Mark 1:5

1:5 People ¹  from the whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem ²  were going out to him, and he was baptizing them ³  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Mark 2:16

2:16 When the experts in the law ⁴  and the Pharisees ⁵  saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ⁶ 

Mark 2:19

2:19 Jesus ⁷  said to them, “The wedding guests ⁸  cannot fast while the bridegroom ⁹  is with them, can they? ¹⁰  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they do not fast.

Mark 2:22

2:22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; ¹¹  otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be destroyed. Instead new wine is poured into new wineskins.” ¹² 

Mark 4:15

4:15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan ¹³  comes and snatches the word ¹⁴  that was sown in them.

Mark 4:20

4:20 But ¹⁵  these are the ones sown on good soil: They hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, one thirty times as much, one sixty, and one a hundred.”

Mark 10:24

10:24 The disciples were astonished at these words. But again Jesus said to them, ¹⁶  “Children, how hard it is ¹⁷  to enter the kingdom of God!

Mark 10:39

10:39 They said to him, “We are able.” ¹⁸  Then Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I experience,

Mark 13:11

13:11 When they arrest you and hand you over for trial, do not worry about what to speak. But say whatever is given you at that time, ¹⁹  for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

Mark 13:14

The Abomination of Desolation

13:14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation ²⁰  standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee ²¹  to the mountains.

Mark 14:12

The Passover

14:12 Now ²²  on the first day of the feast of ²³  Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, ²⁴  Jesus’ ²⁵  disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” ²⁶ 

Mark 14:65

14:65 Then ²⁷  some began to spit on him, and to blindfold him, and to strike him with their fists, saying, “Prophesy!” The guards also took him and beat ²⁸  him.

[1:5]  ¹ tn Grk “And the whole Judean countryside.” Mark uses the Greek conjunction καί (kai) at numerous places in his Gospel to begin sentences and paragraphs. This practice is due to Semitic influence and reflects in many cases the use of the Hebrew ו (vav) which is used in OT narrative, much as it is here, to carry the narrative along. Because in contemporary English style it is not acceptable to begin every sentence with “and,” καί was often left untranslated or rendered as “now,” “so,” “then,” or “but” depending on the context. When left untranslated it has not been noted. When given an alternative translation, this is usually indicated by a note.

[1:5]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:5]  ³ tn Grk “they were being baptized by him.” The passive construction has been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

[2:16]  ⁴ tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[2:16]  ⁵ sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[2:16]  ⁶ sn The issue here is inappropriate associations. Jews were very careful about personal associations and contact as a matter of ritual cleanliness. Their question borders on an accusation that Jesus is ritually unclean.

[2:19]  ⁷ tn Grk “And Jesus.”

[2:19]  ⁸ tn Grk “sons of the wedding hall,” an idiom referring to wedding guests, or more specifically, friends of the bridegroom present at the wedding celebration (L&N 11.7).

[2:19]  ⁹ sn The expression while the bridegroom is with them is an allusion to messianic times (John 3:29; Isa 54:5-6; 62:4-5; 4 Ezra 2:15, 38).

[2:19]  ¹⁰ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “can they?”).

[2:22]  ¹⁰ sn Wineskins were bags made of skin or leather, used for storing wine in NT times. As the new wine fermented and expanded, it would stretch the new wineskins. Putting new (unfermented) wine in old wineskins, which had already been stretched, would result in the bursting of the wineskins.

[2:22]  ¹¹ sn The meaning of the saying new wine is poured into new skins is that the presence and teaching of Jesus was something new and signaled the passing of the old. It could not be confined within the old religion of Judaism, but involved the inauguration and consummation of the kingdom of God.

[4:15]  ¹³ sn Interestingly, the synoptic parallels each use a different word for Satan here: Matt 13:19 has “the evil one,” while Luke 8:12 has “the devil.” This illustrates the fluidity of the gospel tradition in often using synonyms at the same point of the parallel tradition.

[4:15]  ¹⁴ sn The word of Jesus has the potential to save if it germinates in a person’s heart, something the devil is very much against.

[4:20]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[10:24]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “But answering, Jesus again said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[10:24]  ²⁰ tc Most mss (A C D Θ Ë^1,13 28 565 2427 Ï lat sy) have here “for those who trust in riches” (τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ [τοῖς] χρήμασιν, tou" pepoiqota" epi [toi"] crhmasin); W has πλούσιον (plousion) later in the verse, producing the same general modification on the dominical saying (“how hard it is for the rich to enter…”). But such qualifications on the Lord’s otherwise harsh and absolute statements are natural scribal expansions, intended to soften the dictum. Further, the earliest and best witnesses, along with a few others (א B Δ Ψ sa), lack any such qualifications. That W lacks the longer expansion and only has πλούσιον suggests that its archetype agreed with א B here; its voice should be heard with theirs. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, the shorter reading is preferred.

[10:39]  ²² sn No more naïve words have ever been spoken as those found here coming from James and John, “We are able.” They said it with such confidence and ease, yet they had little clue as to what they were affirming. In the next sentence Jesus confirms that they will indeed suffer for his name.

[13:11]  ²⁵ tn Grk “in that hour.”

[13:14]  ²⁸ sn The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167 b.c., the words of Jesus seem to indicate that Antiochus was not the final fulfillment, but that there was (from Jesus’ perspective) still another fulfillment yet to come. Some argue that this was realized in a.d. 70, while others claim that it refers specifically to Antichrist and will not be fully realized until the period of the great tribulation at the end of the age (cf. Mark 13:19, 24; Matt 24:21; Rev 3:10).

[13:14]  ²⁹ sn Fleeing to the mountains is a key OT image: Gen 19:17; Judg 6:2; Isa 15:5; Jer 16:16; Zech 14:5.

[14:12]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[14:12]  ³² tn The words “the feast of” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied for clarity.

[14:12]  ³³ sn Generally the feast of Unleavened Bread would refer to Nisan 15 (Friday), but the following reference to the sacrifice of the Passover lamb indicates that Nisan 14 (Thursday) was what Mark had in mind (Nisan = March 27 to April 25). The celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread lasted eight days, beginning with the Passover meal. The celebrations were so close together that at times the names of both were used interchangeably.

[14:12]  ³⁴ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:12]  ³⁵ sn This required getting a suitable lamb and finding lodging in Jerusalem where the meal could be eaten. The population of the city swelled during the feast, so lodging could be difficult to find. The Passover was celebrated each year in commemoration of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt; thus it was a feast celebrating redemption (see Exod 12). The Passover lamb was roasted and eaten after sunset in a family group of at least ten people (m. Pesahim 7.13). People ate the meal while reclining (see the note on table in 14:18). It included, besides the lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs as a reminder of Israel’s bitter affliction at the hands of the Egyptians. Four cups of wine mixed with water were also used for the meal. For a further description of the meal and the significance of the wine cups, see E. Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 523-24.

[14:65]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[14:65]  ³⁵ tn For the translation of ῥάπισμα (rJapisma), see L&N 19.4.