Mark 10:36 What would ye that I should do for you?

Spoken to
Apostles

James and John ask for a favor.

KJV

Mark 10:36 What would ye that I should do for you?

NIV

Mark 10:36 What do you want me to do for you?

LISTENERS HEARD

What do you want me to do for you?

MY TAKE

What we asked for has an affect on what we get.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page)
GREEK ORDER

Τί      θέλετε           ποιησαι  με      ὑμῖν;
What do you want  to do      me for you?

LOST IN TRANSLATION

The source I use has a different version of this verse, but the majority of Greek sources have what I show here (see the analysis of various sources here). The word translated as "would/want" means "want" or "desire."

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES
3
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "would" does not capture the word's specific meaning in this situation.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "that" doesn't exist in the source.
  • WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "should" should be something more like "to."
EACH WORD of KJV

What -- The word translated as "what" means primarily "anything" or "anyone," but Jesus often uses it to start a question so it means "who", "what", or even "why". 

would -- (CW) The Greek verb translated as "would" expresses consent and even a delight in doing something. It means "to desire", "to consent", and "to be resolved to a purpose". This is not the specific meaning of the word in this situation.

ye -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

that -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "that" in the Greek source.  The source has an infinitive verb here.

I -- This is from the first-person, singular form of the following verb. The pronoun in the source is an object, the form of a subject for an infinitive.

should -- (WW) There is nothing that can be translated as "should " in the Greek source

do  -- The Greek word translated as "I do" has the primary meaning of "making" or producing" something or "causing" or "performing" as service. It describes a productive action.  It is not as broad a word as the English "do", which covers all actions, productive or not. 

for -- This word "for" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. However, the translator can choose other prepositions: "with,"  "in,"   "of,"  "as," "by," "for," "at," or "on" depending on the context.

you -- The Greek pronoun "you" here is plural and in the form of an indirect object, "to you," "for you," etc. As the object of a preposition, this form implies no movement, but in a fixed position or events occur at a specified time or while the action was being performed.

EACH WORD of NIV

What -- The word translated as "what" means primarily "anything" or "anyone," but Jesus often uses it to start a question so it means "who", "what", or even "why". 

do -- This English helping verb is used to create questions, commands, negative statements, and smooth word flow in translation from Greek

you -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

want -- The Greek verb translated as "want " expresses consent and even a delight in doing something. It means "to desire", "to consent", and "to be resolved to a purpose". This is not the specific meaning of the word in this situation.

me -- The majority of Greek sources have a first-person pronoun here in the form of an object.

to -- This "to" is added because the infinitive form of the verb requires a "to" in English.

do for you?

for -- This word "for" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. However, the translator can choose other prepositions: "with,"  "in,"   "of,"  "as," "by," "for," "at," or "on" depending on the context.

you -- The Greek pronoun "you" here is plural and in the form of an indirect object, "to you," "for you," etc. As the object of a preposition, this form implies no movement, but in a fixed position or events occur at a specified time or while the action was being performed.

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV

Τί [252 verses]( irreg sg neut nom/acc ) "What" is tis which can mean "someone", "any one", "everyone", "they [indefinite]", "many a one", "whoever", "anyone", "anything", "some sort", "some sort of", "each", "any", "the individual", "such," and so on. In a question, it can mean "who", "why," or "what."

θέλετε [64 verses](2nd pl pres ind act) "Would ye" is thelo, which as a verb means "to be willing (of consent rather than desire)", "to wish", "to ordain", "to decree", "to be resolved to a purpose" "to maintain", "to hold", "to delight in, and "will (too express a future event with inanimate objects)." As a participle, it means "being willing" or, adverbially, "willingly," and "gladly".

ποιησαι  [168 verses] (verb aor inf act) OR ποιήσω; [168 verses]( verb 1st sg aor subj/fut ind act) "I should do" is poieo, which means "to make", "to produce", "to create", "to bring into existence", "to bring about", "to cause", "to perform", "to render", "to consider", "to prepare", "to make ready," and "to do."

[με [49 verses](pron 1st sg masc acc) "Me" is eme, which is the objective first-person, objective, singular pronoun that means  "me."

ὑμῖν [289 verses](pron 2nd pl dat) "For you" is humin the plural form of su the pronoun of the second person, "you."

 

Possible Symbolic Meaning
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