Mark 2:16

2:16 When the experts in the law ¹  and the Pharisees ²  saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ³ 

Mark 2:19

2:19 Jesus ⁴  said to them, “The wedding guests ⁵  cannot fast while the bridegroom ⁶  is with them, can they? ⁷  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they do not fast.

Mark 14:43

Betrayal and Arrest

14:43 Right away, while Jesus ⁸  was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. ⁹  With him came a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and experts in the law ¹⁰  and elders.

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

[2:16]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Grk “And Jesus.”

[2:19]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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?”).

[14:43]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:43]  ⁸ tn Or “approached.” This is a different verb than the one translated “arrived” in Matt 26:47 and below in v. 45, although in this context the meanings probably overlap.

[14:43]  ⁹ tn Or “from the chief priests, scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.