6:14 Now 5 King Herod 6 heard this, for Jesus’ 7 name had become known. Some 8 were saying, “John the baptizer 9 has been raised from the dead, and because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.”
1 sn An allusion to Isa 13:10, 34:4 (LXX); Joel 2:10. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.
1 tn Grk “they.”
2 sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full judging authority.
1 tn Or “mistaken” (cf. BDAG 822 s.v. πλανάω 2.c.γ).
1 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
2 sn Herod was technically not a king, but a tetrarch, a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king. A tetrarch ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. In the NT, Herod, who ruled over Galilee, is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage rather than an official title.
3 tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
5 tn While Matthew and Luke consistently use the noun βαπτίστης (baptisths, “the Baptist”) to refer to John, as a kind of a title, Mark prefers the substantival participle ὁ βαπτίζων (Jo baptizwn, “the one who baptizes, the baptizer”) to describe him (only twice does he use the noun [Mark 6:25; 8:28]).
1 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
2 tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.
3 tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).
4 sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the kingdom of God come with power: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to after six days in 9:2 seems to indicate that Mark had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration was a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (8:31; 9:31; 10:33), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.
1 sn An allusion to Ps 110:1. This is a claim that Jesus shares authority with God in heaven. Those present may have thought they were his judges, but, in fact, the reverse was true.
2 sn The expression the right hand of the Power is a circumlocution for referring to God. Such indirect references to God were common in 1st century Judaism out of reverence for the divine name.
3 sn An allusion to Dan 7:13.
1 sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21. Jesus undoubtedly took the opportunity on this occasion to speak about his person and mission, and the relation of both to OT fulfillment.
2 tn Or “this teaching”; Grk “these things.” The response of the people centers upon the content of Jesus’ teaching, so the phrase “these ideas” was supplied in the text to make this clear.