Mark 1:5

1:5 People ¹  from the whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem ²  were going out to him, and he was baptizing them ³  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Mark 4:15

4:15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan ⁴  comes and snatches the word ⁵  that was sown in them.

Mark 5:26

5:26 She had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse.

Mark 6:17

6:17 For Herod himself had sent men, arrested John, and bound him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod ⁶  had married her.

Mark 7:13

7:13 Thus you nullify ⁷  the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

Mark 11:24

11:24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 12:17

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.” ⁸  And they were utterly amazed at him.

Mark 12:44

12:44 For they all gave out of their wealth. ⁹  But she, out of her poverty, put in what she had to live on, everything she had.” ¹⁰ 

Mark 15:41

15:41 When he was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support. ¹¹  Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem ¹²  were there too.

¹ tn Grk “And the whole Judean countryside.” Mark uses the Greek conjunction καί (kai) at numerous places in his Gospel to begin sentences and paragraphs. This practice is due to Semitic influence and reflects in many cases the use of the Hebrew ו (vav) which is used in OT narrative, much as it is here, to carry the narrative along. Because in contemporary English style it is not acceptable to begin every sentence with “and,” καί was often left untranslated or rendered as “now,” “so,” “then,” or “but” depending on the context. When left untranslated it has not been noted. When given an alternative translation, this is usually indicated by a note.

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ tn Grk “they were being baptized by him.” The passive construction has been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

⁴ sn Interestingly, the synoptic parallels each use a different word for Satan here: Matt 13:19 has “the evil one,” while Luke 8:12 has “the devil.” This illustrates the fluidity of the gospel tradition in often using synonyms at the same point of the parallel tradition.

⁵ sn The word of Jesus has the potential to save if it germinates in a person’s heart, something the devil is very much against.

⁷ tn Grk “he”; here it is necessary to specify the referent as “Herod,” since the nearest previous antecedent in the translation is Philip.

¹⁰ tn Grk “nullifying.” This participle shows the results of the Pharisees’ command.

¹³ sn 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 questioners’ either/or. So he slipped out of their trap.

¹⁶ tn Grk “out of what abounded to them.”

¹⁷ sn The contrast between this passage, 12:41-44, and what has come before in 11:27-12:40 is remarkable. The woman is set in stark contrast to the religious leaders. She was a poor widow, they were rich. She was uneducated in the law, they were well educated in the law. She was a woman, they were men. But whereas they evidenced no faith and actually stole money from God and men (cf. 11:17), she evidenced great faith and gave out of her extreme poverty everything she had.

¹⁹ tn Grk “and ministered to him.”

²⁰ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.