Mark 2:13-16

Context

The Call of Levi; Eating with Sinners

2:13 Jesus¹ went out again by the sea. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them. 2:14 As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth.² “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him. 2:15 As Jesus³ was having a meal⁴ in Levi’s⁵ home, many tax collectors⁶ and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 2:16 When the experts in the law⁷ and the Pharisees⁸ saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”⁹

[2:13] ¹tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:14] ²tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion, so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.

[2:15] ³tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:15] ⁴tn Grk “As he reclined at table.”

[2:15] ⁵tn Grk “his.”

[2:15] ⁶sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked.

[2:16] ⁷tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[2:16] ⁸sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[2:16] ⁹sn The issue here is inappropriate associations. Jews were very careful about personal associations and contact as a matter of ritual cleanliness. Their question borders on an accusation that Jesus is ritually unclean.