Markus 2:17

2:17 When Jesus heard this he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. ¹  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Markus 2:21-22

2:21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse. 2:22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; ²  otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be destroyed. Instead new wine is poured into new wineskins.” ³ 

Markus 2:27

2:27 Then ⁴  he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, ⁵  not people for the Sabbath.

Markus 3:27

3:27 But no one is able to enter a strong man’s ⁶  house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can thoroughly plunder his house. ⁷ 

Markus 4:21-22

The Parable of the Lamp

4:21 He also said to them, “A lamp ⁸  isn’t brought to be put under a basket ⁹  or under a bed, is it? Isn’t it to be placed on a lampstand? 4:22 For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, ¹⁰  and nothing concealed except to be brought to light.

Markus 4:25

4:25 For whoever has will be given more, but ¹¹  whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” ¹² 

Markus 7:15

7:15 There is nothing outside of a person that can defile him by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles him.”

Markus 8:35-37

8:35 For whoever wants to save his life ¹³  will lose it, ¹⁴  but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it. 8:36 For what benefit is it for a person ¹⁵  to gain the whole world, yet ¹⁶  forfeit his life? 8:37 What can a person give in exchange for his life?

Markus 9:40

9:40 For whoever is not against us is for us.

Markus 9:50

9:50 Salt ¹⁷  is good, but if it loses its saltiness, ¹⁸  how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

Markus 10:25

10:25 It is easier for a camel ¹⁹  to go through the eye of a needle ²⁰  than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Markus 10:27

10:27 Jesus looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans, ²¹  but not for God; all things are possible for God.”

Markus 10:31

10:31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Markus 10:43-44

10:43 But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 10:44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave ²²  of all.

[2:17]  ¹ sn Jesus’ point is that he associates with those who are sick because they have the need and will respond to the offer of help. A person who is healthy (or who thinks mistakenly that he is) will not seek treatment.

[2:22]  ² sn Wineskins were bags made of skin or leather, used for storing wine in NT times. As the new wine fermented and expanded, it would stretch the new wineskins. Putting new (unfermented) wine in old wineskins, which had already been stretched, would result in the bursting of the wineskins.

[2:22]  ³ sn The meaning of the saying new wine is poured into new skins is that the presence and teaching of Jesus was something new and signaled the passing of the old. It could not be confined within the old religion of Judaism, but involved the inauguration and consummation of the kingdom of God.

[2:27]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[2:27]  ⁵ tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used twice in this verse in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

[3:27]  ⁶ sn The strong man here pictures Satan.

[3:27]  ⁷ sn Some see the imagery here as similar to Eph 4:7-10, although no opponents are explicitly named in that passage. Jesus has the victory over Satan. Jesus’ acts of healing mean that the war is being won and the kingdom is coming.

[4:21]  ⁸ sn The lamp is probably an ancient oil burning lamp or perhaps a candlestick. Jesus is comparing revelation to light, particularly the revelation of his ministry.

[4:21]  ⁹ tn Or “a bowl”; this refers to any container for dry material of about eight liters (two gallons) capacity. It could be translated “basket, box, bowl” (L&N 6.151).

[4:22]  ¹⁰ tn Or “disclosed.”

[4:25]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[4:25]  ¹² sn What he has will be taken from him. The meaning is that the one who accepts Jesus’ teaching concerning his person and the kingdom will receive a share in the kingdom now and even more in the future, but for the one who rejects Jesus’ words, the opportunity that that person presently possesses with respect to the kingdom will someday be taken away forever.

[8:35]  ¹³ tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 35-37).

[8:35]  ¹⁴ sn The point of the saying whoever wants to save his life will lose it is that if one comes to Jesus then rejection by many will certainly follow. If self-protection is a key motivation, then one will not respond to Jesus and will not be saved. One who is willing to risk rejection will respond and find true life.

[8:36]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[8:36]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[9:50]  ¹⁷ sn Salt was used as seasoning or fertilizer (BDAG 41 s.v. ἅλας a), or as a preservative. If salt ceased to be useful, it was thrown away. With this illustration Jesus warned about a disciple who ceased to follow him.

[9:50]  ¹⁸ sn The difficulty of this saying is understanding how salt could lose its saltiness since its chemical properties cannot change. It is thus often assumed that Jesus was referring to chemically impure salt, perhaps a natural salt which, when exposed to the elements, had all the genuine salt leached out, leaving only the sediment or impurities behind. Others have suggested the background of the saying is the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens: Under the intense heat these blocks would eventually crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable. A saying in the Talmud (b. Bekhorot 8b) attributed to R. Joshua ben Chananja (ca. a.d. 90), when asked the question “When salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?” is said to have replied, “By salting it with the afterbirth of a mule.” He was then asked, “Then does the mule (being sterile) bear young?” to which he replied: “Can salt lose its flavor?” The point appears to be both are impossible. The saying, while admittedly late, suggests that culturally the loss of flavor by salt was regarded as an impossibility. Genuine salt can never lose its flavor. In this case the saying by Jesus here may be similar to Matt 19:24, where it is likewise impossible for the camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle.

[10:25]  ¹⁹ tc A few witnesses (˹³ 28 579 pc) read κάμιλον (kamilon, “rope”) for κάμηλον (kamhlon, “camel”), either through accidental misreading of the text or intentionally so as to soften Jesus’ words.

[10:25]  ²⁰ sn The referent of the eye of a needle is a sewing needle. (The gate in Jerusalem known as “The Needle’s Eye” was built during the middle ages and was not in existence in Jesus’ day.) Jesus was speaking rhetorically to point out that apart from God’s intervention, salvation is impossible (v. 27).

[10:27]  ²¹ tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποις (anqrwpois) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NASB 1995 update, “people”). Because of the contrast here between mere mortals and God (“impossible for men…all things are possible for God”) the phrase “mere humans” has been used in the translation.

[10:44]  ²² tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v. 1). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.