Mark 4:3

4:3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. ¹ 

Mark 14:42

14:42 Get up, let us go. Look! My betrayer ²  is approaching!”

Mark 10:28

10:28 Peter began to speak to him, “Look, ³  we have left everything to follow you!” ⁴ 

Mark 1:2

1:2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, ⁵ 

“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way, ⁶ 

Mark 3:32

3:32 A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers ⁷  are outside looking for you.”

Mark 10:33

10:33 “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and experts in the law. ⁸  They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles.

Mark 14:41

14:41 He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? ⁹  Enough of that! ¹⁰  The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

[4:3]  ¹ sn A sower went out to sow. The background for this well-known parable, drawn from a typical scene in the Palestinian countryside, is a field through which a well worn path runs. Sowing would occur in late fall or early winter (October to December) in the rainy season, looking for sprouting in April or May and a June harvest. The use of seed as a figure for God’s giving life has OT roots (Isa 55:10-11). The point of the parable of the sower is to illustrate the various responses to the message of the kingdom of God (cf. 4:11).

[14:42]  ² tn Grk “the one who betrays me.”

[10:28]  ³ sn Peter wants reassurance that the disciples’ response and sacrifice has been noticed.

[10:28]  ⁴ tn Grk “We have left everything and followed you.” Koine Greek often used paratactic structure when hypotactic was implied.

[1:2]  ⁴ tc Instead of “in Isaiah the prophet” the majority of mss read “in the prophets” (A W ˹³ Ï Ir^lat). Except for Irenaeus (2nd century), the earliest evidence for this is thus from the 5th (or possibly late 4th) century (W A). The difficulty of Irenaeus is that he wrote in Greek but has been preserved largely in Latin. His Greek remains have “in Isaiah the prophet.” Only the later Latin translation has “in the prophets.” The KJV reading is thus in harmony with the majority of late mss. On the other hand, the witnesses for “in Isaiah the prophet” (either with the article before Isaiah or not) are early and geographically widespread: א B D L Δ Θ Ë¹ 33 565 700 892 1241 2427 al sy^p co Ir. This evidence runs deep into the 2nd century, is widespread, and is found in the most important Alexandrian, Western, and Caesarean witnesses. The “Isaiah” reading has a better external pedigree in every way. It has the support of the earliest and best witnesses from all the texttypes that matter. Moreover it is the harder reading, since the quotation in the first part of the verse appears to be from Exod 23:20 and Mal 3:1, with the quotation from Isa 40:3 coming in the next verse. The reading of the later mss seems motivated by a desire to resolve this difficulty.

[1:2]  ⁵ sn The opening lines of the quotation are from Exod 23:20; Mal 3:1. Here is the forerunner who points the way to the arrival of God’s salvation. His job is to prepare and guide the people, as the cloud did for Israel in the desert.

[3:32]  ⁵ tc ‡ Many mss read “and your sisters” here after “your brothers” (A D Γ 700 pm it). However, the pedigree of several of the mss which lack this phrase is considerable (א B C K L W Δ Θ Ë^1,13 28 33 565 892 1241 1424 2542 pm lat sy). It seems likely that this phrase was added by an early Western scribe to harmonize this statement with Jesus’ response in v. 35. NA²⁷ has the words in brackets, indicating some doubt as to their authenticity.

[10:33]  ⁶ tn Or “chief priests and scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[14:41]  ⁷ tn Or “Sleep on, and get your rest.” This sentence can be taken either as a question or a sarcastic command.

[14:41]  ⁸ tc Codex D (with some support with minor variation from W Θ Ë¹³ 565 2542 pc it) reads, “Enough of that! It is the end and the hour has come.” Evidently, this addition highlights Jesus’ assertion that what he had predicted about his own death was now coming true (cf. Luke 22:37). Even though the addition highlights the accuracy of Jesus’ prediction, it should not be regarded as part of the text of Mark, since it receives little support from the rest of the witnesses and because D especially is prone to expand the wording of a text.