Mark 1:24

1:24 “Leave us alone, ¹  Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One ²  of God!”

Mark 3:11

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

Mark 5:37

5:37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James, ⁴  and John, the brother of James.

Mark 6:8

6:8 He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff ⁵  – no bread, no bag, ⁶  no money in their belts –

Mark 8:12

8:12 Sighing deeply in his spirit he said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? I tell you the truth, ⁷  no sign will be given to this generation.”

Mark 8:29

8:29 He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, ⁸  “You are the Christ.” ⁹ 

Mark 9:22

9:22 It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Mark 9:35

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.”

Mark 13:20

13:20 And if the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would be saved. But because of the elect, whom he chose, he has cut them ¹⁰  short.

Mark 13:32

Be Ready!

13:32 “But as for that day or hour no one knows it – neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son ¹¹  – except the Father.

Mark 14:35

14:35 Going a little farther, he threw himself to the ground and prayed that if it were possible the hour would pass from him.

Mark 15:2

15:2 So ¹²  Pilate asked him, “Are you the king ¹³  of the Jews?” He replied, ¹⁴  “You say so.” ¹⁵ 

Mark 15:36

15:36 Then someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, ¹⁶  put it on a stick, ¹⁷  and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down!”

[1:24]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.

[5:37]  ⁵ tn Grk “and James,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[6:8]  ⁷ sn Neither Matt 10:9-10 nor Luke 9:3 allow for a staff. It might be that Matthew and Luke mean not taking an extra staff, or that the expression is merely rhetorical for “traveling light,” which has been rendered in two slightly different ways.

[6:8]  ⁸ tn Or “no traveler’s bag”; or possibly “no beggar’s bag” (L&N 6.145; BDAG 811 s.v. πήρα).

[8:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[8:29]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Answering, Peter said to him.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “Peter answered him.”

[8:29]  ¹² tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[13:20]  ¹³ tn Grk “the days.”

[13:32]  ¹⁵ sn The phrase nor the Son has caused a great deal of theological debate because on the surface it appears to conflict with the concept of Jesus’ deity. The straightforward meaning of the text is that the Son does not know the time of his return. If Jesus were divine, though, wouldn’t he know this information? There are other passages which similarly indicate that Jesus did not know certain things. For example, Luke 2:52 indicates that Jesus grew in wisdom; this has to mean that Jesus did not know everything all the time but learned as he grew. So Mark 13:32 is not alone in implying that Jesus did not know certain things. The best option for understanding Mark 13:32 and similar passages is to hold the two concepts in tension: The Son in his earthly life and ministry had limited knowledge of certain things, yet he was still deity.

[15:2]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action in the narrative.

[15:2]  ¹⁸ sn “Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate was interested in this charge because of its political implications of sedition against Rome.

[15:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “answering, he said to him.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the phrase has been modified for clarity.

[15:2]  ²⁰ sn The reply “You say so” is somewhat enigmatic, like Jesus’ earlier reply to the Jewish leadership (mentioned in Matt 26:64 and Luke 22:70).

[15:36]  ¹⁹ sn Sour wine refers to cheap wine that was called in Latin posca, a cheap vinegar wine diluted heavily with water. It was the drink of slaves and soldiers, and was probably there for the soldiers who had performed the crucifixion.

[15:36]  ²⁰ tn Grk “a reed.”