Mark 1:44

1:44 He told him, ¹  “See that you do not say anything to anyone, ²  but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded ³  for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” ⁴ 

Mark 4:12

4:12 so that although they look they may look but not see,

and although they hear they may hear but not understand,

so they may not repent and be forgiven.” ⁵ 

Mark 8:17

8:17 When he learned of this, ⁶  Jesus said to them, “Why are you arguing ⁷  about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Have your hearts been hardened?

Mark 8:23

8:23 He took the blind man by the hand and brought him outside of the village. Then ⁸  he spit on his eyes, placed his hands on his eyes ⁹  and asked, “Do you see anything?”

Mark 9:1

9:1 And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, ¹⁰  there are some standing here who will not ¹¹  experience ¹²  death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” ¹³ 

Mark 11:13

11:13 After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit ¹⁴  on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

Mark 15:32

15:32 Let the Christ, ¹⁵  the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. ¹⁶ 

Mark 15:36

15:36 Then someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, ¹⁷  put it on a stick, ¹⁸  and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down!”

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¹ tn Grk “And after warning him, he immediately sent him away and told him.”

² sn The silence ordered by Jesus was probably meant to last only until the cleansing took place with the priests and sought to prevent Jesus’ healings from becoming the central focus of the people’s reaction to him. See also 1:34; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26, 30; and 9:9 for other cases where Jesus asks for silence concerning him and his ministry.

³ sn On the phrase bring the offering that Moses commanded see Lev 14:1-32.

⁴ tn Or “as an indictment against them”; or “as proof to the people.” This phrase could be taken as referring to a positive witness to the priests, a negative testimony against them, or as a testimony to the community that the man had indeed been cured. In any case, the testimony shows that Jesus is healing and ministering to those in need.

⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

⁶ tn Or “becoming aware of it.”

⁷ tn Or “discussing.”

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Grk “on him,” but the word πάλιν in v. 25 implies that Jesus touched the man’s eyes at this point.

¹⁰ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

¹¹ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

¹² tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

¹³ sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the kingdom of God come with power: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to after six days in 9:2 seems to indicate that Mark had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration was a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (8:31; 9:31; 10:33), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.

¹⁴ tn Grk “anything.”

¹⁵ tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

sn See the note on Christ in 8:29.

¹⁶ sn Mark’s wording suggests that both of the criminals spoke abusively to him. If so, one of them quickly changed his attitude toward Jesus (see Luke 23:40-43).

¹⁷ sn Sour wine refers to cheap wine that was called in Latin posca, a cheap vinegar wine diluted heavily with water. It was the drink of slaves and soldiers, and was probably there for the soldiers who had performed the crucifixion.

¹⁸ tn Grk “a reed.”