Mark 1:38

1:38 He replied, ¹  “Let us go elsewhere, into the surrounding villages, so that I can preach there too. For that is what I came out here to do.” ² 

Mark 6:23

6:23 He swore to her, ³  “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” ⁴ 

Mark 10:28

10:28 Peter began to speak to him, “Look, ⁵  we have left everything to follow you!” ⁶ 

Mark 13:6

13:6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ ⁷  and they will mislead many.

[1:38]  ¹ tn Grk “And he said to them.”

[1:38]  ² tn Grk “Because for this purpose I have come forth.”

[6:23]  ³ 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]  ⁴ sn The expression up to half my kingdom is a proverbial comment meaning “great wealth.”

[10:28]  ⁵ sn Peter wants reassurance that the disciples’ response and sacrifice has been noticed.

[10:28]  ⁶ tn Grk “We have left everything and followed you.” Koine Greek often used paratactic structure when hypotactic was implied.

[13:6]  ⁷ tn That is, “I am the Messiah.”