Mark 3:13-15

Appointing the Twelve Apostles

3:13 Now ¹  Jesus went up the mountain ²  and called for those he wanted, and they came to him. 3:14 He ³  appointed twelve (whom he named apostles ⁴ ), ⁵  so that they would be with him and he could send them to preach 3:15 and to have authority to cast out demons.

Mark 6:7

Sending Out the Twelve Apostles

6:7 Jesus ⁶  called the twelve and began to send them out two by two. He gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁷ 

[3:13]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[3:13]  ² tn Or “up a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὅρος, eis to Joro").

[3:14]  ³ tn Grk “And he.”

[3:14]  ⁴ sn The term apostles is rare in the gospels, found only here and Mark 6:30, Matt 10:2, and six more times in Luke (6:13; 9:10; 11:49; 17:5; 22:14; 24:10).

[3:14]  ⁵ tc The phrase “whom he named apostles” is lacking in the majority of mss (A C² [D] L ˹ 33 Ï latt sy). Several primary Alexandrian and Caesarean witnesses (א B [C* W] Θ Ë¹³ 28 pc co) include the phrase, so the external evidence is strongly in favor of this reading, especially since Alexandrian witnesses tend to witness to the shorter reading. It is possible that the Alexandrian witnesses have inserted these words to bring the text in line with Luke 6:13 (TCGNT 69), but against this is the internal evidence of Mark’s style: Mark tends toward gratuitous redundancy. Thus the inclusion of this phrase is supported by both internal and external evidence and should be regarded as more likely original than the omission.

[6:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:7]  ⁶ sn The phrase unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.