Mark 3:12

3:12 But ¹  he sternly ordered them not to make him known. ² 

Mark 4:22

4:22 For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, ³  and nothing concealed except to be brought to light.

Mark 6:14

The Death of John the Baptist

6:14 Now ⁴  King Herod ⁵  heard this, for Jesus’ ⁶  name had become known. Some ⁷  were saying, “John the baptizer ⁸  has been raised from the dead, and because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.”

[3:12]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:12]  ² sn Jesus did not permit the demons to make him known because the time for such disclosure was not yet at hand, and such a revelation would have certainly been misunderstood by the people. In all likelihood, if the people had understood him early on to be the Son of God, or Messiah, they would have reduced his mission to one of political deliverance from Roman oppression (cf. John 6:15). Jesus wanted to avoid, as much as possible, any premature misunderstanding about who he was and what he was doing. However, at the end of his ministry, he did not deny such a title when the high priest asked him (14:61-62).

[4:22]  ³ tn Or “disclosed.”

[6:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[6:14]  ⁶ sn Herod was technically not a king, but a tetrarch, a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king. A tetrarch ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. In the NT, Herod, who ruled over Galilee, is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage rather than an official title.

[6:14]  ⁷ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:14]  ⁸ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[6:14]  ⁹ tn While Matthew and Luke consistently use the noun βαπτίστης (baptisths, “the Baptist”) to refer to John, as a kind of a title, Mark prefers the substantival participle ὁ βαπτίζων (Jo baptizwn, “the one who baptizes, the baptizer”) to describe him (only twice does he use the noun [Mark 6:25; 8:28]).