Markus 1:22

1:22 The people there ¹  were amazed by his teaching, because he taught them like one who had authority, ²  not like the experts in the law. ³ 

Markus 4:24

4:24 And he said to them, “Take care about what you hear. The measure you use will be the measure you receive, ⁴  and more will be added to you.

Markus 4:32

4:32 when it is sown, it grows up, ⁵  becomes the greatest of all garden plants, and grows large branches so that the wild birds ⁶  can nest in its shade.” ⁷ 

Markus 7:5

7:5 The Pharisees and the experts in the law asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat ⁸  with unwashed hands?”

Markus 9:9

9:9 As they were coming down from the mountain, he gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Markus 13:34

13:34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves ⁹  in charge, assigning ¹⁰  to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert.

Markus 15:7

15:7 A man named Barabbas was imprisoned with rebels who had committed murder during an insurrection.

[1:22]  ¹ tn Grk “They.”

[1:22]  ² sn Jesus’ teaching impressed the hearers with the directness of its claim; he taught with authority. A study of Jewish rabbinic interpretation shows that it was typical to cite a list of authorities to make one’s point. Apparently Jesus addressed the issues in terms of his own understanding.

[1:22]  ³ tn Or “the scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[4:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “by [the measure] with which you measure it will be measured to you.”

[4:32]  ⁵ tn Mark 4:31-32 is fairly awkward in Greek. Literally the sentence reads as follows: “As a mustard seed, which when sown in the earth, being the smallest of all the seeds in the earth, and when it is sown, it grows up…” The structure has been rendered in more idiomatic English, although some of the awkward structure has been retained for rhetorical effect.

[4:32]  ⁶ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[4:32]  ⁷ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.

[7:5]  ⁸ tn Grk “eat bread.”

[13:34]  ⁹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “giving.”