6:7 Jesus 9 called the twelve and began to send them out two by two. He gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 10
1 tn Grk “and immediately coming up out of the water, he saw.” The present participle has been translated temporally, with the subject (Jesus) specified for clarity.
2 tn Or “sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The same word is used in v. 11.
3 sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.
4 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the shift from the thoughts of the experts in the law to Jesus’ response.
5 tn Grk “they were thus reasoning within themselves.”
6 tn Grk “Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts?”
7 sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
10 sn Is guilty of an eternal sin. This passage has troubled many people, who have wondered whether or not they have committed this eternal sin. Three things must be kept in mind: (1) the nature of the sin is to ascribe what is the obvious work of the Holy Spirit (e.g., releasing people from Satan’s power) to Satan himself; (2) it is not simply a momentary doubt or sinful attitude, but is indeed a settled condition which opposes the Spirit’s work, as typified by the religious leaders who opposed Jesus; and (3) a person who is concerned about it has probably never committed this sin, for those who commit it here (i.e., the religious leaders) are not in the least concerned about Jesus’ warning. On this last point see W. W. Wessel, “Mark,” EBC 8:645-46.
13 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 sn The phrase unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
16 sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.
19 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
22 tn Grk “him.”
23 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.