Markus 1:20

1:20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Markus 2:1

Healing and Forgiving a Paralytic

2:1 Now ¹  after some days, when he returned to Capernaum, ²  the news spread ³  that he was at home.

Markus 2:13

The Call of Levi; Eating with Sinners

2:13 Jesus ⁴  went out again by the sea. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them.

Markus 3:23

3:23 So ⁵  he called them and spoke to them in parables: ⁶  “How can Satan cast out Satan?

Markus 4:2

4:2 He taught them many things in parables, ⁷  and in his teaching said to them:

Markus 4:34

4:34 He did not speak to them without a parable. But privately he explained everything to his own disciples.

Markus 5:12

5:12 And the demonic spirits ⁸  begged him, “Send us into the pigs. Let us enter them.”

Markus 5:21

Restoration and Healing

5:21 When Jesus had crossed again in a boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea.

Markus 6:1

Rejection at Nazareth

6:1 Now ⁹  Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, ¹⁰  and his disciples followed him.

Markus 6:6

6:6 And he was amazed because of their unbelief. Then ¹¹  he went around among the villages and taught.

Markus 7:17

7:17 Now ¹²  when Jesus ¹³  had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable.

Markus 8:22

A Two-stage Healing

8:22 Then ¹⁴  they came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to Jesus ¹⁵  and asked him to touch him.

Markus 9:15

9:15 When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran ¹⁶  at once and greeted him.

Markus 9:28

9:28 Then, ¹⁷  after he went into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?”

Markus 10:2

10:2 Then some Pharisees ¹⁸  came, and to test him ¹⁹  they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his ²⁰  wife?” ²¹ 

Markus 12:13

Paying Taxes to Caesar

12:13 Then ²²  they sent some of the Pharisees ²³  and Herodians ²⁴  to trap him with his own words. ²⁵ 

Markus 12:16

12:16 So ²⁶  they brought one, and he said to them, “Whose image ²⁷  is this, and whose inscription?” They replied, ²⁸  “Caesar’s.”

Markus 14:23

14:23 And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

Markus 14:45

14:45 When Judas ²⁹  arrived, he went up to Jesus ³⁰  immediately and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed ³¹  him.

Markus 15:2

15:2 So ³²  Pilate asked him, “Are you the king ³³  of the Jews?” He replied, ³⁴  “You say so.” ³⁵ 

Markus 15:19

15:19 Again and again ³⁶  they struck him on the head with a staff ³⁷  and spit on him. Then they knelt down and paid homage to him.

[2:1]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[2:1]  ² sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.

[2:1]  map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[2:1]  ³ tn Grk “it was heard.”

[2:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:23]  ⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[3:23]  ⁶ sn Jesus spoke two parables to demonstrate the absurdity of the thinking of the religious leaders who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. The first parable (vv. 23-26) teaches that if Jesus cast out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. The second parable (v. 28) about tying up a strong man proves that Jesus does not need to align himself with the devil because Jesus is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (1:12-13) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (a position for which they will be held accountable, 3:29-30). For an explanation of what a parable is, see the note on parables in 4:2.

[4:2]  ⁷ sn Though parables can contain a variety of figures of speech (cf. 2:19-22; 3:23-25; 4:3-9, 26-32; 7:15-17; 13:28), many times they are simply stories that attempt to teach spiritual truth (which is unknown to the hearers) by using a comparison with something known to the hearers. In general, parables usually advance a single idea, though there may be many parts and characters in a single parable and subordinate ideas may expand the main idea further. The beauty of using the parable as a teaching device is that it draws the listener into the story, elicits an evaluation, and demands a response.

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the demonic spirits) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[6:1]  ¹⁰ sn Jesus’ hometown (where he spent his childhood years) was Nazareth, about 20 miles (30 km) southwest of Capernaum.

[6:6]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[7:17]  ¹² tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[7:17]  ¹³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:22]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:22]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk The participle προστρέχοντες (prostrecontes) has been translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.

[9:28]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:2]  ¹⁸ tc The Western text (D it) and a few others have only καί (kai) here, rather than καὶ προσελθόντες Φαρισαῖοι (kai proselqonte" Farisaioi, here translated as “then some Pharisees came”). The longer reading, a specific identification of the subject, may have been prompted by the parallel in Matt 19:3. The fact that the mss vary in how they express this subject lends credence to this judgment: οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι προσελθόντες (Joi de Farisaioi proselqonte", “now the Pharisees came”) in W Θ 565 2542 pc; καὶ προσελθόντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι (kai proselqonte" Joi Farisaioi, “then the Pharisees came”) in א C N (˹: καὶ προσελθόντες ἐπηρώτησαν αὐτὸν οἱ Φαρισαῖοι) 579 1241 1424 pm; and καὶ προσελθόντες Φαρισαῖοι in A B K L Γ Δ Ψ Ë¹³ 28 700 892 2427 pm. Further, the use of an indefinite plural (a general “they”) is a Markan feature, occurring over twenty times. Thus, internally the evidence looks rather strong for the shorter reading, in spite of the minimal external support for it. However, if scribes assimilated this text to Matt 19:3, a more exact parallel might have been expected: Matthew has καὶ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ Φαρισαῖοι (kai proshlqon aujtw Farisaioi, “then Pharisees came to him”). Although the verb form needs to be different according to syntactical requirements of the respective sentences, the word order variety, as well as the presence or absence of the article and the alternation between δέ and καί as the introductory conjunction, all suggest that the variety of readings might not be due to scribal adjustments toward Matthew. At the same time, the article with Φαρισαῖοι is found in both Gospels in many of the same witnesses (א Ï in Matt; א pm in Mark), and the anarthrous Φαρισαῖοι is likewise parallel in many mss (B L ˹³ 700 892). Another consideration is the possibility that very early in the transmissional history, scribes naturally inserted the most obvious subject (the Pharisees would be the obvious candidates as the ones to test Jesus). This may account for the reading with δέ, since Mark nowhere else uses this conjunction to introduce the Pharisees into the narrative. As solid as the internal arguments against the longer reading seem to be, the greatest weakness is the witnesses that support it. The Western mss are prone to alter the text by adding, deleting, substituting, or rearranging large amounts of material. There are times when the rationale for this seems inexplicable. In light of the much stronger evidence for “the Pharisees came,” even though it occurs in various permutations, it is probably wisest to retain the words. This judgment, however, is hardly certain.

[10:2]  sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[10:2]  ¹⁹ tn In Greek this phrase occurs at the end of the sentence. It has been brought forward to conform to English style.

[10:2]  ²⁰ tn The personal pronoun “his” is not in the Greek text, but is certainly implied and has been supplied in the English translation to clarify the sense of the statement (cf. “his wife” in 10:7).

[10:2]  ²¹ tn The particle εἰ (ei) is often used to introduce both indirect and direct questions. Thus, another possible translation is to take this as an indirect question: “They asked him if it were lawful for a man to divorce his wife.” See BDF §440.3.

[10:2]  sn The question of the Pharisees was anything but sincere; they were asking it to test him. Jesus was now in the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas (i.e., Judea and beyond the Jordan) and it is likely that the Pharisees were hoping he might answer the question of divorce in a way similar to John the Baptist and so suffer the same fate as John, i.e., death at the hands of Herod (cf. 6:17-19). Jesus answered the question not on the basis of rabbinic custom and the debate over Deut 24:1, but rather from the account of creation and God’s original design.

[12:13]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:13]  ²³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[12:13]  ²⁴ sn Pharisees and Herodians made a very interesting alliance. W. W. Wessel (“Mark,” EBC 8:733) comments: “The Herodians were as obnoxious to the Pharisees on political grounds as the Sadducees were on theological grounds. Yet the two groups united in their opposition to Jesus. Collaboration in wickedness, as well as goodness, has great power. Their purpose was to trip Jesus up in his words so that he would lose the support of the people, leaving the way open for them to destroy him.” See also the note on “Herodians” in Mark 3:6.

[12:13]  ²⁵ tn Grk “trap him in word.”

[12:16]  ²⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate their response to Jesus’ request for a coin.

[12:16]  ²⁷ tn Or “whose likeness.”

[12:16]  sn In this passage Jesus points to the image (Grk εἰκών, eikwn) of Caesar on the coin. This same Greek word is used in Gen 1:26 (LXX) to state that humanity is made in the “image” of God. Jesus is making a subtle yet powerful contrast: Caesar’s image is on the denarius, so he can lay claim to money through taxation, but God’s image is on humanity, so he can lay claim to each individual life.

[12:16]  ²⁸ tn Grk “they said to him.”

[14:45]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:45]  ³⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:45]  ³¹ sn Judas’ act of betrayal when he kissed Jesus is especially sinister when it is realized that it was common in the culture of the times for a disciple to kiss his master when greeting him.

[15:2]  ³² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action in the narrative.

[15:2]  ³³ sn “Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate was interested in this charge because of its political implications of sedition against Rome.

[15:2]  ³⁴ tn Grk “answering, he said to him.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the phrase has been modified for clarity.

[15:2]  ³⁵ sn The reply “You say so” is somewhat enigmatic, like Jesus’ earlier reply to the Jewish leadership (mentioned in Matt 26:64 and Luke 22:70).

[15:19]  ³⁶ tn The verb here has been translated as an iterative imperfect.

[15:19]  ³⁷ tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.