Mark 1:11

1:11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my one dear Son; ¹  in you I take great delight.” ² 

Mark 2:11

2:11 “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” ³ 

Mark 5:9

5:9 Jesus ⁴  asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “My name is Legion, ⁵  for we are many.”

Mark 6:18

6:18 For John had repeatedly told ⁶  Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ⁷ 

Mark 6:23

6:23 He swore to her, ⁸  “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” ⁹ 

Mark 10:28

10:28 Peter began to speak to him, “Look, ¹⁰  we have left everything to follow you!” ¹¹ 

[1:11]  ¹ tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

[1:11]  ² tn Or “with you I am well pleased.”

[2:11]  ³ tn Grk “to your house.”

[5:9]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:9]  ⁶ sn The name Legion means “thousands,” a word taken from a Latin term for a large group of soldiers. The term not only suggests a multiple possession, but also adds a military feel to the account. This is a true battle.

[6:18]  ⁷ tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.

[6:18]  ⁸ sn It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife. This was a violation of OT law (Lev 18:16; 20:21). In addition, both Herod Antipas and Herodias had each left marriages to enter into this union.

[6:23]  ⁹ tc ‡ The witnesses here support several different readings: αὐτῇ πολλά (auth polla, “to her insistently”) is found in D Θ 565 700 it; πολλά is the reading of Ì^45vid 28; both words are lacking in L pc; and א A B C^2vid ˹³ 33 2427 Ï lat have just αὐτῇ. The best candidates for authenticity, on external grounds, are αὐτῇ πολλά and αὐτῇ. So the issue revolves around whether πολλά is part of the text. On the one hand, πολλά used adverbially is a distinctive Markanism (10 of the 16 NT instances are found in Mark; of the other Gospels, Matthew alone adds a single example [Matt 9:14]). It could be argued that such an unremarkable term would go unnoticed by the scribes, and consequently would not have been inserted in imitation of Mark’s style observed elsewhere. On the other hand, the largest cluster of instances of an adverbial πολλά are in Mark 5-6, with the most recent example coming just three verses earlier (Mark 5:23, 38, 43; 6:20). Scribes may well have imitated the usage so recently and so frequently seen. Further, the best Alexandrian witnesses, as well as good representatives of the Western and Byzantines texts, lack πολλά. On the whole, though a decision is difficult, it is probably best to read the text without πολλά. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[6:23]  ¹⁰ sn The expression up to half my kingdom is a proverbial comment meaning “great wealth.”

[10:28]  ¹¹ sn Peter wants reassurance that the disciples’ response and sacrifice has been noticed.

[10:28]  ¹² tn Grk “We have left everything and followed you.” Koine Greek often used paratactic structure when hypotactic was implied.