Mark 3:12

3:12 But ¹  he sternly ordered them not to make him known. ² 

Mark 3:33

3:33 He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³ 

Mark 4:2

4:2 He taught them many things in parables, ⁴  and in his teaching said to them:

Mark 4:33

The Use of Parables

4:33 So ⁵  with many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear.

Mark 4:40

4:40 And he said to them, “Why are you cowardly? Do you still not have faith?”

Mark 6:39

6:39 Then he directed them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.

Mark 6:46

6:46 After saying good-bye to them, he went to the mountain to pray.

Mark 9:4

9:4 Then Elijah appeared before them along with Moses, ⁶  and they were talking with Jesus.

Mark 10:3

10:3 He answered them, ⁷  “What did Moses command you?”

Mark 10:13

Jesus and Little Children

10:13 Now ⁸  people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, ⁹  but the disciples scolded those who brought them. ¹⁰ 

Mark 10:36

10:36 He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Mark 11:6

11:6 They replied as Jesus had told them, and the bystanders ¹¹  let them go.

Mark 11:22

11:22 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God.

Mark 13:5

13:5 Jesus began to say to them, “Watch out ¹²  that no one misleads you.

Mark 14:23

14:23 And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

Mark 15:6

Jesus and Barabbas

15:6 During the feast it was customary to release one prisoner to the people, ¹³  whomever they requested.

Mark 15:8

15:8 Then the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to release a prisoner for them, as was his custom. ¹⁴ 

Mark 15:11

15:11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release ¹⁵  Barabbas instead.

¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

² sn Jesus did not permit the demons to make him known because the time for such disclosure was not yet at hand, and such a revelation would have certainly been misunderstood by the people. In all likelihood, if the people had understood him early on to be the Son of God, or Messiah, they would have reduced his mission to one of political deliverance from Roman oppression (cf. John 6:15). Jesus wanted to avoid, as much as possible, any premature misunderstanding about who he was and what he was doing. However, at the end of his ministry, he did not deny such a title when the high priest asked him (14:61-62).

³ tn Grk “Who is my mother and my brothers?” The use of the singular verb ἐστιν (estin) here singles out Mary above Jesus’ brothers, giving her special prominence (see ExSyn 401-2). This is slightly unnatural in English since the predicate nominative is plural, though, so a plural verb was used in the translation.

⁵ sn Though parables can contain a variety of figures of speech (cf. 2:19-22; 3:23-25; 4:3-9, 26-32; 7:15-17; 13:28), many times they are simply stories that attempt to teach spiritual truth (which is unknown to the hearers) by using a comparison with something known to the hearers. In general, parables usually advance a single idea, though there may be many parts and characters in a single parable and subordinate ideas may expand the main idea further. The beauty of using the parable as a teaching device is that it draws the listener into the story, elicits an evaluation, and demands a response.

⁷ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

⁹ sn Commentators and scholars discuss why Moses and Elijah are present. The most likely explanation is that Moses represents the prophetic office (Acts 3:18-22) and Elijah pictures the presence of the last days (Mal 4:5-6), the prophet of the eschaton (the end times).

¹¹ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.”

¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

¹⁴ tn Grk “so that he would touch them.” Here the touch is connected with (or conveys) a blessing (cf. v. 16; also BDAG 126 s.v. ἅπτω 2.c).

¹⁵ tc “Those who brought them” (ἐπετιμῶν τοῖς προσφέρουσιν, epetimwn toi" prosferousin) is the reading of most mss (A D W [Θ Ë^1,13] Ï lat sy), but it is probably a motivated reading. Since the subject is not explicit in the earliest and best witnesses as well as several others (א B C L Δ Ψ 579 892 2427), scribes would be prone to add “those who brought them” here to clarify that the children were not the ones being scolded. It could be argued that the masculine pronoun αὐτοῖς (autois, “them”) only rarely was used with the neuter antecedent παιδία (paidia, “children”), and thus the longer reading was not motivated by scribal clarification. However, such rare usage is found in Mark (cf. 5:41; 9:24-26); further, scribes routinely added clarifications when such were not necessary. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, the shorter reading is strongly preferred. Similar motivations are behind the translation here, namely, “those who brought them” has been supplied to ensure that the parents who brought the children are in view, not the children themselves.

¹⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people mentioned in v. 5) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn Or “Be on guard.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²¹ tn Grk “Coming up the crowd began to ask [him to do] as he was doing for them.”

²³ tn Grk “to have him release for them.”