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Text -- Mark 12:1-42 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
The Parable of the Tenants
12:1 Then he began to speak to them in parables : “A man planted a vineyard . He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress , and built a watchtower . Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey .
12:2 At harvest time he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his portion of the crop .
12:3 But those tenants seized his slave , beat him, and sent him away empty-handed .
12:4 So he sent another slave to them again . This one they struck on the head and treated outrageously .
12:5 He sent another , and that one they killed . This happened to many others , some of whom were beaten , others killed .
12:6 He had one left, his one dear son . Finally he sent him to them , saying , ‘They will respect my son .’
12:7 But those tenants said to one another , ‘This is the heir . Come , let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours !’
12:8 So they seized him, killed him , and threw his body out of the vineyard .
12:9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do ? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others .
12:10 Have you not read this scripture : ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone .
12:11 This is from the Lord , and it is marvelous in our eyes ’?”
12:12 Now they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd ), because they realized that he told this parable against them . So they left him and went away .
Paying Taxes to Caesar
12:13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to trap him with his own words .
12:14 When they came they said to him , “Teacher , we know that you are truthful and do not court anyone’s favor, because you show no partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth . Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not ? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
12:15 But he saw through their hypocrisy and said to them , “Why are you testing me ? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.”
12:16 So they brought one, and he said to them , “Whose image is this , and whose inscription ?” They replied , “Caesar’s .”
12:17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s , and to God the things that are God’s .” And they were utterly amazed at him .
Marriage and the Resurrection
12:18 Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection ) also came to him and asked him ,
12:19 “Teacher , Moses wrote for us : ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children , that man must marry the widow and father children for his brother .’
12:20 There were seven brothers . The first one married , and when he died he had no children .
12:21 The second married her and died without any children , and likewise the third .
12:22 None of the seven had children . Finally , the woman died too.
12:23 In the resurrection , when they rise again, whose wife will she be ? For all seven had married her .”
12:24 Jesus said to them , “Aren’t you deceived for this reason , because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God ?
12:25 For when they rise from the dead , they neither marry nor are given in marriage , but are like angels in heaven .
12:26 Now as for the dead being raised , have you not read in the book of Moses , in the passage about the bush , how God said to him , ‘I am the God of Abraham , the God of Isaac , and the God of Jacob ’?
12:27 He is not the God of the dead but of the living . You are badly mistaken !”
The Greatest Commandment
12:28 Now one of the experts in the law came and heard them debating . When he saw that Jesus answered them well , he asked him , “Which commandment is the most important of all ?”
12:29 Jesus answered , “The most important is : ‘Listen , Israel , the Lord our God , the Lord is one .
12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart , with all your soul , with all your mind , and with all your strength .’
12:31 The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself .’ There is no other commandment greater than these .”
12:32 The expert in the law said to him , “That is true , Teacher ; you are right to say that he is one , and there is no one else besides him .
12:33 And to love him with all your heart , with all your mind , and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices .”
12:34 When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully , he said to him , “You are not far from the kingdom of God .” Then no one dared any longer to question him .
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 say that the Christ is David’s son ?
12:36 David himself , by the Holy Spirit , said , ‘The Lord said to my lord , “Sit at my right hand , until I put your enemies under your feet .”’
12:37 If David himself calls him ‘Lord ,’ how can he be his son ?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight .
Warnings About Experts in the Law
12:38 In his teaching Jesus also said , “Watch out for the experts in the law . They like walking around in long robes and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces ,
12:39 and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets .
12:40 They devour widows ’ property , and as a show make long prayers . These men will receive a more severe punishment .”
The Widow’s Offering
12:41 Then he sat down opposite the offering box , and watched the crowd putting coins into it . Many rich people were throwing in large amounts .
12:42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins , worth less than a penny .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Jesus, The Christ |
JESUS CHRIST, 4E1 |
Satire |
Resurrection |
Self-condemnation |
MARK, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO, 1 |
Love |
Reproof |
Sadducees |
Church |
God |
Wicked |
Unfaithfulness |
Capital and Labor |
Servant |
Farmer |
Lease |
Misconduct in Office |
Quotations and Allusions |
Temple |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Mar 12:1; Mar 12:1; Mar 12:1; Mar 12:1; Mar 12:2; Mar 12:2; Mar 12:2; Mar 12:2; Mar 12:3; Mar 12:3; Mar 12:3; Mar 12:3; Mar 12:3; Mar 12:4; Mar 12:6; Mar 12:6; Mar 12:8; Mar 12:8; Mar 12:8; Mar 12:8; Mar 12:9; Mar 12:9; Mar 12:10; Mar 12:10; Mar 12:11; Mar 12:12; Mar 12:12; Mar 12:12; Mar 12:13; Mar 12:13; Mar 12:13; Mar 12:13; Mar 12:14; Mar 12:14; Mar 12:14; Mar 12:14; Mar 12:14; Mar 12:14; Mar 12:15; Mar 12:15; Mar 12:15; Mar 12:16; Mar 12:16; Mar 12:16; Mar 12:16; Mar 12:17; Mar 12:18; Mar 12:18; Mar 12:18; Mar 12:19; Mar 12:19; Mar 12:19; Mar 12:19; Mar 12:20; Mar 12:23; Mar 12:23; Mar 12:24; Mar 12:25; Mar 12:26; Mar 12:26; Mar 12:26; Mar 12:26; Mar 12:27; Mar 12:28; Mar 12:28; Mar 12:28; Mar 12:30; Mar 12:30; Mar 12:31; Mar 12:32; Mar 12:33; Mar 12:33; Mar 12:35; Mar 12:35; Mar 12:35; Mar 12:35; Mar 12:36; Mar 12:36; Mar 12:37; Mar 12:38; Mar 12:38; Mar 12:38; Mar 12:38; Mar 12:39; Mar 12:40; Mar 12:40; Mar 12:41; Mar 12:41; Mar 12:41; Mar 12:41; Mar 12:42
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NET Notes: Mar 12:3 The slaves being sent empty-handed suggests that the vineyard was not producing any fruit – and thus neither was the nation of Israel.
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NET Notes: Mar 12:4 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first s...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:8 Throwing the heir’s body out of the vineyard pictures Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem.
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NET Notes: Mar 12:9 The warning that the owner would give the vineyard to others suggests that the care of the promise and the nation’s hope would be passed to othe...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:10 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The use of Ps 118:22-23 and the “stone imagery” as a reference to Christ and h...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:12 The point of the parable in Mark 12:1-12 is that the leaders of the nation have been rejected by God and the vineyard (v. 9, referring to the nation a...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:15 A denarius was a silver coin stamped with the image of the emperor and worth approximately one day’s wage for a laborer.
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NET Notes: Mar 12:17 Jesus’ answer to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s was a both/and, not the questione...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:18 Grk “and asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary Engli...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:19 A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). ...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:25 Angels do not die, nor do they eat according to Jewish tradition (1 En. 15:6; 51:4; Wis 5:5; 2 Bar. 51:10; 1QH 3.21-23).
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NET Notes: Mar 12:27 He is not God of the dead but of the living. Jesus’ point was that if God could identify himself as God of the three old patriarchs, then they m...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:28 Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: Mar 12:30 A quotation from Deut 6:4-5 and Josh 22:5 (LXX). The fourfold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God wit...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:35 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...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:37 Grk “David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ So how is he his son?” The conditional nuance, implicit in Greek, has been made explicit ...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:38 There is later Jewish material in the Talmud that spells out such greetings in detail. See H. Windisch, TDNT 1:498.
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NET Notes: Mar 12:40 Grk “houses,” “households”; however, the term can have the force of “property” or “possessions” as wel...
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NET Notes: Mar 12:41 The offering box probably refers to the receptacles in the temple forecourt by the Court of Women used to collect freewill offerings. These are mentio...
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