Matius 16:6-12

16:6 “Watch out,” Jesus said to them, “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees ¹  and Sadducees.” ²  16:7 So ³  they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “It is because we brought no bread.” 16:8 When Jesus learned of this, ⁴  he said, “You who have such little faith! ⁵  Why are you arguing ⁶  among yourselves about having no bread? 16:9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? 16:10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you took up? 16:11 How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” 16:12 Then they understood that he had not told them to be on guard against the yeast in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Markus 8:15-21

8:15 And Jesus ⁷  ordered them, ⁸  “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees ⁹  and the yeast of Herod!” 8:16 So they began to discuss with one another about having no bread. ¹⁰  8:17 When he learned of this, ¹¹  Jesus said to them, “Why are you arguing ¹²  about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Have your hearts been hardened? 8:18 Though you have eyes, don’t you see? And though you have ears, can’t you hear? ¹³  Don’t you remember? 8:19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied, “Twelve.” 8:20 “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied, ¹⁴  “Seven.” 8:21 Then ¹⁵  he said to them, “Do you still not understand?” ¹⁶ 

Markus 8:1

The Feeding of the Four Thousand

8:1 In those days there was another large crowd with nothing to eat. So ¹⁷  Jesus ¹⁸  called his disciples and said to them,

Kolose 1:7-8

1:7 You learned the gospel ¹⁹  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ²⁰  – a ²¹  faithful minister of Christ on our ²²  behalf – 1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

[16:6]  ¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[16:6]  ² sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.

[16:7]  ³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ saying about the Pharisees and Sadducees.

[16:8]  ⁴ tn Or “becoming aware of it.”

[16:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “Those of little faith.”

[16:8]  ⁶ tn Or “discussing.”

[8:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “was giving them orders, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[8:15]  ⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[8:16]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And they were discussing with one another that they had no bread.”

[8:17]  ¹¹ tn Or “becoming aware of it.”

[8:17]  ¹² tn Or “discussing.”

[8:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “do you not hear?”

[8:20]  ¹⁴ tc ‡ A difficult textual problem is found here, involving three different variants: καὶ λέγουσιν (kai legousin) is found in א pc; οἱ δὲ εἶπον (Joi de eipon) is the reading of Ì⁴⁵ A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï it; and καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ (kai legousin autw) is supported by B C L (Δ 579 892) 2427 pc. The first two variants would not be translated differently; the third reading, however, would add “to him” after “they replied.” What complicates the issue is that the external evidence is fairly evenly split between the second and third readings, though the first reading is in agreement with the second reading in lacking the dative pronoun. Indeed, another layout of the problem here could treat this as two distinct problems: καὶ λέγουσιν vs. οἱ δὲ εἶπον and αὐτῷ vs. omission of the word. In this second arrangement of the problem, the reading without the pronoun has slightly stronger support (Ì⁴⁵ א A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï it). Internally, Mark never elsewhere uses the form εἶπον for the third person plural indicative form of this verb (it is always εἶπαν [eipan]). And although only one other time in Mark is the object lacking after λέγουσιν (6:38), it is a similar context (viz., the disciples’ response before Jesus feeds the 5000). Very tentatively, the reading that is followed here is καὶ λέγουσιν. NA²⁷ puts αὐτῷ in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:21]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to indicate the implied sequence in the narrative.

[8:21]  ¹⁶ sn Do you still not understand? The disciples in Mark’s Gospel often misunderstood the miracles of Jesus as well as his teaching. Between Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Mark paints the most revealing portrait of the shortcomings of the Twelve (cf. 6:51-52; 7:17-19; 8:1-10, 14-21, 27-30, 33; 9:5, 10, 33; 10:28, 35-45; 14:19, 29-31, 32-37, 50, 66-72).

[8:1]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:7]  ²⁰ tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:7]  ²¹ tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").

[1:7]  ²² tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א² C D¹ Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.