Mark 4:1

The Parable of the Sower

4:1 Again he began to teach by the lake. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there while ¹  the whole crowd was on the shore by the lake.

Mark 4:32

4:32 when it is sown, it grows up, ²  becomes the greatest of all garden plants, and grows large branches so that the wild birds ³  can nest in its shade.” ⁴ 

Mark 5:40

5:40 And they began making fun of him. ⁵  But he put them all outside ⁶  and he took the child’s father and mother and his own companions ⁷  and went into the room where the child was. ⁸ 

Mark 6:41

6:41 He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. He ⁹  gave them to his ¹⁰  disciples to serve the people, and he divided the two fish among them all.

Mark 9:12

9:12 He said to them, “Elijah does indeed come first, and restores all things. And why is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be despised?

Mark 11:17-18

11:17 Then he began to teach ¹¹  them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? ¹²  But you have turned it into a den ¹³  of robbers!” ¹⁴  11:18 The chief priests and the experts in the law ¹⁵  heard it and they considered how they could assassinate ¹⁶  him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed by his teaching.

Mark 12:33

12:33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength ¹⁷  and to love your neighbor as yourself ¹⁸  is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Mark 12:43

12:43 He called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth, ¹⁹  this poor widow has put more into the offering box ²⁰  than all the others. ²¹ 

[4:1]  ¹ tn Grk “and all the crowd.” The clause in this phrase, although coordinate in terms of grammar, is logically subordinate to the previous clause.

[4:32]  ² tn Mark 4:31-32 is fairly awkward in Greek. Literally the sentence reads as follows: “As a mustard seed, which when sown in the earth, being the smallest of all the seeds in the earth, and when it is sown, it grows up…” The structure has been rendered in more idiomatic English, although some of the awkward structure has been retained for rhetorical effect.

[4:32]  ³ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[4:32]  ⁴ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.

[5:40]  ³ tn Grk “They were laughing at him.” The imperfect verb has been taken ingressively.

[5:40]  ⁴ tn Or “threw them all outside.” The verb used, ἐκβάλλω (ekballw), almost always has the connotation of force in Mark.

[5:40]  ⁵ tn Grk “those with him.”

[5:40]  ⁶ tn Grk “into where the child was.”

[6:41]  ⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[6:41]  ⁵ tc ‡ Most mss (Ì⁴⁵ A D W Θ Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy) have αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) after τοῖς μαθηταῖς (toi" maqhtai", “the disciples”), but several excellent witnesses (א B L Δ 33 579 892 1241 1424 2427 pc) lack the pronoun. This kind of variant is often a predictable expansion of the text; further, that many important mss lack the pronoun gives support for the shorter reading. For these reasons, the pronoun is considered to be secondary. NA²⁷ puts αὐτοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[11:17]  ⁵ tn The imperfect ἐδίδασκεν (edidasken) is here taken ingressively.

[11:17]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 56:7.

[11:17]  ⁷ tn Or “a hideout” (see L&N 1.57).

[11:17]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Jer 7:11. The meaning of Jesus’ statement about making the temple courts a den of robbers probably operates here at two levels. Not only were the religious leaders robbing the people financially, but because of this they had also robbed them spiritually by stealing from them the opportunity to come to know God genuinely. It is possible that these merchants had recently been moved to this location for convenience.

[11:18]  ⁶ tn Or “The chief priests and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[11:18]  ⁷ tn Grk “how they could destroy him.”

[12:33]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5.

[12:33]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[12:43]  ⁸ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[12:43]  ⁹ tn See the note on the term “offering box” in v. 41.

[12:43]  ¹⁰ sn Has put more into the offering box than all the others. With God, giving is weighed evaluatively, not counted. The widow was praised because she gave sincerely and at some considerable cost to herself.