Markus 3:23

3:23 So ¹  he called them and spoke to them in parables: ²  “How can Satan cast out Satan?

Markus 4:13

4:13 He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? Then ³  how will you understand any parable?

Markus 4:30

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

4:30 He also asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to present it?

Markus 5:16

5:16 Those who had seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man reported it, and they also told about the pigs.

Markus 14:11

14:11 When they heard this, they were delighted ⁴  and promised to give him money. ⁵  So ⁶  Judas ⁷  began looking for an opportunity to betray him.

Markus 10:23

10:23 Then ⁸  Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

Markus 12:35

The Messiah: David’s Son and Lord

12:35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he said, “How is it that the experts in the law ⁹  say that the Christ ¹⁰  is David’s son? ¹¹ 

Markus 12:41

The Widow’s Offering

12:41 Then ¹²  he ¹³  sat down opposite the offering box, ¹⁴  and watched the crowd putting coins into it. Many rich people were throwing in large amounts.

Markus 14:1

The Plot Against Jesus

14:1 Two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the chief priests and the experts in the law ¹⁵  were trying to find a way ¹⁶  to arrest Jesus ¹⁷  by stealth and kill him.

Markus 2:26

2:26 how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest ¹⁸  and ate the sacred bread, ¹⁹  which is against the law ²⁰  for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?” ²¹ 

Markus 9:12

9:12 He said to them, “Elijah does indeed come first, and restores all things. And why is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be despised?

Markus 10:24

10:24 The disciples were astonished at these words. But again Jesus said to them, ²²  “Children, how hard it is ²³  to enter the kingdom of God!

Markus 11:18

11:18 The chief priests and the experts in the law ²⁴  heard it and they considered how they could assassinate ²⁵  him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed by his teaching.

Markus 12:26

12:26 Now as for the dead being raised, ²⁶  have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, ²⁷  how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the ²⁸  God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁹ 

[3:23]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[3:23]  ² sn Jesus spoke two parables to demonstrate the absurdity of the thinking of the religious leaders who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. The first parable (vv. 23-26) teaches that if Jesus cast out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. The second parable (v. 28) about tying up a strong man proves that Jesus does not need to align himself with the devil because Jesus is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (1:12-13) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (a position for which they will be held accountable, 3:29-30). For an explanation of what a parable is, see the note on parables in 4:2.

[4:13]  ³ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[14:11]  ⁴ sn The leaders were delighted when Judas contacted them about betraying Jesus, because it gave them the opportunity they had been looking for, and they could later claim that Jesus had been betrayed by one of his own disciples.

[14:11]  ⁵ sn Matt 26:15 states the amount of money they gave Judas was thirty pieces of silver (see also Matt 27:3-4; Zech 11:12-13).

[14:11]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[14:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:23]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:35]  ⁹ tn Or “that the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[12:35]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[12:35]  sn See the note on Christ in 8:29.

[12:35]  ¹¹ sn It was a common belief in Judaism that Messiah would be David’s son in that he would come from the lineage of David. On this point the Pharisees agreed and were correct. But their understanding was nonetheless incomplete, for Messiah is also David’s Lord. With this statement Jesus was affirming that, as the Messiah, he is both God and man.

[12:41]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:41]  ¹³ tc Most mss, predominantly of the Western and Byzantine texts (A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 2542 Ï lat), have ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”) as the explicit subject here, while א B L Δ Ψ 892 2427 pc lack the name. A natural scribal tendency is to expand the text, especially to add the Lord’s name as the explicit subject of a verb. Scribes much less frequently omitted the Lord’s name (cf. the readings of W Θ 565 1424 in Mark 12:17). The internal and external evidence support one another here in behalf of the shorter reading.

[12:41]  ¹⁴ tn On the term γαζοφυλάκιον (gazofulakion), often translated “treasury,” see BDAG 186 s.v., which states, “For Mk 12:41, 43; Lk 21:1 the mng. contribution box or receptacle is attractive. Acc. to Mishnah, Shekalim 6, 5 there were in the temple 13 such receptacles in the form of trumpets. But even in these passages the general sense of ‘treasury’ is prob., for the contributions would go [into] the treasury via the receptacles.” Based upon the extra-biblical evidence (see sn following), however, the translation opts to refer to the actual receptacles and not the treasury itself.

[12:41]  sn The offering box probably refers to the receptacles in the temple forecourt by the Court of Women used to collect freewill offerings. These are mentioned by Josephus, J. W. 5.5.2 (5.200); 6.5.2 (6.282); Ant. 19.6.1 (19.294), and in 1 Macc 14:49 and 2 Macc 3:6, 24, 28, 40 (see also Luke 21:1; John 8:20).

[14:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the chief priests and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[14:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “were seeking how.”

[14:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:26]  ¹⁸ tn A decision about the proper translation of this Greek phrase (ἐπὶ ᾿Αβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως, ejpi Abiaqar ajrcierew") is very difficult for a number of reasons. The most natural translation of the phrase is “when Abiathar was high priest,” but this is problematic because Abiathar was not the high priest when David entered the temple and ate the sacred bread; Ahimelech is the priest mentioned in 1 Sam 21:1-7. Three main solutions have been suggested to resolve this difficulty. (1) There are alternate readings in various manuscripts, but these are not likely to be original: D W {271} it sy^s and a few others omit ἐπὶ ᾿Αβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως, no doubt in conformity to the parallels in Matt 12:4 and Luke 6:4; {A C Θ Π Σ Φ 074 ˹³ and many others} add τοῦ before ἀρχιερέως, giving the meaning “in the days of Abiathar the high priest,” suggesting a more general time frame. Neither reading has significant external support and both most likely are motivated by the difficulty of the original reading. (2) Many scholars have hypothesized that one of the three individuals who would have been involved in the transmission of the statement (Jesus who uttered it originally, Mark who wrote it down in the Gospel, or Peter who served as Mark’s source) was either wrong about Abiathar or intentionally loose with the biblical data in order to make a point. (3) It is possible that what is currently understood to be the most natural reading of the text is in fact not correct. (a) There are very few biblical parallels to this grammatical construction (ἐπί + genitive proper noun, followed by an anarthrous common noun), so it is possible that an extensive search for this construction in nonbiblical literature would prove that the meaning does involve a wide time frame. If this is so, “in the days of Abiathar the high priest” would be a viable option. (b) It is also possible that this phrasing serves as a loose way to cite a scripture passage. There is a parallel to this construction in Mark 12:26: “Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush?” Here the final phrase is simply ἐπὶ τοῦ βάτου (ejpi tou batou), but the obvious function of the phrase is to point to a specific passage within the larger section of scripture. Deciding upon a translation here is difficult. The translation above has followed the current consensus on the most natural and probable meaning of the phrase ἐπὶ ᾿Αβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως: “when Abiathar was high priest.” It should be recognized, however, that this translation is tentative because the current state of knowledge about the meaning of this grammatical construction is incomplete, and any decision about the meaning of this text is open to future revision.

[2:26]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the bread of presentation.”

[2:26]  sn The sacred bread refers to the “bread of presentation,” “showbread,” or “bread of the Presence,” twelve loaves prepared weekly for the tabernacle and later, the temple. See Exod 25:30; 35:13; 39:36; Lev 24:5-9. Each loaf was made from 3 quarts (3.5 liters; Heb “two tenths of an ephah”) of fine flour. The loaves were placed on a table in the holy place of the tabernacle, on the north side opposite the lampstand (Exod 26:35). It was the duty of the priest each Sabbath to place fresh bread on the table; the loaves from the previous week were then given to Aaron and his descendants, who ate them in the holy place, because they were considered sacred (Lev 24:9). See also Matt 12:1-8, Luke 6:1-5.

[2:26]  ²⁰ sn Jesus’ response to the charge that what his disciples were doing was against the law is one of analogy: “If David did it for his troops in a time of need, then so can I with my disciples.” Jesus is clear that on the surface there was a violation here. What is not as clear is whether he is arguing a “greater need” makes this permissible or that this was within the intention of the law all along.

[2:26]  ²¹ sn See 1 Sam 21:1-6.

[10:24]  ²² tn Grk “But answering, Jesus again said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[10:24]  ²³ tc Most mss (A C D Θ Ë^1,13 28 565 2427 Ï lat sy) have here “for those who trust in riches” (τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ [τοῖς] χρήμασιν, tou" pepoiqota" epi [toi"] crhmasin); W has πλούσιον (plousion) later in the verse, producing the same general modification on the dominical saying (“how hard it is for the rich to enter…”). But such qualifications on the Lord’s otherwise harsh and absolute statements are natural scribal expansions, intended to soften the dictum. Further, the earliest and best witnesses, along with a few others (א B Δ Ψ sa), lack any such qualifications. That W lacks the longer expansion and only has πλούσιον suggests that its archetype agreed with א B here; its voice should be heard with theirs. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, the shorter reading is preferred.

[11:18]  ²⁴ tn Or “The chief priests and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[11:18]  ²⁵ tn Grk “how they could destroy him.”

[12:26]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Now as for the dead that they are raised.”

[12:26]  ²⁷ sn See Exod 3:6. Jesus used a common form of rabbinic citation here to refer to the passage in question.

[12:26]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[12:26]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 3:6.