Markus 3:29

3:29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin” ¹ 

Markus 6:23

6:23 He swore to her, ²  “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” ³ 

Markus 9:13

9:13 But I tell you that Elijah has certainly come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him.”

Markus 10:11

10:11 So ⁴  he told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.

Markus 13:21

13:21 Then ⁵  if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ ⁶  or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe him.

Markus 7:18

7:18 He said to them, “Are you so foolish? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him?

[3:29]  ¹ sn Is guilty of an eternal sin. This passage has troubled many people, who have wondered whether or not they have committed this eternal sin. Three things must be kept in mind: (1) the nature of the sin is to ascribe what is the obvious work of the Holy Spirit (e.g., releasing people from Satan’s power) to Satan himself; (2) it is not simply a momentary doubt or sinful attitude, but is indeed a settled condition which opposes the Spirit’s work, as typified by the religious leaders who opposed Jesus; and (3) a person who is concerned about it has probably never committed this sin, for those who commit it here (i.e., the religious leaders) are not in the least concerned about Jesus’ warning. On this last point see W. W. Wessel, “Mark,” EBC 8:645-46.

[6:23]  ² tc ‡ The witnesses here support several different readings: αὐτῇ πολλά (auth polla, “to her insistently”) is found in D Θ 565 700 it; πολλά is the reading of Ì^45vid 28; both words are lacking in L pc; and א A B C^2vid ˹³ 33 2427 Ï lat have just αὐτῇ. The best candidates for authenticity, on external grounds, are αὐτῇ πολλά and αὐτῇ. So the issue revolves around whether πολλά is part of the text. On the one hand, πολλά used adverbially is a distinctive Markanism (10 of the 16 NT instances are found in Mark; of the other Gospels, Matthew alone adds a single example [Matt 9:14]). It could be argued that such an unremarkable term would go unnoticed by the scribes, and consequently would not have been inserted in imitation of Mark’s style observed elsewhere. On the other hand, the largest cluster of instances of an adverbial πολλά are in Mark 5-6, with the most recent example coming just three verses earlier (Mark 5:23, 38, 43; 6:20). Scribes may well have imitated the usage so recently and so frequently seen. Further, the best Alexandrian witnesses, as well as good representatives of the Western and Byzantines texts, lack πολλά. On the whole, though a decision is difficult, it is probably best to read the text without πολλά. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[6:23]  ³ sn The expression up to half my kingdom is a proverbial comment meaning “great wealth.”

[10:11]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate that Jesus’ statement is in response to the disciples’ question (v. 10).

[13:21]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[13:21]  ⁶ tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[13:21]  sn See the note on Christ in 8:29.