Markus 3:17

3:17 to James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee, ¹  he gave the name Boanerges (that is, “sons of thunder”);

Markus 3:21

3:21 When his family ²  heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Markus 4:2

4:2 He taught them many things in parables, ³  and in his teaching said to them:

Markus 6:51

6:51 Then he went up with them into the boat, and the wind ceased. They were completely astonished,

Markus 8:32

8:32 He spoke openly about this. So ⁴  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

Markus 9:23

9:23 Then Jesus said to him, “‘If you are able?’ ⁵  All things are possible for the one who believes.”

Markus 10:18

10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? ⁶  No one is good except God alone.

Markus 12:13

Paying Taxes to Caesar

12:13 Then ⁷  they sent some of the Pharisees ⁸  and Herodians ⁹  to trap him with his own words. ¹⁰ 

Markus 12:18

Marriage and the Resurrection

12:18 Sadducees ¹¹  (who say there is no resurrection) ¹²  also came to him and asked him, ¹³ 

Markus 14:5

14:5 It ¹⁴  could have been sold for more than three hundred silver coins ¹⁵  and the money ¹⁶  given to the poor!” So ¹⁷  they spoke angrily to her.

Markus 14:45

14:45 When Judas ¹⁸  arrived, he went up to Jesus ¹⁹  immediately and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed ²⁰  him.

Markus 15:11

15:11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release ²¹  Barabbas instead.

Markus 15:14

15:14 Pilate asked them, “Why? What has he done wrong?” But they shouted more insistently, “Crucify him!”

Markus 15:19

15:19 Again and again ²²  they struck him on the head with a staff ²³  and spit on him. Then they knelt down and paid homage to him.

[3:17]  ¹ tn Grk “to James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James.”

[3:21]  ² tc Western witnesses D W it, instead of reading οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (Joi par’ aujtou, here translated “family”), have περὶ αὐτοῦ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ λοιποί (peri autou Joi grammatei" kai Joi loipoi, “[when] the scribes and others [heard] about him”). But this reading is obviously motivated, for it removes the embarrassing statement about Jesus’ family’s opinion of him as “out of his mind” and transfers this view to the Lord’s opponents. The fact that virtually all other witnesses have οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ here, coupled with the strong internal evidence for the shorter reading, shows this Western reading to be secondary.

[3:21]  tn On the meaning “family” for οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (Joi par’ autou), see BDAG 756-57 s.v. παρά A.3.b.β.ב.

[3:21]  sn The incident involving the religious leaders accusing Jesus of being in league with the devil (3:22-30) is sandwiched between Mark’s mention of Jesus’ family coming to restrain him (the Greek word for restrain here is also used to mean arrest; see Mark 6:17; 12:12; 14:1, 44, 46, 49, 51) because they thought he was out of his mind (3:21). It is probably Mark’s intention in this structure to show that Jesus’ family is to be regarded as not altogether unlike the experts in the law [scribes] in their perception of the true identity of Jesus; they are incorrect in their understanding of him as well. The tone is obviously one of sadness and the emphasis on Jesus’ true family in vv. 31-35 serves to underscore the comparison between his relatives and the scribes on the one hand, and those who truly obey God on the other.

[4:2]  ³ sn Though parables can contain a variety of figures of speech (cf. 2:19-22; 3:23-25; 4:3-9, 26-32; 7:15-17; 13:28), many times they are simply stories that attempt to teach spiritual truth (which is unknown to the hearers) by using a comparison with something known to the hearers. In general, parables usually advance a single idea, though there may be many parts and characters in a single parable and subordinate ideas may expand the main idea further. The beauty of using the parable as a teaching device is that it draws the listener into the story, elicits an evaluation, and demands a response.

[8:32]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate Peter’s rebuke is in response to Jesus’ teaching about the suffering of the Son of Man.

[9:23]  ⁵ tc Most mss (A C³ Ψ 33 Ï) have τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι (to ei dunasai pisteusai, “if you are able to believe”), instead of τὸ εἰ δύνῃ (to ei dunh, “if you are able”; supported by א B C* L N* Δ Ë¹ 579 892 pc). Others have εἰ δύνῃ (or δυνάσαι) πιστεῦσαι (“if you are able to believe”; so D K Θ Ë¹³ 28 565 al), while still others have τοῦτο εἰ δύνῃ (touto ei dunh, “if you can [do] this”; so [Ì⁴⁵] W). The reading that best explains the rise of the others is τὸ εἰ δύνῃ. The neuter article indicates that the Lord is now quoting the boy’s father who, in v. 22, says εἴ τι δύνῃ (ei ti dunh, “if you are able to do anything”). The article is thus used anaphorically (see ExSyn 238). However, scribes could easily have overlooked this idiom and would consequently read τὸ εἰ δύνῃ as the protasis of a conditional clause of the Lord’s statement. As such, it would almost demand the infinitive πιστεῦσαι, producing the reading τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι (“if you are able to believe, all things are possible…”). But the article here seems to be meaningless, prompting other scribes to modify the text still further. Some dropped the nonsensical article, while others turned it into the demonstrative τοῦτο and dropped the infinitive. It is clear that scribes had difficulty with the original wording here, and made adjustments in various directions. What might not be so clear is the exact genealogy of the descent of all the readings. However, τὸ εἰ δύνῃ is both a hard saying, best explains the rise of the other readings, and is supported by the best witnesses. It thus rightly deserves to be considered authentic.

[10:18]  ⁶ sn Jesus’ response, Why do you call me good?, was designed to cause the young man to stop and think for a moment about who Jesus really was. The following statement No one is good except God alone seems to point the man in the direction of Jesus’ essential nature and the demands which logically follow on the man for having said it.

[12:13]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:13]  ⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[12:13]  ⁹ sn Pharisees and Herodians made a very interesting alliance. W. W. Wessel (“Mark,” EBC 8:733) comments: “The Herodians were as obnoxious to the Pharisees on political grounds as the Sadducees were on theological grounds. Yet the two groups united in their opposition to Jesus. Collaboration in wickedness, as well as goodness, has great power. Their purpose was to trip Jesus up in his words so that he would lose the support of the people, leaving the way open for them to destroy him.” See also the note on “Herodians” in Mark 3:6.

[12:13]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “trap him in word.”

[12:18]  ¹¹ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). They also did not believe in resurrection or in angels, an important detail in v. 25. See also Matt 3:7, 16:1-12, 22:23-34; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 4:1, 5:17, 23:6-8.

[12:18]  ¹² sn This remark is best regarded as a parenthetical note by the author.

[12:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “and asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[14:5]  ¹⁴ tn Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[14:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “three hundred denarii.” One denarius was the standard day’s wage, so the value exceeded what a laborer could earn in a year (taking in to account Sabbaths and feast days when no work was done).

[14:5]  ¹⁶ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (as the proceeds from the sale of the perfumed oil).

[14:5]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[14:45]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:45]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:45]  ²⁰ sn Judas’ act of betrayal when he kissed Jesus is especially sinister when it is realized that it was common in the culture of the times for a disciple to kiss his master when greeting him.

[15:11]  ²¹ tn Grk “to have him release for them.”

[15:19]  ²² tn The verb here has been translated as an iterative imperfect.

[15:19]  ²³ tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.