Mark 6:19-20

6:19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But ¹  she could not 6:20 because Herod stood in awe of ²  John and protected him, since he knew that John ³  was a righteous and holy man. When Herod ⁴  heard him, he was thoroughly baffled, ⁵  and yet ⁶  he liked to listen to John. ⁷ 

Mark 14:1-2

The Plot Against Jesus

14:1 Two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the chief priests and the experts in the law ⁸  were trying to find a way ⁹  to arrest Jesus ¹⁰  by stealth and kill him. 14:2 For they said, “Not during the feast, so there won’t be a riot among the people.” ¹¹ 

Acts 4:21

4:21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising ¹²  God for what had happened.

Acts 5:26

5:26 Then the commander ¹³  of the temple guard ¹⁴  went with the officers ¹⁵  and brought the apostles ¹⁶  without the use of force ¹⁷  (for they were afraid of being stoned by the people). ¹⁸ 

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

² tn Grk “was fearing,” “was respecting”; the imperfect tense connotes an ongoing fear or respect for John.

³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

⁵ tc In place of ἠπόρει (hporei, “he was baffled”) the majority of mss (A C D ˹ 33 Ï lat sy) have ἐποίει (epoiei, “he did”; cf. KJV’s “he did many things.”) The best mss (א B L [W] Θ 2427 co) support the reading followed in the translation. The variation may be no more than a simple case of confusion of letters, since the two readings look very much alike. The verb ποιέω (poiew, “I do”) certainly occurs more frequently than ἀπορέω (aporew, “I am at a loss”), so a scribe would be more likely to write a more familiar word. Further, even though the reading ἐποίει is the harder reading in terms of the sense, it is virtually nonsensical here, rendering it most likely an unintentional corruption.

⁶ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “and yet” to indicate the concessive nature of the final clause.

⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Or “the chief priests and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

⁹ tn Grk “were seeking how.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ sn The suggestion here is that Jesus was too popular to openly arrest him. The verb were trying is imperfect. It suggests, in this context, that they were always considering the opportunities.

¹² tn Or “glorifying.”

¹³ tn Or “captain.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “the official [of the temple],” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

¹⁵ tn The Greek term ὑπηρέτης (Juphreth") generally means “servant,” but in the NT is used for many different types of servants. See the note on the word “officers” in v. 22.

¹⁶ tn Grk “brought them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn Or “without violence.” It is clear, as well, that the apostles did not resist arrest.

¹⁸ tn Grk “for they feared lest they be stoned by the people.” The translation uses a less awkward English equivalent. This is an explanatory note by the author.