Mark 12:17

12:17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ¹  And they were utterly amazed at him.

Mark 12:28

The Greatest Commandment

12:28 Now ²  one of the experts in the law ³  came and heard them debating. When he saw that Jesus ⁴  answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

Mark 12:32

12:32 The expert in the law said to him, “That is true, Teacher; you are right to say that he is one, and there is no one else besides him. ⁵ 

Mark 12:34

12:34 When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Then no one dared any longer to question him.

Mark 12:1

The Parable of the Tenants

12:1 Then ⁶  he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. ⁷  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ⁸  he leased it to tenant farmers ⁹  and went on a journey.

Mark 6:3

6:3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son ¹⁰  of Mary ¹¹  and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And so they took offense at him.

[12:17]  ¹ sn Jesus’ answer to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s was a both/and, not the questioners’ either/or. So he slipped out of their trap.

[12:28]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[12:28]  ³ tn Or “One of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[12:28]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:32]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 4:35.

[12:1]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:1]  ⁷ sn The vineyard is a figure for Israel in the OT (Isa 5:1-7). The nation and its leaders are the tenants, so the vineyard here may well refer to the promise that resides within the nation. The imagery is like that in Rom 11:11-24.

[12:1]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:1]  ⁹ sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.

[6:3]  ¹⁰ tc Evidently because of the possible offensiveness of designating Jesus a carpenter, several mss ([Ì^45vid] ˹³ 33^vid [565 579] 700 [2542] pc it vg^mss) harmonize the words “carpenter, the son” to the parallel passage in Matt 13:55, “the son of the carpenter.” Almost all the rest of the mss read “the carpenter, the son.” Since the explicit designation of Jesus as a carpenter is the more difficult reading, and is much better attested, it is most likely correct.

[6:3]  ¹¹ sn The reference to Jesus as the carpenter is probably derogatory, indicating that they knew Jesus only as a common laborer like themselves. The reference to him as the son of Mary (even though Jesus’ father was probably dead by this point) appears to be somewhat derogatory, for a man was not regarded as his mother’s son in Jewish usage unless an insult was intended (cf. Judg 11:1-2; John 6:42; 8:41; 9:29).