Mark 7:18

7:18 He said to them, “Are you so foolish? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him?

Mark 8:17

8:17 When he learned of this, ¹  Jesus said to them, “Why are you arguing ²  about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Have your hearts been hardened?

Mark 13:14

The Abomination of Desolation

13:14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation ³  standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee ⁴  to the mountains.

[8:17]  ¹ tn Or “becoming aware of it.”

[8:17]  ² tn Or “discussing.”

[13:14]  ¹ sn The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167 b.c., the words of Jesus seem to indicate that Antiochus was not the final fulfillment, but that there was (from Jesus’ perspective) still another fulfillment yet to come. Some argue that this was realized in a.d. 70, while others claim that it refers specifically to Antichrist and will not be fully realized until the period of the great tribulation at the end of the age (cf. Mark 13:19, 24; Matt 24:21; Rev 3:10).

[13:14]  ² sn Fleeing to the mountains is a key OT image: Gen 19:17; Judg 6:2; Isa 15:5; Jer 16:16; Zech 14:5.