Mark 1:27

1:27 They were all amazed so that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him.”

Mark 4:5

4:5 Other seed fell on rocky ground 1  where it did not have much soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. 2 

Mark 4:8

4:8 But 3  other seed fell on good soil and produced grain, sprouting and growing; some yielded thirty times as much, some sixty, and some a hundred times.”

Mark 4:19

4:19 but 4  worldly cares, the seductiveness of wealth, 5  and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, 6  and it produces nothing.

Mark 4:35-36

Stilling of a Storm

4:35 On that day, when evening came, Jesus 7  said to his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” 8  4:36 So 9  after leaving the crowd, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat, 10  and other boats were with him.

Mark 5:21

Restoration and Healing

5:21 When Jesus had crossed again in a boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea.

Mark 6:45

Walking on Water

6:45 Immediately Jesus 11  made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dispersed the crowd.

Mark 9:50

9:50 Salt 12  is good, but if it loses its saltiness, 13  how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

Mark 10:37

10:37 They said to him, “Permit one of us to sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.”

Mark 15:41

15:41 When he was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support. 14  Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem 15  were there too.

1 sn The rocky ground in Palestine would be a limestone base lying right under the soil.

2 tn Grk “it did not have enough depth of earth.”

3 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in the final stage of the parable.

4 tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

5 tn Grk “the deceitfulness of riches.” Cf. BDAG 99 s.v. ἀπάτη 1, “the seduction which comes from wealth.”

6 sn That is, their concern for spiritual things is crowded out by material things.

7 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

8 tn The phrase “of the lake” is not in the Greek text but is clearly implied; it has been supplied here for clarity.

9 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the response to Jesus’ request.

10 tn It is possible that this prepositional phrase modifies “as he was,” not “they took him along.” The meaning would then be “they took him along in the boat in which he was already sitting” (see 4:1).

sn A boat that held all the disciples would be of significant size.

11 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

12 sn Salt was used as seasoning or fertilizer (BDAG 41 s.v. ἅλας a), or as a preservative. If salt ceased to be useful, it was thrown away. With this illustration Jesus warned about a disciple who ceased to follow him.

13 sn The difficulty of this saying is understanding how salt could lose its saltiness since its chemical properties cannot change. It is thus often assumed that Jesus was referring to chemically impure salt, perhaps a natural salt which, when exposed to the elements, had all the genuine salt leached out, leaving only the sediment or impurities behind. Others have suggested the background of the saying is the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens: Under the intense heat these blocks would eventually crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable. A saying in the Talmud (b. Bekhorot 8b) attributed to R. Joshua ben Chananja (ca. a.d. 90), when asked the question “When salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?” is said to have replied, “By salting it with the afterbirth of a mule.” He was then asked, “Then does the mule (being sterile) bear young?” to which he replied: “Can salt lose its flavor?” The point appears to be both are impossible. The saying, while admittedly late, suggests that culturally the loss of flavor by salt was regarded as an impossibility. Genuine salt can never lose its flavor. In this case the saying by Jesus here may be similar to Matt 19:24, where it is likewise impossible for the camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle.

14 tn Grk “and ministered to him.”

sn Cf. Luke 8:3.

15 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.