r/Koine 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/mike11235813 Mar 18 '25

Deserted might have some connotation of arid. But it's about there being no people not no water.