Mark 10:29

10:29 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, ¹  there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel

Deuteronomy 33:9

33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” ² 

and he did not acknowledge his own brothers

or know his own children,

for they kept your word,

and guarded your covenant.

Deuteronomy 33:1

Introduction to the Blessing of Moses

33:1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.

Deuteronomy 19:20

19:20 The rest of the people will hear and become afraid to keep doing such evil among you.

Matthew 4:21-22

4:21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat ³  with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then ⁴  he called them. 4:22 They ⁵  immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew 8:21-22

8:21 Another ⁶  of the ⁷  disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 8:22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” ⁸ 

Matthew 10:37

10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Luke 14:26

14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate ⁹  his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, ¹⁰  he cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:2

14:2 There ¹¹  right ¹²  in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. ¹³ 

Colossians 1:16

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ¹⁴  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

² sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).

³ tn Or “their boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do here); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats), while Matthew does not.

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁷ tc ‡ Most mss (C L W Θ 0250 Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy mae bo) read αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) here, but the earliest witnesses, א and B (along with 33 and a few others), lack it. The addition may have been a motivated reading to clarify whose disciples were in view. NA²⁷ includes the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

⁸ sn There are several options for the meaning of Jesus’ reply Leave the dead to bury their own dead: (1) Recent research suggests that burial customs in the vicinity of Jerusalem from about 20 b.c. to a.d. 70 involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box known as an ossuary to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In 1st century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4). (2) The remark is an idiom (possibly a proverbial saying) that means, “The matter in question is not the real issue,” in which case Jesus was making a wordplay on the wording of the man’s (literal) request (see L&N 33.137). (3) This remark could be a figurative reference to various kinds of people, meaning, “Let the spiritually dead bury the dead.” (4) It could also be literal and designed to shock the hearer by the surprise of the contrast. Whichever option is preferred, it is clear that the most important priority is to follow Jesus.

⁹ tn This figurative use operates on a relative scale. God is to be loved more than family or self.

¹⁰ tn Grk “his own soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

¹¹ tn Grk “And there.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹² tn Grk “behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1). Here it has been translated as “right” in the phrase “right in front of him,” giving a similar effect of vividness in the translation.

¹³ sn The condition called dropsy involves swollen limbs resulting from the accumulation of fluid in the body’s tissues, especially the legs.

¹⁴ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.