This line is spoken to Jarius's daughter, who people thought had died.
Mark 5:41 Talitha cumi; Damsel, I say unto you, arise.
Mark 5:41 Talitha, cumi...Little girl, I say to you, arise.”
Little girl, arise. This little girl? To you I say, wake up!
All litte kids must
This verse is a great piece of evidence that Jesus's words were primarily Greek and not translated from Aramaic. This is not just because the Aramaic is quoted when he does talk in Aramaic as he does here, but because the translation from Aramaic to Greek is not precisely accurate. Of course, the translation of the Greek to English is also sloppy, but that is normal for Biblical translation.
The Aramaic says simply, "Little girl arise." (Some say that the Aramaic word may mean "little lamb" as a pet name for a child. Either way, it refers to the girl.) However, the translator adds a flourish, "to you I say: which clearly wasn't part of the Aramaic. This means that Mark was not very precise as a translator, seeking to capture only the sense of the words. Note how much more closely the version in Luke 8:54 is to the Aramaic, though he doesn't mention it source. The author, however, clearly makes an issue of Jesus speaking a different language, requiring translation. This makes it seem unlikely that Jesus usually spoke in Aramaic. By quoting Jesus's words first in Aramaic and then offering a Greek approximation, making clear he is approximating the idea. If Jesus always taught in Aramaic, why would his use of Aramaic be worth noting? This is one of many examples that make it seem impossible that Jesus mainly spoke in Aramaic rather than Greek. See this article for more examples.
Does the phrase "little girl" addess the girl herself? This is impossible to know from the Aramaic source because Aramaic has no special noun form for address (the vocative case in Greek). In Greek, the "little girl" could be vocative. The word is neuter, not feminine so the same form is used as a subject, an object, and for address. However, the article, that is, the "the" before "little girl" that you don't see because the Bible ignores these (See this article for more.) is not a vocative because there is no vocative article. However, the New Testament has as many as sixty cases where the nominative form of words is assumed to be used as the evocative, that is, to address someone. This could be an artifact of what Biblical translators want since it isn't usually a feature of ancient Greek or other koine. Since the form could be a subject, the verb "is" can be assumed so "This is the little girl?"
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "little girl" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "through" does not capture the word's specific meaning. This is not the word translated as "Damsel" in the previous verse ( Mark 5:39).
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "little girl" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "through" does not capture the word's specific meaning. This is not the word translated as "Damsel" in the previous verse ( Mark 5:39).
Talitha - This is the Aramaic word for "little lamb."
cumi; - This is the Aramaic word that means "arise."
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," 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," and "those"). See this article for more. Since
Damsel, - (CW) "Damsel" is a Greek noun that means "little girl" and "maiden." This word is only used twice by Jesus, once here and once in a verse in Matthew 9:24 referring to the same girl. This is not the word translated as "Damsel" in the previous verse ( Mark 5:39).
I -- This is from the first-person, singular form of the verb.
say - The word translated as "say" is the most common word that means "to say," and "to speak," but it also means "to teach," which seems to be away Jesus uses it more frequently.
unto -- This word "to" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.
you, -- The word for "you" is the indirect object form of the singular, second-person pronoun in the form of an indirect object, which usually requires a preposition in English, like "to you."
arise. - The verb "arise" means "awaken" and is the same word Jesus uses to describe God raising the dead and false prophets arising.
Talitha, cumi...Little girl, I say to you, arise.”
Talitha - This is the Aramaic word for "little lamb."
cumi; - This is the Aramaic word that means "arise."
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," 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," and "those"). See this article for more. MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "heaven" is not shown in the English translation.
Little girl, - (CW) "Little girl" is a Greek noun that means "little girl" and "maiden." This word is only used twice by Jesus, once here and once in a verse in Matthew 9:24 referring to the same girl. This is not the word translated as "Damsel" in the previous verse ( Mark 5:39).
I -- This is from the first-person, singular form of the verb.
say - The word translated as "say" is the most common word that means "to say," and "to speak," but it also means "to teach," which seems to be away Jesus uses it more frequently.
to -- This word "to" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.
you, -- The word for "you" is the indirect object form of the singular, second-person pronoun in the form of an indirect object, which usually requires a preposition in English, like "to you."
arise. - The verb "arise" means "awaken" and is the same word Jesus uses to describe God raising the dead and false prophets arising.
Ταλειθά (Aramaic) "Little girl of "little lamb".
κούμ, (Aramaic) "Arise".
Τὸ [821 verses](article sg neut nom ) Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). -
κοράσιον, [2 verses](noun sg neut nom diminutive) "Damsel" is from the Greek korasion, which means "little girl" and "maiden." It is a diminutive form of the word for "girl."
σοὶ [81 verses](pron 2nd sg dat) "You" is soi which is the singular, second-person pronoun, "you," in the form of an indirect pronoun.
λέγω, [264 verses](verb 1st sg pres ind act) "Say" is from legô, which means "to gather", "to pick up", "to count", "to tell", "to recount", "to say", "to speak," and "to call by name." It means speaking, but in the sense of connecting things together, enumerating things, recounting things.'
ἔγειρε [42 verses] (verb 2nd sg pres imperat act) "Arise" is from egeiro, which means "to awake", "to rouse", "to stir up" and "to wake up."