Mark 1:24

1:24 “Leave us alone, ¹  Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One ²  of God!”

Mark 7:4

7:4 And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. They hold fast to many other traditions: the washing of cups, pots, kettles, and dining couches. ³ ) ⁴ 

Mark 9:19

9:19 He answered them, ⁵  “You ⁶  unbelieving ⁷  generation! How much longer ⁸  must I be with you? How much longer must I endure ⁹  you? ¹⁰  Bring him to me.”

Mark 9:22

9:22 It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Mark 9:41

9:41 For I tell you the truth, ¹¹  whoever gives you a cup of water because ¹²  you bear Christ’s ¹³  name will never lose his reward.

Mark 11:29

11:29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:

Mark 13:9

Persecution of Disciples

13:9 “You must watch out for yourselves. You will be handed over ¹⁴  to councils ¹⁵  and beaten in the synagogues. ¹⁶  You will stand before governors and kings ¹⁷  because of me, as a witness to them.

Mark 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. ¹⁸ 

Mark 14:35-36

14:35 Going a little farther, he threw himself to the ground and prayed that if it were possible the hour would pass from him. 14:36 He said, “Abba, ¹⁹  Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup ²⁰  away from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Mark 14:49

14:49 Day after day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, yet ²¹  you did not arrest me. But this has happened so that ²²  the scriptures would be fulfilled.”

Mark 15:21

The Crucifixion

15:21 The soldiers ²³  forced ²⁴  a passerby to carry his cross, ²⁵  Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country ²⁶  (he was the father of Alexander and Rufus).

Mark 16:7

16:7 But go, tell his disciples, even Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.”

¹ tn Grk “What to us and to you?” This is an idiom meaning, “We have nothing to do with one another,” or “Why bother us!” The phrase τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί (ti Jhmin kai soi) is Semitic in origin, though it made its way into colloquial Greek (BDAG 275 s.v. ἐγώ). The equivalent Hebrew expression in the OT had two basic meanings: (1) When one person was unjustly bothering another, the injured party could say “What to me and to you?” meaning, “What have I done to you that you should do this to me?” (Judg 11:12, 2 Chr 35:21, 1 Kgs 17:18). (2) When someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his own, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” meaning, “That is your business, how am I involved?” (2 Kgs 3:13, Hos 14:8). Option (1) implies hostility, while option (2) merely implies disengagement. BDAG suggests the following as glosses for this expression: What have I to do with you? What have we in common? Leave me alone! Never mind! Hostility between Jesus and the demons is certainly to be understood in this context, hence the translation: “Leave me alone….” For a very similar expression see Lk 8:28 and (in a different context) John 2:4.

² sn The confession of Jesus as the Holy One here is significant, coming from an unclean spirit. Jesus, as the Holy One of God, who bears God’s Spirit and is the expression of holiness, comes to deal with uncleanness and unholiness.

³ tc Several important witnesses (Ì^45vid א B L Δ 28* pc) lack “and dining couches” (καὶ κλινῶν, kai klinwn), while the majority of mss (A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt) have the reading. Although normally the shorter reading is to be preferred, especially when it is backed by excellent witnesses as in this case, there are some good reasons to consider καὶ κλινῶν as authentic: (1) Although the addition of κλινῶν could be seen as motivated by a general assimilation to the purity regulations in Lev 15 (as some have argued), there are three problems with such a supposition: (a) the word κλίνη (klinh) does not occur in the LXX of Lev 15; (b) nowhere in Lev 15 is the furniture washed or sprinkled; and (c) the context of Lev 15 is about sexual impurity, while the most recent evidence suggests that κλίνη in Mark 7:4, in keeping with the other terms used here, refers to a dining couch (cf. BDAG 549 s.v. κλίνη 2). Thus, it is difficult to see καὶ κλινῶν as a motivated reading. (2) κλίνη, though a relatively rare term in the NT, is in keeping with Markan usage (cf. Mark 4:21; 7:30). (3) The phrase could have been dropped accidentally, at least in some cases, via homoioteleuton. (4) The phrase may have been deliberately expunged by some scribes who thought the imagery of washing a dining couch quite odd. The longer reading, in this case, can thus be argued as the harder reading. On balance, even though a decision is difficult (especially because of the weighty external evidence for the shorter reading), it is preferable to retain καὶ κλινῶν in the text.

⁴ sn Verses 3-4 represent parenthetical remarks by the author, giving background information.

⁵ tn Grk “And answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the phrasing of the sentence was modified slightly to make it clearer in English.

⁶ tn Grk “O.” The marker of direct address, ὦ (w), is functionally equivalent to a vocative and is represented in the translation by “you.”

⁷ tn Or “faithless.”

⁸ tn Grk “how long.”

⁹ tn Or “put up with.” See Num 11:12; Isa 46:4.

¹⁰ sn The pronouns you…you are plural, indicating that Jesus is speaking to a group rather than an individual.

⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁸ tn Grk “in [the] name that of Christ you are.”

⁹ tn Or “bear the Messiah’s”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

⁹ tn Grk “They will hand you over.” “They” is an indefinite plural, referring to people in general. The parallel in Matt 10:17 makes this explicit.

¹⁰ sn Councils in this context refers to local judicial bodies attached to the Jewish synagogue. This group would be responsible for meting out justice and discipline within the Jewish community.

¹¹ sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.

¹² sn These statements look at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of councils and synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to governors and kings suggests. Some fulfillment of Jewish persecution can be seen in Acts.

¹¹ tn Or “of the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

¹³ tn The word means “Father” in Aramaic.

¹⁴ sn This cup alludes to the wrath of God that Jesus would experience (in the form of suffering and death) for us. See Ps 11:6; 75:8-9; Isa 51:17, 19, 22 for this figure.

¹⁵ tn Grk “and”; καί (kai) is elastic enough to be used contrastively on occasion, as here.

¹⁶ tn Grk “But so that”; the verb “has happened” is implied.

¹⁷ tn Grk “They”; the referent (the soldiers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸ tn Or “conscripted”; or “pressed into service.”

¹⁹ sn Jesus was beaten severely with a whip before this (the prelude to crucifixion, known to the Romans as verberatio, mentioned in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1), so he would have been weak from trauma and loss of blood. Apparently he was unable to bear the cross himself, so Simon was conscripted to help (in all probability this was only the crossbeam, called in Latin the patibulum, since the upright beam usually remained in the ground at the place of execution). Cyrene was located in North Africa where Tripoli is today. Nothing more is known about this Simon.

²⁰ tn Or perhaps, “was coming in from his field” outside the city (BDAG 15-16 s.v. ἀγρός 1).