9:30 They went out from there and passed through Galilee. But 1 Jesus 2 did not want anyone to know, 9:31 for he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. 3 They 4 will kill him, 5 and after three days he will rise.” 6 9:32 But they did not understand this statement and were afraid to ask him.
9:33 Then 7 they came to Capernaum. 8 After Jesus 9 was inside the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 9:34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 9:35 After he sat down, he called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 9:36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 9:37 “Whoever welcomes 10 one of these little children 11 in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
9:38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.” 9:39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, because no one who does a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say anything bad about me. 9:40 For whoever is not against us is for us. 9:41 For I tell you the truth, 12 whoever gives you a cup of water because 13 you bear Christ’s 14 name will never lose his reward.
9:42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone 15 tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea. 9:43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have 16 two hands and go into hell, 17 to the unquenchable fire. 9:44 [[EMPTY]] 18 9:45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better to enter life lame than to have 19 two feet and be thrown into hell. 9:46 [[EMPTY]] 20 9:47 If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! 21 It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have 22 two eyes and be thrown into hell, 9:48 where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. 9:49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 23 9:50 Salt 24 is good, but if it loses its saltiness, 25 how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is considered by some to be used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NRSV, “into human hands”; CEV, “to people”). However, because this can be taken as a specific reference to the group responsible for Jesus’ arrest, where it is unlikely women were present (cf. Matt 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-12), the word “men” has been retained in the translation. There may also be a slight wordplay with “the Son of Man” earlier in the verse.
4 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
5 tn Grk “They will kill him, and being killed, after…” The redundancy in the statement has been removed in the translation.
6 sn They will kill him and after three days he will rise. See the note at the end of Mark 8:30 regarding the passion predictions.
7 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
8 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.
9 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn This verb, δέχομαι (decomai), is a term of hospitality (L&N 34.53).
11 sn Children were very insignificant in ancient culture, so this child would be the perfect object lesson to counter the disciples’ selfish ambitions.
12 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
13 tn Grk “in [the] name that of Christ you are.”
14 tn Or “bear the Messiah’s”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
15 tn Grk “the millstone of a donkey.” This refers to a large flat stone turned by a donkey in the process of grinding grain (BDAG 661 s.v. μύλος 2; L&N 7.68-69). The same term is used in the parallel account in Matt 18:6.
16 tn Grk “than having.”
17 sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36). This Greek term also occurs in vv. 45, 47.
18 tc Most later
19 tn Grk “than having.”
20 tc See tc note at the end of v. 43.
21 tn Grk “throw it out.”
22 tn Grk “than having.”
23 tc The earliest
24 sn Salt was used as seasoning or fertilizer (BDAG 41 s.v. ἅλας a), or as a preservative. If salt ceased to be useful, it was thrown away. With this illustration Jesus warned about a disciple who ceased to follow him.
25 sn The difficulty of this saying is understanding how salt could lose its saltiness since its chemical properties cannot change. It is thus often assumed that Jesus was referring to chemically impure salt, perhaps a natural salt which, when exposed to the elements, had all the genuine salt leached out, leaving only the sediment or impurities behind. Others have suggested the background of the saying is the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens: Under the intense heat these blocks would eventually crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable. A saying in the Talmud (b. Bekhorot 8b) attributed to R. Joshua ben Chananja (ca.