Mark 12:35 How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?

Jesus asks this question of the scribe with whom he has been talking.

KJV

NIV

Mark 12:35 Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David?

3RD (NLT, if not otherwise identified)

Mark 12:35 Why do the teachers of religious law claim that the Messiah is the son of David?

LISTENERS HEARD

How do they say, those writers, that this anointed is a son of David?

MY TAKE

I only explain how Jesus's words are misrepresented, not why they are.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page)

Mark 12:35 Πῶς λέγουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς ὅτι ὁ χριστὸς υἱὸς Δαυείδ ἐστιν;

GREEK ORDER

Πῶς λέγουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς ὅτι ὁ χριστὸς υἱὸς Δαυείδ ἐστιν;
How do they say, those writers, that the anointed a son of David is

LOST IN TRANSLATION

The "how" beginning this question has the sense of "how is it possible?" It the modern translations, this is changed, less correctly, to "why." The sense is "how is it explained" not "why does it happen." The first askes for the reasoning while the second asks for the motivation.

In the KJV, the term "Christ" is used, for christos, which is the untranslated Greek for "anointed." It is introduced with an article, "the," which is closer to "this" in Greek, so "this anointed." In the more modern translations, this is changed to "the Messiah" a concept that no one in Jesus's era would have understood.

This is also one of those verses where a "the" is added before "son" to make "a son" of David seem rare than he was. Many people at the time traced their descent to King David. A "son" is not only a child of someone, but by the definition of the time, an inferior, that is a subordinate. This was both a legal and cultural matter, especially in Jewish culture where the superiority of parents was part of the ten commandments.

MW - Missing Word -- The article "the" is not shown in the English translation.
UW - Untranslated Word -- The word "christos" means "anointed." It is not translated but a title is substituted.
IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" doesn't exist in the source.

CW --Confusing Word -- This is not the common word usually translated as "why."
WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "teachers" means "writers."
IP - Inserted Phrase-- The phrase "of the law" doesn't exist in the source.
MW - Missing Word -- The article "the" is not shown in the English translation.
WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "Messiah" means "anointed."
IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" doesn't exist in the source.

CW --Confusing Word -- This is not the common word usually translated as "why."
WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "teachers" means "writers."
IP - Inserted Phrase-- The phrase "of religious law" doesn't exist in the source.
MW - Missing Word -- The article "the" is not shown in the English translation.
WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "Messiah" means "anointed."
IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" doesn't exist in the source.

EACH WORD of KJV

How -- "How" is the adverb that means "how", "by any means", and "I suppose".

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 the way Christ uses it more frequently. It also has many ancillary meanings such as "to count" ("to number" or like we might say, "to recount" a story) or "to choose for yourself."

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, 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", "those"). See this article for more.

scribes -- "Scribes" is translated from a Greek word describing anyone who used written records in their job, "secretary", "registrar,' and "scholar." However, Christ used it to name those scholars who specifically studied the Bible and wrote about its meanings. A modern equivalent would be "academics."

that -- The word translated as "that" introduces a statement of fact or cause.

missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.

Christ -- (UW) The word translated as "Christ" means "anointed." In the NT, it is understood to mean the Messiah, following the anointing of the kings of Israel. The Jews of Jesus's era thought they understood who the Messiah was and the source of his authority. He was a descendant of David, and his authority came from David as "the anointed" king of the Jews.

is -- The verb "is" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. However, it is not an active verb in but an infinitive. It is part of what it said.

the -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "the" in the Greek source. There is no indefinite article in Greek, but when a word doesn't have a definite article, the indefinite article can be added in English translation. The sense here is "a son" not "the son,"

Son? -- The word translated as "son" more generally means "child" or "children". It can refer to all offspring in later generations, just like "father" refers to all previous generations. Jesus also used it metaphorically to describe those who follow a way of thought or set of beliefs that descend from an individual. More about it in this article.

of -- There is no Greek word or word form that needs to be translated as "of" in the source we use today nor was there one in the source that the KJV translators used. It was added for clarity. The following word is a Hebrew name so it lack the Greek form that could create a possessive so it acts more like an adjective, "son David."

David? --"David" is from is a Greek form of the Hebrew name.

EACH WORD of NIV

Why -- (CW) "How" is the adverb that means "how", "by any means", and "I suppose." This is not the word usually translated as "why" and this word isn't translated that way.

do -- This helping verb is added to make this a question.

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, 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", "those"). See this article for more.

teachers-- (WW) "Teachers" is translated from a Greek word describing anyone who used written records in their job, "secretary", "registrar,' and "scholar." However, Christ used it to name those scholars who specifically studied the Bible and wrote about its meanings. A modern equivalent would be "academics."

of the law -- (IP) There is nothing that can be translated as "of the law" in the Greek source.

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 the way Christ uses it more frequently. It also has many ancillary meanings such as "to count" ("to number" or like we might say, "to recount" a story) or "to choose for yourself."

that -- The word translated as "that" introduces a statement of fact or cause.

the -- The word "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.

Messiah -- (WW) The word translated as "Messaih" means "anointed." In the NT, it is understood to mean the Messiah, following the anointing of the kings of Israel, but that is not what the Jews of the period heard. The Jews of Jesus's era thought they understood who the Messiah was and the source of his authority. He was a descendant of David, and his authority came from David as "the anointed" king of the Jews.

is -- The verb "is" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. However, it is not an active verb in but an infinitive. It is part of what it said.

the -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "the" in the Greek source. There is no indefinite article in Greek, but when a word doesn't have a definite article, the indefinite article can be added in English translation. The sense here is "a son" not "the son,"

Son? -- The word translated as "son" more generally means "child" or "children". It can refer to all offspring in later generations, just like "father" refers to all previous generations. Jesus also used it metaphorically to describe those who follow a way of thought or set of beliefs that descend from an individual. More about it in this article.

of -- There is no Greek word or word form that needs to be translated as "of" in the source we use today nor was there one in the source that the KJV translators used. It was added for clarity. The following word is a Hebrew name so it lack the Greek form that could create a possessive so it acts more like an adjective, "son David."

David? --"David" is from is a Greek form of the Hebrew name.

EACH WORD 3RD (NLT or as noted)

Why -- (CW) "How" is the adverb that means "how", "by any means", and "I suppose". This is not the word usually translated as "why" and this word isn't translated that way.

do -- This helping verb is added to make this a question.

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, 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", "those"). See this article for more.

teachers -- (WW) "Scribes" is translated from a Greek word describing anyone who used written records in their job, "secretary", "registrar,' and "scholar." However, Christ used it to name those scholars who specifically studied the Bible and wrote about its meanings. A modern equivalent would be "academics."

of religious law -- (IP) There is nothing that can be translated as "of religious law" in the Greek source.