Discovery BoxMark 2:18--3:6
Context2:18 Now 1 John’s 2 disciples and the Pharisees 3 were fasting. 4 So 5 they came to Jesus 6 and said, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?” 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. 2:20 But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, 11 and at that time 12 they will fast. 2:21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse. 2:22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; 13 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.” 14
2:23 Jesus 15 was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples began to pick some heads of wheat 16 as they made their way. 2:24 So 17 the Pharisees 18 said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?” 2:25 He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry – 2:26 how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest 19 and ate the sacred bread, 20 which is against the law 21 for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?” 22 2:27 Then 23 he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, 24 not people for the Sabbath. 2:28 For this reason the Son of Man is lord 25 even of the Sabbath.”
3:1 Then 26 Jesus 27 entered the synagogue 28 again, and a man was there who had a withered 29 hand. 3:2 They watched 30 Jesus 31 closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, 32 so that they could accuse him. 3:3 So he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up among all these people.” 33 3:4 Then 34 he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?” But they were silent. 3:5 After looking around 35 at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, 36 he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 37 3:6 So 38 the Pharisees 39 went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians, 40 as to how they could assassinate 41 him.
[2:18] 1 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
[2:18] 2 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
[2:18] 3 sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.
[2:18] 4 sn John’s disciples and the Pharisees followed typical practices with regard to fasting and prayer. Many Jews fasted regularly (Lev 16:29-34; 23:26-32; Num 29:7-11). The zealous fasted twice a week on Monday and Thursday.
[2:18] 5 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate that in the narrative this question happened as a result of the fasting of John’s disciples and the Pharisees.
[2:18] 6 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[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?”).
[2:20] 11 sn The statement the bridegroom will be taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 8:27ff. (cf. 8:31; 9:31; 10:33).
[2:20] 12 tn Grk “then on that day.”
[2:22] 13 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] 14 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.
[2:23] 15 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:23] 16 tn Or “heads of grain.” While the generic term στάχυς (stacus) can refer to the cluster of seeds at the top of grain such as barley or wheat, in the NT the term is restricted to wheat (L&N 3.40; BDAG 941 s.v. 1).
[2:24] 17 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
[2:24] 18 sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.
[2:26] 19 tn A decision about the proper translation of this Greek phrase (ἐπὶ ᾿Αβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως, ejpi Abiaqar ajrcierew") is very difficult for a number of reasons. The most natural translation of the phrase is “when Abiathar was high priest,” but this is problematic because Abiathar was not the high priest when David entered the temple and ate the sacred bread; Ahimelech is the priest mentioned in 1 Sam 21:1-7. Three main solutions have been suggested to resolve this difficulty. (1) There are alternate readings in various manuscripts, but these are not likely to be original: D W {271} it sys and a few others omit ἐπὶ ᾿Αβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως, no doubt in conformity to the parallels in Matt 12:4 and Luke 6:4; {A C Θ Π Σ Φ 074 Ë13 and many others} add τοῦ before ἀρχιερέως, giving the meaning “in the days of Abiathar the high priest,” suggesting a more general time frame. Neither reading has significant external support and both most likely are motivated by the difficulty of the original reading. (2) Many scholars have hypothesized that one of the three individuals who would have been involved in the transmission of the statement (Jesus who uttered it originally, Mark who wrote it down in the Gospel, or Peter who served as Mark’s source) was either wrong about Abiathar or intentionally loose with the biblical data in order to make a point. (3) It is possible that what is currently understood to be the most natural reading of the text is in fact not correct. (a) There are very few biblical parallels to this grammatical construction (ἐπί + genitive proper noun, followed by an anarthrous common noun), so it is possible that an extensive search for this construction in nonbiblical literature would prove that the meaning does involve a wide time frame. If this is so, “in the days of Abiathar the high priest” would be a viable option. (b) It is also possible that this phrasing serves as a loose way to cite a scripture passage. There is a parallel to this construction in Mark 12:26: “Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush?” Here the final phrase is simply ἐπὶ τοῦ βάτου (ejpi tou batou), but the obvious function of the phrase is to point to a specific passage within the larger section of scripture. Deciding upon a translation here is difficult. The translation above has followed the current consensus on the most natural and probable meaning of the phrase ἐπὶ ᾿Αβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως: “when Abiathar was high priest.” It should be recognized, however, that this translation is tentative because the current state of knowledge about the meaning of this grammatical construction is incomplete, and any decision about the meaning of this text is open to future revision.
[2:26] 20 tn Grk “the bread of presentation.”
[2:26] 21 sn Jesus’ response to the charge that what his disciples were doing was against the law is one of analogy: “If David did it for his troops in a time of need, then so can I with my disciples.” Jesus is clear that on the surface there was a violation here. What is not as clear is whether he is arguing a “greater need” makes this permissible or that this was within the intention of the law all along.
[2:26] 22 sn See 1 Sam 21:1-6.
[2:27] 23 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[2:27] 24 tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used twice in this verse in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”
[2:28] 25 tn The term “lord” is in emphatic position in the Greek text.
[3:1] 26 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[3:1] 27 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:1] 28 sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.
[3:1] 29 sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.
[3:2] 30 sn The term translated watched…closely is emotive, since it carries negative connotations. It means they were watching him out of the corner of their eye or spying on him.
[3:2] 31 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:2] 32 sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).
[3:3] 33 tn Grk “Stand up in the middle.”
[3:4] 34 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[3:5] 35 tn The aorist participle περιβλεψάμενος (peribleyameno") has been translated as antecedent (prior) to the action of the main verb. It could also be translated as contemporaneous (“Looking around…he said”).
[3:5] 36 tn This term is a collective singular in the Greek text.
[3:5] 37 sn The passive was restored points to healing by God. Now the question became: Would God exercise his power through Jesus, if what Jesus was doing were wrong? Note also Jesus’ “labor.” He simply spoke and it was so.
[3:6] 38 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
[3:6] 39 sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.
[3:6] 40 tn Grk inserts “against him” after “Herodians.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has not been translated.
