Mark 9:33-36

Questions About the Greatest

9:33 Then ¹  they came to Capernaum. ²  After Jesus ³  was inside the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 9:34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 9:35 After he sat down, he called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 9:36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them,

Proverbs 13:10

13:10 With pride ⁴  comes only ⁵  contention,

but wisdom is with the well-advised. ⁶ 

Matthew 20:24

20:24 Now ⁷  when the other ten ⁸  heard this, ⁹  they were angry with the two brothers.

Luke 22:24

22:24 A dispute also started ¹⁰  among them over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. ¹¹ 

Romans 12:10

12:10 Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another.

Philippians 2:3

2:3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition ¹²  or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.

James 4:5

4:5 Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, ¹³  “The spirit that God ¹⁴  caused ¹⁵  to live within us has an envious yearning”? ¹⁶ 

[9:33]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:33]  ² map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[9:33]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:10]  ⁴ sn The parallelism suggests pride here means contempt for the opinions of others. The wise listen to advice rather than argue out of stubborn pride.

[13:10]  ⁵ tn The particle רַק (raq, “only”) modifies the noun “contention” – only contention can come from such a person.

[13:10]  ⁶ tn The Niphal of יָעַץ (ya’ats, “to advise; to counsel”) means “to consult together; to take counsel.” It means being well-advised, receiving advice or consultation (cf. NCV “those who take advice are wise”).

[20:24]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[20:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “the ten.”

[20:24]  ⁹ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[22:24]  ¹⁰ tn Or “happened.”

[22:24]  ¹¹ tn Though the term μείζων (meizwn) here is comparative in form, it is superlative in sense (BDF §244).

[2:3]  ¹² tn Grk “not according to selfish ambition.” There is no main verb in this verse; the subjunctive φρονῆτε (fronhte, “be of the same mind”) is implied here as well. Thus, although most translations supply the verb “do” at the beginning of v. 3 (e.g., “do nothing from selfish ambition”), the idea is even stronger than that: “Don’t even think any thoughts motivated by selfish ambition.”

[4:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “vainly says.”

[4:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:5]  ¹⁵ tc The Byzantine text and a few other mss (P 33 Ï) have the intransitive κατῴκησεν (katwkhsen) here, which turns τὸ πνεῦμα (to pneuma) into the subject of the verb: “The spirit which lives within us.” But the more reliable and older witnesses (Ì⁷⁴ א B Ψ 049 1241 1739 al) have the causative verb, κατῴκισεν (katwkisen), which implies a different subject and τὸ πνεῦμα as the object: “The spirit that he causes to live within us.” Both because of the absence of an explicit subject and the relative scarcity of the causative κατοικίζω (katoikizw, “cause to dwell”) compared to the intransitive κατοικέω (katoikew, “live, dwell”) in biblical Greek (κατοικίζω does not occur in the NT at all, and occurs one twelfth as frequently as κατοικέω in the LXX), it is easy to see why scribes would replace κατῴκισεν with κατῴκησεν. Thus, on internal and external grounds, κατῴκισεν is the preferred reading.

[4:5]  ¹⁶ tn Interpreters debate the referent of the word “spirit” in this verse: (1) The translation takes “spirit” to be the lustful capacity within people that produces a divided mind (1:8, 14) and inward conflicts regarding God (4:1-4). God has allowed it to be in man since the fall, and he provides his grace (v. 6) and the new birth through the gospel message (1:18-25) to counteract its evil effects. (2) On the other hand the word “spirit” may be taken positively as the Holy Spirit and the sense would be, “God yearns jealously for the Spirit he caused to live within us.” But the word for “envious” or “jealous” is generally negative in biblical usage and the context before and after seems to favor the negative interpretation.