Mark 1:40

Cleansing a Leper

1:40 Now 1  a leper 2  came to him and fell to his knees, asking for help. “If 3  you are willing, you can make me clean,” he said.

Mark 7:11

7:11 But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you would have received from me is corban’ 4  (that is, a gift for God),

Mark 9:22

9:22 It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

2 sn The ancient term for leprosy covers a wider array of conditions than what we call leprosy today. A leper was totally ostracized from society until he was declared cured (Lev 13:45-46).

3 tn This is a third class condition. The report portrays the leper making no presumptions about whether Jesus will heal him or not.

4 sn Corban is a Hebrew loanword (transliterated in the Greek text and in most modern English translations) referring to something that has been set aside as a gift to be given to God at some later date, but which is still in the possession of the owner (L&N 53.22). According to contemporary Jewish tradition the person who made this claim was absolved from responsibility to support or assist his parents, a clear violation of the Mosaic law to honor one’s parents (v. 10).