Mark 10:46--11:11

Healing Blind Bartimaeus

10:46 They came to Jericho. ¹  As Jesus ²  and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. 10:47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to shout, ³  “Jesus, Son of David, ⁴  have mercy ⁵  on me!” 10:48 Many scolded ⁶  him to get him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 10:49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So ⁷  they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up! He is calling you.” 10:50 He threw off his cloak, jumped up, and came to Jesus. 10:51 Then ⁸  Jesus said to him, ⁹  “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied, “Rabbi, ¹⁰  let me see again.” ¹¹  10:52 Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has healed you.” Immediately he regained ¹²  his sight and followed him on the road.

The Triumphal Entry

11:1 Now ¹³  as they approached Jerusalem, ¹⁴  near Bethphage ¹⁵  and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, ¹⁶  Jesus ¹⁷  sent two of his disciples 11:2 and said to them, “Go to the village ahead of you. ¹⁸  As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there that has never been ridden. ¹⁹  Untie it and bring it here. 11:3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it ²⁰  and will send it back here soon.’” 11:4 So ²¹  they went and found a colt tied at a door, outside in the street, and untied it. 11:5 Some people standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 11:6 They replied as Jesus had told them, and the bystanders ²²  let them go. 11:7 Then ²³  they brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks ²⁴  on it, and he sat on it. ²⁵  11:8 Many spread their cloaks on the road and others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 11:9 Both those who went ahead and those who followed kept shouting, “Hosanna! ²⁶  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! ²⁷  11:10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” 11:11 Then ²⁸  Jesus ²⁹  entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. And after looking around at everything, he went out to Bethany with the twelve since it was already late.

[10:46]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[10:46]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:47]  ³ tn Grk “to shout and to say.” The infinitive λέγειν (legein) is redundant here and has not been translated.

[10:47]  ⁴ sn Jesus was more than a Nazarene to this blind person, who saw quite well that Jesus was Son of David. There was a tradition in Judaism that the Son of David (Solomon) had great powers of healing (Josephus, Ant. 8.2.5 [8.42-49]).

[10:47]  ⁵ sn Have mercy on me is a request for healing. It is not owed the man. He simply asks for God’s kind grace.

[10:48]  ⁶ tn Or “rebuked.” The crowd’s view was that surely Jesus would not be bothered with someone as unimportant as a blind beggar.

[10:49]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[10:51]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:51]  ⁹ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to him.” The participle ἀποκριθείς is redundant and has not been translated.

[10:51]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Master”; Grk ῥαββουνί (rabbouni).

[10:51]  ¹¹ tn Grk “that I may see [again].” The phrase can be rendered as an imperative of request, “Please, give me sight.” Since the man is not noted as having been blind from birth (as the man in John 9 was) it is likely the request is to receive back the sight he once had.

[10:52]  ¹² tn Or “received” (see the note on the phrase “let me see again” in v. 51).

[11:1]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[11:1]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:1]  ¹⁵ sn The exact location of the village of Bethphage is not known. Most put it on the southeast side of the Mount of Olives and northwest of Bethany, about 1.5 miles (3 km) east of Jerusalem.

[11:1]  ¹⁶ sn “Mountain” in English generally denotes a higher elevation than it often does in reference to places in Palestine. The Mount of Olives is really a ridge running north to south about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) long, east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Its central elevation is about 30 meters (100 ft) higher than Jerusalem. It was named for the large number of olive trees which grew on it.

[11:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the village lying before you” (BDAG 530 s.v. κατέναντι 2.b).

[11:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “a colt tied there on which no one of men has ever sat.”

[11:3]  ²⁰ sn The custom called angaria allowed the impressment of animals for service to a significant figure.

[11:4]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[11:6]  ²² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people mentioned in v. 5) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:7]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[11:7]  ²⁴ tn Grk “garments”; but this refers in context to their outer cloaks. The action is like 2 Kgs 9:13.

[11:7]  ²⁵ sn See Zech 9:9, a prophecy fulfilled here (cf. Matt 21:5; John 12:15.

[11:9]  ²⁶ tn The expression ῾Ωσαννά (Jwsanna, literally in Hebrew, “O Lord, save”) in the quotation from Ps 118:25-26 was probably by this time a familiar liturgical expression of praise, on the order of “Hail to the king,” although both the underlying Aramaic and Hebrew expressions meant “O Lord, save us.” The introductory ὡσαννά is followed by the words of Ps 118:25, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου (euloghmeno" Jo ercomeno" en onomati kuriou), although in the Fourth Gospel the author adds for good measure καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ (kai Jo basileu" tou Israhl). In words familiar to every Jew, the author is indicating that at this point every messianic expectation is now at the point of realization. It is clear from the words of the psalm shouted by the crowd that Jesus is being proclaimed as messianic king. See E. Lohse, TDNT 9:682-84.

[11:9]  ²⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 118:25-26.

[11:11]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to indicate the transition from the previous narrative.

[11:11]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.