Mark 7:9

7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up ¹  your tradition.

Mark 7:37

7:37 People were completely astounded and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Mark 12:28

The Greatest Commandment

12:28 Now ²  one of the experts in the law ³  came and heard them debating. When he saw that Jesus ⁴  answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

Mark 12:32

12:32 The expert in the law said to him, “That is true, Teacher; you are right to say that he is one, and there is no one else besides him. ⁵ 

Mark 16:18

16:18 they will pick up snakes with their hands, and whatever poison they drink will not harm them; ⁶  they will place their hands on the sick and they will be well.”

Mark 7:6

7:6 He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart ⁷  is far from me.

¹ tc The translation here follows the reading στήσητε (sthshte, “set up”) found in D W Θ Ë¹ 28 565 2542 it sy^s,p Cyp. The majority of mss here read τηρήσητε (thrhsete; א A L ˹³ 33 Ï co) or τηρῆτε (thrhte; B 2427), both translated “keep.” It is hard to know which reading is best: On the one hand, τηρήσητε/τηρῆτε has much stronger external support, but στήσητε is a more difficult reading. What makes “keep” suspect is that it appears in two different forms, suggesting independent alterations of a difficult reading. Further, scribes may have been influenced by the preceding “commandment of God” to change the text toward “keep” (TCGNT 81), a common enough expression (cf. Matt 19:17; John 14:15; 1 Tim 6:1; 1 John 5:3; Rev 14:12). Thus, the more difficult reading is “set up.” Also, the more natural opposite of “reject” (ἀθεῖτε [aqeite], literally “you set aside”) is “set up.” However, the Western reading may have been influenced by Exod 6:4 or Heb 10:9, but this likelihood seems remote. Thus, “set up” is more likely to be the original wording of Mark here.

² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

³ tn Or “One of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ sn A quotation from Deut 4:35.

⁴ tn For further comment on the nature of this statement, whether it is a promise or prediction, see ExSyn 403-6.

⁵ tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.