Markus 1:17

1:17 Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” ¹ 

Markus 3:1

Healing a Withered Hand

3:1 Then ²  Jesus ³  entered the synagogue ⁴  again, and a man was there who had a withered ⁵  hand.

Markus 3:3

3:3 So he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up among all these people.” ⁶ 

Markus 4:26

The Parable of the Growing Seed

4:26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is like someone who spreads seed on the ground.

Markus 5:2

5:2 Just as Jesus ⁷  was getting out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit ⁸  came from the tombs and met him. ⁹ 

Markus 7:21

7:21 For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder,

Markus 8:36

8:36 For what benefit is it for a person ¹⁰  to gain the whole world, yet ¹¹  forfeit his life?

Markus 11:32

11:32 But if we say, ‘From people – ’” (they feared the crowd, for they all considered John to be truly a prophet).

Markus 13:26

13:26 Then everyone ¹²  will see the Son of Man arriving in the clouds ¹³  with great power and glory.

Markus 14:71

14:71 Then he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about!”

[1:17]  ¹ tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

[1:17]  sn The kind of fishing envisioned was net – not line – fishing (cf. v. 16; cf. also BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμφιβάλλω, ἀμφίβληστρον) which involved a circular net that had heavy weights around its perimeter. The occupation of fisherman was labor-intensive. The imagery of using a lure and a line (and waiting for the fish to strike) is thus foreign to this text. Rather, the imagery of a fisherman involved much strain, long hours, and often little results. Jesus’ point may have been one or more of the following: the strenuousness of evangelism, the work ethic that it required, persistence and dedication to the task (often in spite of minimal results), the infinite value of the new “catch” (viz., people), and perhaps an eschatological theme of snatching people from judgment (cf. W. L. Lane, Mark [NICNT], 67). If this last motif is in view, then catching people is the opposite of catching fish: The fish would be caught, killed, cooked, and eaten; people would be caught so as to remove them from eternal destruction and to give them new life.

[3:1]  ² tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[3:1]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:1]  ⁴ sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.

[3:1]  ⁵ sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.

[3:3]  ⁶ tn Grk “Stand up in the middle.”

[3:3]  sn Most likely synagogues were arranged with benches along the walls and open space in the center for seating on the floor.

[5:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:2]  ⁸ sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.

[5:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “met him from the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.” When this is converted to normal English word order (“a man met him from the tombs with an unclean spirit”) it sounds as if “with an unclean spirit” modifies “the tombs.” Likewise, “a man with an unclean spirit from the tombs met him” implies that the unclean spirit came from the tombs, while the Greek text is clear that it is the man who had the unclean spirit who came from the tombs. To make this clear a second verb, “came,” is supplied in English: “came from the tombs and met him.”

[8:36]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[8:36]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:26]  ¹² tn Grk “they.”

[13:26]  ¹³ sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full judging authority.