Markus 4:21

The Parable of the Lamp

4:21 He also said to them, “A lamp ¹  isn’t brought to be put under a basket ²  or under a bed, is it? Isn’t it to be placed on a lampstand?

Markus 4:41

4:41 They were overwhelmed by fear and said to one another, “Who then is this? ³  Even the wind and sea obey him!” ⁴ 

Markus 6:35

6:35 When it was already late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place ⁵  and it is already very late.

Markus 6:37

6:37 But he answered them, ⁶  “You ⁷  give them something to eat.” And they said, “Should we go and buy bread for two hundred silver coins ⁸  and give it to them to eat?”

Markus 7:36

7:36 Jesus ordered them not to tell anything. But as much as he ordered them not to do this, they proclaimed it all the more. ⁹ 

Markus 8:22

A Two-stage Healing

8:22 Then ¹⁰  they came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to Jesus ¹¹  and asked him to touch him.

Markus 9:26

9:26 It shrieked, threw him into terrible convulsions, and came out. The boy ¹²  looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He is dead!”

Markus 11:4

11:4 So ¹³  they went and found a colt tied at a door, outside in the street, and untied it.

Markus 11:14

11:14 He said to it, ¹⁴  “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. ¹⁵ 

Markus 13:3

Signs of the End of the Age

13:3 So ¹⁶  while he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, ¹⁷  and Andrew asked him privately,

Markus 13:12

13:12 Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against ¹⁸  parents and have them put to death.

Markus 13:27

13:27 Then he will send angels and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. ¹⁹ 

[4:21]  ¹ sn The lamp is probably an ancient oil burning lamp or perhaps a candlestick. Jesus is comparing revelation to light, particularly the revelation of his ministry.

[4:21]  ² tn Or “a bowl”; this refers to any container for dry material of about eight liters (two gallons) capacity. It could be translated “basket, box, bowl” (L&N 6.151).

[4:41]  ³ sn Jesus’ authority over creation raised a question for the disciples about who he was exactly (Who then is this?). This verse shows that the disciples followed Jesus even though they did not know all about him yet.

[4:41]  ⁴ sn This section in Mark (4:35-5:43) contains four miracles: (1) the calming of the storm; (2) the exorcism of the demon-possessed man; (3) the giving of life to Jairus’ daughter; (4) the healing of the woman hemorrhaging for twelve years. All these miracles demonstrate Jesus’ right to proclaim the kingdom message and his sovereign authority over forces, directly or indirectly, hostile to the kingdom. The last three may have been brought together to show that Jesus had power over all defilement, since contact with graves, blood, or a corpse was regarded under Jewish law as causing a state of ritual uncleanness.

[6:35]  ⁵ tn Or “a desert” (meaning a deserted or desolate area with sparse vegetation).

[6:37]  ⁶ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence has been changed for clarity.

[6:37]  ⁷ tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.

[6:37]  ⁸ sn The silver coin referred to here is the denarius. A denarius, inscribed with a picture of Tiberius Caesar, was worth approximately one day’s wage for a laborer. Two hundred denarii was thus approximately equal to eight months’ wages. The disciples did not have the resources in their possession to feed the large crowd, so Jesus’ request is his way of causing them to trust him as part of their growth in discipleship.

[7:36]  ⁹ tn Grk “but as much as he ordered them, these rather so much more proclaimed.” Greek tends to omit direct objects when they are clear from the context, but these usually need to be supplied for the modern English reader. Here what Jesus ordered has been clarified (“ordered them not to do this”), and the pronoun “it” has been supplied after “proclaimed.”

[8:22]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:22]  ¹¹ tn Grk “to him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:26]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (the boy) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[11:4]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[11:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And answering, he said to it.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[11:14]  ¹⁵ sn Mark 11:12-14. The incident of the cursing of the fig tree occurs before he enters the temple for a third time (11:27ff) and is questioned at length by the religious leaders (11:27-12:40). It appears that Mark records the incident as a portent of what is going to happen to the leadership in Jerusalem who were supposed to have borne spiritual fruit but have been found by Messiah at his coming to be barren. The fact that the nation as a whole is indicted is made explicit in chapter 13:1-37 where Jesus speaks of Jerusalem’s destruction and his second coming.

[13:3]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[13:3]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and James and John,” 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.

[13:12]  ¹⁸ tn Or “will rebel against.”

[13:27]  ¹⁹ tn Or “of the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.