Mark 7:13

7:13 Thus you nullify ¹  the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

Mark 7:33

7:33 After Jesus ²  took him aside privately, away from the crowd, he put his fingers in the man’s ³  ears, and after spitting, he touched his tongue. ⁴ 

Mark 8:35

8:35 For whoever wants to save his life ⁵  will lose it, ⁶  but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.

Mark 10:49

10:49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So ⁷  they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up! He is calling you.”

Mark 16:1

The Resurrection

16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought aromatic spices ⁸  so that they might go and anoint him.

¹ tn Grk “nullifying.” This participle shows the results of the Pharisees’ command.

² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Grk “his”; the referent (the deaf man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ sn After spitting, he touched his tongue. It was not uncommon in Judaism of the day to associate curative powers with a person’s saliva. The scene as a whole reflects Jesus’ willingness to get close to people and have physical contact with them where appropriate. See W. L. Lane, Mark (NICNT), 267 n. 78.

³ tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 35-37).

⁴ sn The point of the saying whoever wants to save his life will lose it is that if one comes to Jesus then rejection by many will certainly follow. If self-protection is a key motivation, then one will not respond to Jesus and will not be saved. One who is willing to risk rejection will respond and find true life.

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

⁵ tn On this term see BDAG 140 s.v. ἄρωμα. The Jews did not practice embalming, so these materials were used to cover the stench of decay and slow decomposition.