Mark 2:7

2:7 “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! ¹  Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Mark 3:35

3:35 For whoever does the will of God is ²  my brother and sister and mother.”

Mark 4:26

The Parable of the Growing Seed

4:26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is like someone who spreads seed on the ground.

Mark 4:30

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

4:30 He also asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to present it?

Mark 7:9

7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up ³  your tradition.

Mark 7:13

7:13 Thus you nullify ⁴  the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

Mark 10:18

10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? ⁵  No one is good except God alone.

Mark 10:25

10:25 It is easier for a camel ⁶  to go through the eye of a needle ⁷  than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

[2:7]  ¹ sn Blaspheming meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.

[3:35]  ² tn The pleonastic pronoun οὗτος (Jouto", “this one”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.

[7:9]  ³ tc The translation here follows the reading στήσητε (sthshte, “set up”) found in D W Θ Ë¹ 28 565 2542 it sy^s,p Cyp. The majority of mss here read τηρήσητε (thrhsete; א A L ˹³ 33 Ï co) or τηρῆτε (thrhte; B 2427), both translated “keep.” It is hard to know which reading is best: On the one hand, τηρήσητε/τηρῆτε has much stronger external support, but στήσητε is a more difficult reading. What makes “keep” suspect is that it appears in two different forms, suggesting independent alterations of a difficult reading. Further, scribes may have been influenced by the preceding “commandment of God” to change the text toward “keep” (TCGNT 81), a common enough expression (cf. Matt 19:17; John 14:15; 1 Tim 6:1; 1 John 5:3; Rev 14:12). Thus, the more difficult reading is “set up.” Also, the more natural opposite of “reject” (ἀθεῖτε [aqeite], literally “you set aside”) is “set up.” However, the Western reading may have been influenced by Exod 6:4 or Heb 10:9, but this likelihood seems remote. Thus, “set up” is more likely to be the original wording of Mark here.

[7:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “nullifying.” This participle shows the results of the Pharisees’ command.

[10:18]  ⁵ sn Jesus’ response, Why do you call me good?, was designed to cause the young man to stop and think for a moment about who Jesus really was. The following statement No one is good except God alone seems to point the man in the direction of Jesus’ essential nature and the demands which logically follow on the man for having said it.

[10:25]  ⁶ tc A few witnesses (˹³ 28 579 pc) read κάμιλον (kamilon, “rope”) for κάμηλον (kamhlon, “camel”), either through accidental misreading of the text or intentionally so as to soften Jesus’ words.

[10:25]  ⁷ sn The referent of the eye of a needle is a sewing needle. (The gate in Jerusalem known as “The Needle’s Eye” was built during the middle ages and was not in existence in Jesus’ day.) Jesus was speaking rhetorically to point out that apart from God’s intervention, salvation is impossible (v. 27).