Mar 12:16 Whose [is] this image and superscription?
Mar 12:16 Whose [is] this image and superscription?
Alternative: What's this likeness and the writing on it.
Hidden meaning: This sentence is much more casual in the Greek. Christ asks this question in the most off-hand way possible. The sentence doesn't even have a verb. I tried to capture this feeling with the contraction. The feeling is like he was having fun, like he was playing that he didn't recognize the image.
Thematically and Linguistically Related Verse(s): Mat 22.19-20 are the parallel verses in Matthew but the second part uses completely different vocabulary.
Vocabulary:
"Whose" is from tis (tis) which can mean "someone," "any one," "everyone," "many a one," "whoever," and so on. In a question, it can mean "who," "why," or "what."
"This" is from houtos (houtos), which means "this," "that," "the nearer." As an adverb, it means "therefore," and "that is why."
"Image" is from eikôn (eikon), which means "likeness," "image," "image in a mirror," "personal description," "semblance," "comparison," and "archetype." It is the source of our word "icon."
"Superscription" is from epigraphê (epigraphe) which means "inscription," "title," "acription," and "description." It is from the verb that means, literally, "to write upon." This word is a combination of epi, (epi) which means "on," "upon," "at," "by," "before," "across," and "against" "and graphê (grapho), which means "representing by means of lines," "a drawing," "writing," "the art of writing," and "that which is written." It came to mean "scripture" from its use in the Gospels.
