήνη οὐ δώσει τὸ φέγγος αὐτῆς,
But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light,
25
καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες ⸂ἔσονται ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πίπτοντες⸃, καὶ αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς σαλευθήσονται.
and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
26
καὶ τότε ὄψονται τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐν νεφέλαις μετὰ δυνάμεως πολλῆς καὶ δόξης·
And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
27
καὶ τότε ἀποστελεῖ τοὺς ⸀ἀγγέλους καὶ ἐπισυνάξει τοὺς ⸀ἐκλεκτοὺς ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων ἀπ’ ἄκρου γῆς ἕως ἄκρου οὐρανοῦ.
And then he will send the angels and gather the chosen from the four winds, from the end of earth to the end of heaven.
28
Ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς συκῆς μάθετε τὴν παραβολήν· ὅταν ⸂ἤδη ὁ κλάδος αὐτῆς⸃ ἁπαλὸς γένηται καὶ ἐκφύῃ τὰ φύλλα, γινώσκετε ὅτι ἐγγὺς τὸ θέρος ἐστίν·
From the fig tree learn the parable: when its branch has already become tender and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near.
29
οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὅταν ⸂ἴδητε ταῦτα⸃ γινόμενα, γινώσκετε ὅτι ἐγγύς ἐστιν ἐπὶ θύραις.
So also you — when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the doors.
30
ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη μέχρις οὗ ⸂ταῦτα πάντα⸃ γένηται.
Amen I say to you that this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things happen.
Why this rendering
Mark.13.30 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη — this generation. γενεά occurs five times in Mark, and the first four fix the grain of the word: twice at 8:12 (why does this generation seek a sign; if a sign shall be given to this generation —), at 8:38 (this adulterous and sinful generation), at 9:19 (O faithless generation). All four are rebukes aimed at the people standing in front of him, and all four are negative. The this generation of 13:30 is the same phrase — the book has never used it as a neutral marker of a span of time. οὐ μή with the subjunctive παρέλθῃ is emphatic denial, and v.31 uses the same verb twice more to build a parallel: heaven and earth παρελεύσονται, will pass away; my words οὐ μὴ παρελεύσονται, will certainly not pass away. The not passing of v.30 and the passing and not passing of v.31 are laced together by one word. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸂ταῦτα πάντα⸃).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things happen”
Basis Renders γενεά with the same word as the four places before it. What it refers to the text does not settle, so the translation does not settle it.
“this race…” or “this age…”
Basis Widens the referent to ease the problem of timing.
Rejected It would render the fifth occurrence differently from four that were aimed at the hearers. Changing the word to remove an interpretive difficulty hides the fact that the difficulty is in the text.
31
ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ ⸀παρελεύσονται, οἱ δὲ λόγοι μου οὐ ⸀μὴ ⸁παρελεύσονται.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.
32
Περὶ δὲ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης ἢ ⸀τῆς ὥρας οὐδεὶς οἶδεν, οὐδὲ οἱ ἄγγελοι ⸀ἐν οὐρανῷ οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός, εἰ μὴ ὁ πατήρ.
But concerning that day or the hour no one knows — not the angels in heaven, nor the Son — except the Father.
Why this rendering
Mark.13.32 Observation
Syntactic observation
ὁ υἱός stands absolute, with nothing qualifying it — and **this is the only such form in Mark.** Every other son in the book carries an attachment: my Son (1:11, 9:7), Son of God (3:11, 5:7), Son of David (10:47, 48), son of Mary (6:3), sons of Zebedee (10:35), son of Timaeus (10:46), Son of the Blessed (14:61). Only at 13:32 is nothing attached. And the ὁ πατήρ that follows has the same shape — the absolute the Father occurs in Mark only here and at 14:36 (Αββα ὁ πατήρ). Two absolutes set facing each other in one sentence. The list of not-knowing descends: no one → not the angels in heaven → not the Son. Then it breaks off at εἰ μὴ ὁ πατήρ. That last phrase is except the Father, not only the Father knows — the statement that the Father knows is not in the sentence; he is only marked as the exception. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀τῆς ⸀ἐν).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “…nor the Son — except the Father.”
Basis Renders εἰ μή as the exception it is, without adding a statement that the Father knows.
“…nor the Son, but only the Father [knows].”
Basis Supplies the elided verb to complete the sentence.
Rejected The supplement is natural but manufactures a statement the Greek does not make. Mark's sentence merely exempts the Father from the list of not-knowing and stops; it says nothing about knowledge on the Father's side — and that restraint is the shape of the verse.
Lost in translation
the two absolutes facing each other the Son and the Father standing bare and opposite happens in this one sentence only, but articles and qualifiers work differently in Korean and English, and the bareness does not register.
33
βλέπετε ⸀ἀγρυπνεῖτε, οὐκ οἴδατε γὰρ πότε ὁ καιρός ἐστιν·
Watch out. Keep vigil. For you do not know when the time is.
Why this rendering
Mark.13.33 Observation
Syntactic observation
Two imperatives stand side by side without a conjunction — βλέπετε ἀγρυπνεῖτε. The Textus Receptus inserts καί between them and adds προσεύχεσθε, and pray, making three. SBLGNT keeps two and marks the place. Counting shows the direction of the addition: προσεύχομαι occurs in several places in Mark, but in ch. 13 only at v.18, not at v.33. ἀγρυπνέω, to drive off sleep, to lie awake, is unique in Mark and overlaps in sense with the γρηγορέω of two verses later while remaining a different word — the paragraph says staying awake in three words: ἀγρυπνεῖτε (33), γρηγορῇ and γρηγορεῖτε (34, 35, 37), and against them καθεύδοντας, sleeping (36). βλέπετε is the command repeated four times in this chapter (5, 9, 23, 33). SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἀγρυπνεῖτε,).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “Watch out. Keep vigil.”
Basis Follows the base text with two, keeping the asyndeton side by side.
“Take heed, watch and pray.”
Basis Follows the Textus Receptus with three.
Rejected By our base-text decision we follow SBLGNT. And the addition conforms this verse to the watch and pray pair of 14:38 — pulling a phrase from a later scene forward is the common direction of copying.
Lost in translation
two words for staying awake ἀγρυπνέω and γρηγορέω come within four verses of each other, but 깨어 있으라 in Korean, and stay awake or keep watch in English, tend to fold the two into one.
34
ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἀπόδημος ἀφεὶς τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ δοὺς τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ⸀ἑκάστῳ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῷ θυρωρῷ ἐνετείλατο ἵνα γρηγορῇ.
It is like a man away abroad, who left his house and gave his slaves the authority, to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay awake.
35
γρηγορεῖτε οὖν, οὐκ οἴδατε γὰρ πότε ὁ κύριος τῆς οἰκίας ἔρχεται, ⸀ἢ ὀψὲ ἢ ⸀μεσονύκτιον ἢ ἀλεκτοροφωνίας ἢ πρωΐ,
So stay awake — for you do not know when the master of the house comes, whether at evening or midnight or cockcrow or early morning —
Why this rendering
Mark.13.35 Observation
Syntactic observation
The night is named in four watches — ὀψέ, evening; μεσονύκτιον, midnight; ἀλεκτοροφωνία, cockcrow; πρωΐ, early morning. The third name, ἀλεκτοροφωνία, is unique in Mark, and its root becomes an event in the next chapter: ἀλέκτωρ, a cock, appears at 14:30, 68 and twice at 14:72, where at the second crowing Peter remembers. What is here the name of an hour comes back one chapter later as an actual bird. The same holds for γρηγορέω, stay awake — six times in Mark, three of them in this chapter (34, 35, 37) and three in Gethsemane (14:34, 37, 38). Commanded three times in ch. 13, tested three times in ch. 14 — and the disciples sleep. In v.34 θυρωρός, doorkeeper, and ἀπόδημος, away abroad, are each unique in Mark. Verse 37 widens the command: ὃ δὲ ὑμῖν λέγω πᾶσιν λέγω — what I say to you I say to all. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἢ ⸀μεσονύκτιον).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “whether at evening, or midnight, or cockcrow, or early morning”
Basis Keeps the four as names of hours and renders the third as cockcrow, tying it to the bird of ch. 14.
“in the evening, or at night, or before dawn, or at daybreak”
Basis Drops the bird and keeps only the times.
Rejected Remove the cock from the third name and the link to 14:72 is cut — the arrangement by which an hour Jesus names becomes an actual sound in Peter's scene stops being visible.
Lost in translation
the system of four watches To a reader who knows the fourfold division of the night, the list reads as an idiom for all night long; the text does not explain the system.
36
μὴ ἐλθὼν ἐξαίφνης εὕρῃ ὑμᾶς καθεύδοντας·
lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.
37
⸀ὃ δὲ ὑμῖν λέγω πᾶσιν λέγω· γρηγορεῖτε.
And what I say to you, I say to all: stay awake.”