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 3:22

3:22 The experts in the law ⁴  who came down from Jerusalem ⁵  said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” ⁶  and, “By the ruler ⁷  of demons he casts out demons.”

[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.

[3:22]  ⁴ tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[3:22]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “He has Beelzebul.”

[3:22]  sn Beelzebul is another name for Satan. So some people recognized Jesus’ work as supernatural, but called it diabolical.

[3:22]  ⁷ tn Or “prince.”