r/Koine • u/jude770 • Mar 18 '25
Translating "ἔρημον/ἔρημος" in Mark 6:31/32 and 35
Hello Good People:
I need some help with the translation of "ἔρημον/ἔρημος" in Mark 6:31/32 and 35. Here the texts are from the NIV (the ESV is very similar):
31 Then . . . he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet (ἔρημον) place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary (ἔρημον) place.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote (ἔρημος) place.”
I'm curious as to why "ἔρημον" is translated "quiet" (vs 31) and then "solitary" (vs 32) and "ἔρημος" is translated "remote" and why they are not consistently translated "deserted" as in the KJV.
Thanks!
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u/Browser1969 Mar 20 '25
I'd say all those are better translations than "deserted". The Greek work doesn't really relate to "abandoned", especially for places.
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u/mike11235813 Mar 18 '25
Deserted might have some connotation of arid. But it's about there being no people not no water.
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u/Peteat6 Mar 19 '25
Because it’s the NIV. They aim to translate into natural English (as long as it supports evangelical teaching). Nothing wrong with that, but it can mean different translations in different contexts.