Mark 3:7-8

Crowds by the Sea

3:7 Then ¹  Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him. ²  And from Judea, 3:8 Jerusalem, ³  Idumea, beyond the Jordan River, ⁴  and around Tyre ⁵  and Sidon ⁶  a great multitude came to him when they heard about the things he had done.

Mark 4:5

4:5 Other seed fell on rocky ground ⁷  where it did not have much soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. ⁸ 

Mark 5:21

Restoration and Healing

5:21 When Jesus had crossed again in a boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea.

Mark 5:23

5:23 He asked him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.”

Mark 6:33

6:33 But many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they hurried on foot ⁹  from all the towns ¹⁰  and arrived there ahead of them. ¹¹ 

Mark 7:4

7:4 And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. They hold fast to many other traditions: the washing of cups, pots, kettles, and dining couches. ¹² ) ¹³ 

Mark 8:1

The Feeding of the Four Thousand

8:1 In those days there was another large crowd with nothing to eat. So ¹⁴  Jesus ¹⁵  called his disciples and said to them,

Mark 10:45

10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom ¹⁶  for many.”

Mark 12:37

12:37 If David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” ¹⁷  And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

Mark 15:41

15:41 When he was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support. ¹⁸  Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem ¹⁹  were there too.

[3:7]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[3:7]  ² tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[3:8]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:8]  ⁴ tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. The region referred to here is sometimes known as Transjordan (i.e., “across the Jordan”).

[3:8]  ⁵ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[3:8]  ⁶ sn These last two locations, Tyre and Sidon, represented an expansion outside of traditional Jewish territory. Jesus’ reputation continued to expand into new regions.

[4:5]  ⁵ sn The rocky ground in Palestine would be a limestone base lying right under the soil.

[4:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “it did not have enough depth of earth.”

[6:33]  ⁷ tn Grk “ran together on foot.” The idea of συντρέχω (suntrecw) is “to come together quickly to form a crowd” (L&N 15.133).

[6:33]  ⁸ tn Or “cities.”

[6:33]  ⁹ tc The translation here follows the reading προῆλθον (prohlqon, “they preceded”), found in א B [phone] pc lat co. Some mss (D 28 33 700 pc) read συνῆλθον (sunhlqon, “arrived there with them”), while the majority of mss, most of them late (Ì^84vid [A ˹³] Ï sy^h), conflate the two readings (προῆλθον αὐτοὺς καὶ συνῆλθον πρὸς αὐτόν, “they preceded them and came together to him”). The reading adopted here thus has better external credentials than the variants. As well, it is the harder reading internally, being changed “by copyists who thought it unlikely that the crowd on the land could have outstripped the boat” (TCGNT 78).

[7:4]  ⁹ tc Several important witnesses (Ì^45vid א B L Δ 28* pc) lack “and dining couches” (καὶ κλινῶν, kai klinwn), while the majority of mss (A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt) have the reading. Although normally the shorter reading is to be preferred, especially when it is backed by excellent witnesses as in this case, there are some good reasons to consider καὶ κλινῶν as authentic: (1) Although the addition of κλινῶν could be seen as motivated by a general assimilation to the purity regulations in Lev 15 (as some have argued), there are three problems with such a supposition: (a) the word κλίνη (klinh) does not occur in the LXX of Lev 15; (b) nowhere in Lev 15 is the furniture washed or sprinkled; and (c) the context of Lev 15 is about sexual impurity, while the most recent evidence suggests that κλίνη in Mark 7:4, in keeping with the other terms used here, refers to a dining couch (cf. BDAG 549 s.v. κλίνη 2). Thus, it is difficult to see καὶ κλινῶν as a motivated reading. (2) κλίνη, though a relatively rare term in the NT, is in keeping with Markan usage (cf. Mark 4:21; 7:30). (3) The phrase could have been dropped accidentally, at least in some cases, via homoioteleuton. (4) The phrase may have been deliberately expunged by some scribes who thought the imagery of washing a dining couch quite odd. The longer reading, in this case, can thus be argued as the harder reading. On balance, even though a decision is difficult (especially because of the weighty external evidence for the shorter reading), it is preferable to retain καὶ κλινῶν in the text.

[7:4]  ¹⁰ sn Verses 3-4 represent parenthetical remarks by the author, giving background information.

[8:1]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:1]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:45]  ¹³ sn The Greek word for ransom (λύτρον, lutron) is found here and in Matt 20:28 and refers to the payment of a price in order to purchase the freedom of a slave. The idea of Jesus as the “ransom” is that he paid the price with his own life by standing in humanity’s place as a substitute, enduring the judgment that was deserved for sin.

[12:37]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ So how is he his son?” The conditional nuance, implicit in Greek, has been made explicit in the translation (cf. Matt 22:45).

[15:41]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and ministered to him.”

[15:41]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.