Mark 8:21-30

8:21 Then ¹  he said to them, “Do you still not understand?” ² 

A Two-stage Healing

8:22 Then ³  they came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to Jesus ⁴  and asked him to touch him. 8:23 He took the blind man by the hand and brought him outside of the village. Then ⁵  he spit on his eyes, placed his hands on his eyes ⁶  and asked, “Do you see anything?” 8:24 Regaining his sight ⁷  he said, “I see people, but they look like trees walking.” 8:25 Then Jesus ⁸  placed his hands on the man’s ⁹  eyes again. And he opened his eyes, ¹⁰  his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 8:26 Jesus ¹¹  sent him home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.” ¹² 

Peter’s Confession

8:27 Then Jesus and his disciples went to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. ¹³  On the way he asked his disciples, ¹⁴  “Who do people say that I am?” 8:28 They said, ¹⁵  “John the Baptist, others say Elijah, ¹⁶  and still others, one of the prophets.” 8:29 He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, ¹⁷  “You are the Christ.” ¹⁸  8:30 Then ¹⁹  he warned them not to tell anyone about him. ²⁰ 

[8:21]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to indicate the implied sequence in the narrative.

[8:21]  ² sn Do you still not understand? The disciples in Mark’s Gospel often misunderstood the miracles of Jesus as well as his teaching. Between Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Mark paints the most revealing portrait of the shortcomings of the Twelve (cf. 6:51-52; 7:17-19; 8:1-10, 14-21, 27-30, 33; 9:5, 10, 33; 10:28, 35-45; 14:19, 29-31, 32-37, 50, 66-72).

[8:22]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:22]  ⁴ tn Grk “to him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:23]  ⁵ tn Grk “village, and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[8:23]  ⁶ tn Grk “on him,” but the word πάλιν in v. 25 implies that Jesus touched the man’s eyes at this point.

[8:24]  ⁷ tn The verb ἀναβλέπω, though normally meaning “look up,” when used in conjunction with blindness means “regain sight.”

[8:25]  ⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:25]  ⁹ tn Grk “his”; the referent (the blind man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:25]  ¹⁰ tn Or “he looked intently”; or “he stared with eyes wide open” (BDAG 226 s.v. διαβλέπω 1).

[8:26]  ¹¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:26]  ¹² tc Codex Bezae (D) replaces “Do not even go into the village” with “Go to your house, and do not tell anyone, not even in the village.” Other mss with some minor variations (Θ Ë¹³ 28 565 2542 pc) expand on this prohibition to read “Go to your house, and if you go into the village, do not tell anyone.” There are several other variants here as well. While these expansions are not part of Mark’s original text, they do accurately reflect the sense of Jesus’ prohibition.

[8:27]  ¹³ map Fpr location see Map1 C1; Map2 F4.

[8:27]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he asked his disciples, saying to them.” The phrase λέγων αὐτοῖς (legwn autois) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[8:28]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And they said to him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[8:28]  ¹⁶ sn The appearance of Elijah would mean that the end time had come. According to 2 Kgs 2:11, Elijah was still alive. In Mal 4:5 it is said that Elijah would be the precursor of Messiah.

[8:29]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Answering, Peter said to him.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “Peter answered him.”

[8:29]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[8:30]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to indicate the conclusion of the episode.

[8:30]  ²⁰ sn Mark 8:27-10:52. The entire section 8:27-10:52 is built around three passion predictions of Jesus (8:31; 9:31; 10:33). These predictions form the structure of the section, the content for the section (Jesus’ suffering, death, and the meaning of genuine discipleship) and the mood of the section (i.e., a somber mood). What is interesting is that after each passion prediction, Mark records both the misunderstanding of the disciples and then Jesus’ teaching on the nature of his death and what genuine discipleship is all about: (1) denying oneself (8:34-38); (2) humility and serving (9:33-37); (3) suffering, humble service, and not lording it over people (10:35-45). For further discussion of the structure of the passage, see W. L. Lane, Mark (NICNT), 292-94.