Mark 1:14-15

Preaching in Galilee and the Call of the Disciples

1:14 Now after John was imprisoned, ¹  Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel ²  of God. ³  1:15 He ⁴  said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God ⁵  is near. Repent and believe the gospel!”

Mark 1:24

1:24 “Leave us alone, ⁶  Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One ⁷  of God!”

Mark 3:11

3:11 And whenever the unclean spirits ⁸  saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”

Mark 4:11

4:11 He said to them, “The secret ⁹  of the kingdom of God has been given ¹⁰  to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables,

Mark 10:15

10:15 I tell you the truth, ¹¹  whoever does not receive ¹²  the kingdom of God like a child ¹³  will never ¹⁴  enter it.”

Mark 10:23

10:23 Then ¹⁵  Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

Mark 12:17

12:17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ¹⁶  And they were utterly amazed at him.

Mark 12:24

12:24 Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you deceived ¹⁷  for this reason, because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God?

Mark 15:39

15:39 Now when the centurion, ¹⁸  who stood in front of him, saw how he died, ¹⁹  he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

Mark 16:19

16:19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

[1:14]  ¹ tn Or “arrested,” “taken into custody” (see L&N 37.12).

[1:14]  ² tc Most witnesses, especially later ones (A D W Ï lat), have τῆς βασιλείας (ths basileias) between τὸ εὐαγγέλιον (to euangelion) and τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou): “the gospel of the kingdom of God.” On the one hand, it is perhaps possible that τῆς βασιλείας was omitted to conform the expression to that which is found in the epistles (cf. Rom 1:1; 15:16; 2 Cor 11:7; 1 Thess 2:2, 8, 9; 1 Pet 4:17). On the other hand, this expression, “the gospel of God,” occurs nowhere else in the Gospels, while “the gospel of the kingdom” is a Matthean expression (Matt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14), and “kingdom of God” is pervasive in the synoptic Gospels (occurring over 50 times). Scribes would thus be more prone to add τῆς βασιλείας than to omit it. Further, the external support for the shorter reading (א B L Θ Ë^1,13 28* 33 565 579 892 2427 sa) is significantly stronger than that for the longer reading. There is little doubt, therefore, that the shorter reading is authentic.

[1:14]  ³ tn The genitive in the phrase τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ (to euangelion tou qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself.

[1:15]  ⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:15]  ⁵ sn The kingdom of God is a reference to the sovereign activity of God as he rules over his creation and brings his plans to realization.

[1:24]  ⁷ tn Grk “What to us and to you?” This is an idiom meaning, “We have nothing to do with one another,” or “Why bother us!” The phrase τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί (ti Jhmin kai soi) is Semitic in origin, though it made its way into colloquial Greek (BDAG 275 s.v. ἐγώ). The equivalent Hebrew expression in the OT had two basic meanings: (1) When one person was unjustly bothering another, the injured party could say “What to me and to you?” meaning, “What have I done to you that you should do this to me?” (Judg 11:12, 2 Chr 35:21, 1 Kgs 17:18). (2) When someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his own, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” meaning, “That is your business, how am I involved?” (2 Kgs 3:13, Hos 14:8). Option (1) implies hostility, while option (2) merely implies disengagement. BDAG suggests the following as glosses for this expression: What have I to do with you? What have we in common? Leave me alone! Never mind! Hostility between Jesus and the demons is certainly to be understood in this context, hence the translation: “Leave me alone….” For a very similar expression see Lk 8:28 and (in a different context) John 2:4.

[1:24]  ⁸ sn The confession of Jesus as the Holy One here is significant, coming from an unclean spirit. Jesus, as the Holy One of God, who bears God’s Spirit and is the expression of holiness, comes to deal with uncleanness and unholiness.

[3:11]  ¹⁰ sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.

[4:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “the mystery.”

[4:11]  ¹⁴ tn This is an example of a “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

[10:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:15]  ¹⁷ sn On receive see John 1:12.

[10:15]  ¹⁸ sn The point of the comparison receive the kingdom of God like a child has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit and willingness to be dependent and receive from others than any inherent humility the child might possess.

[10:15]  ¹⁹ tn The negation in Greek (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong here.

[10:23]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:17]  ²² sn Jesus’ answer to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s was a both/and, not the questioners’ either/or. So he slipped out of their trap.

[12:24]  ²⁵ tn Or “mistaken” (cf. BDAG 822 s.v. πλανάω 2.c.γ).

[15:39]  ²⁸ sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like Paul.

[15:39]  ²⁹ tn Grk “the way he breathed his last”; or “the way he expired”; or “that he thus breathed no more.”