Mark 3:28

3:28 I tell you the truth, ¹  people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter. ² 

Mark 5:34

5:34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. ³  Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Mark 5:39

5:39 When he entered he said to them, “Why are you distressed and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.”

Mark 6:18

6:18 For John had repeatedly told ⁴  Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ⁵ 

Mark 7:9

7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up ⁶  your tradition.

Mark 9:23

9:23 Then Jesus said to him, “‘If you are able?’ ⁷  All things are possible for the one who believes.”

Mark 10:15

10:15 I tell you the truth, ⁸  whoever does not receive ⁹  the kingdom of God like a child ¹⁰  will never ¹¹  enter it.”

Mark 10:18

10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? ¹²  No one is good except God alone.

Mark 11:14

11:14 He said to it, ¹³  “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. ¹⁴ 

Mark 13:21

13:21 Then ¹⁵  if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ ¹⁶  or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe him.

Mark 13:30

13:30 I tell you the truth, ¹⁷  this generation ¹⁸  will not pass away until all these things take place.

Mark 14:6

14:6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a good service for me.

Mark 14:38

14:38 Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Mark 14:67

14:67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked directly at him and said, “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus.”

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¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

² tn Grk “all the sins and blasphemies they may speak will be forgiven the sons of men.”

³ tn Or “has delivered you”; Grk “has saved you.” This should not be understood as an expression for full salvation in the immediate context; it refers only to the woman’s healing.

⁴ tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.

⁵ sn It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife. This was a violation of OT law (Lev 18:16; 20:21). In addition, both Herod Antipas and Herodias had each left marriages to enter into this union.

⁶ tc The translation here follows the reading στήσητε (sthshte, “set up”) found in D W Θ Ë¹ 28 565 2542 it sy^s,p Cyp. The majority of mss here read τηρήσητε (thrhsete; א A L ˹³ 33 Ï co) or τηρῆτε (thrhte; B 2427), both translated “keep.” It is hard to know which reading is best: On the one hand, τηρήσητε/τηρῆτε has much stronger external support, but στήσητε is a more difficult reading. What makes “keep” suspect is that it appears in two different forms, suggesting independent alterations of a difficult reading. Further, scribes may have been influenced by the preceding “commandment of God” to change the text toward “keep” (TCGNT 81), a common enough expression (cf. Matt 19:17; John 14:15; 1 Tim 6:1; 1 John 5:3; Rev 14:12). Thus, the more difficult reading is “set up.” Also, the more natural opposite of “reject” (ἀθεῖτε [aqeite], literally “you set aside”) is “set up.” However, the Western reading may have been influenced by Exod 6:4 or Heb 10:9, but this likelihood seems remote. Thus, “set up” is more likely to be the original wording of Mark here.

⁷ tc Most mss (A C³ Ψ 33 Ï) have τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι (to ei dunasai pisteusai, “if you are able to believe”), instead of τὸ εἰ δύνῃ (to ei dunh, “if you are able”; supported by א B C* L N* Δ Ë¹ 579 892 pc). Others have εἰ δύνῃ (or δυνάσαι) πιστεῦσαι (“if you are able to believe”; so D K Θ Ë¹³ 28 565 al), while still others have τοῦτο εἰ δύνῃ (touto ei dunh, “if you can [do] this”; so [Ì⁴⁵] W). The reading that best explains the rise of the others is τὸ εἰ δύνῃ. The neuter article indicates that the Lord is now quoting the boy’s father who, in v. 22, says εἴ τι δύνῃ (ei ti dunh, “if you are able to do anything”). The article is thus used anaphorically (see ExSyn 238). However, scribes could easily have overlooked this idiom and would consequently read τὸ εἰ δύνῃ as the protasis of a conditional clause of the Lord’s statement. As such, it would almost demand the infinitive πιστεῦσαι, producing the reading τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι (“if you are able to believe, all things are possible…”). But the article here seems to be meaningless, prompting other scribes to modify the text still further. Some dropped the nonsensical article, while others turned it into the demonstrative τοῦτο and dropped the infinitive. It is clear that scribes had difficulty with the original wording here, and made adjustments in various directions. What might not be so clear is the exact genealogy of the descent of all the readings. However, τὸ εἰ δύνῃ is both a hard saying, best explains the rise of the other readings, and is supported by the best witnesses. It thus rightly deserves to be considered authentic.

⁸ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁹ sn On receive see John 1:12.

¹⁰ sn The point of the comparison receive the kingdom of God like a child has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit and willingness to be dependent and receive from others than any inherent humility the child might possess.

¹¹ tn The negation in Greek (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong here.

¹² sn Jesus’ response, Why do you call me good?, was designed to cause the young man to stop and think for a moment about who Jesus really was. The following statement No one is good except God alone seems to point the man in the direction of Jesus’ essential nature and the demands which logically follow on the man for having said it.

¹³ tn Grk “And answering, he said to it.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

¹⁴ sn Mark 11:12-14. The incident of the cursing of the fig tree occurs before he enters the temple for a third time (11:27ff) and is questioned at length by the religious leaders (11:27-12:40). It appears that Mark records the incident as a portent of what is going to happen to the leadership in Jerusalem who were supposed to have borne spiritual fruit but have been found by Messiah at his coming to be barren. The fact that the nation as a whole is indicted is made explicit in chapter 13:1-37 where Jesus speaks of Jerusalem’s destruction and his second coming.

¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹⁶ 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.

¹⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

¹⁸ sn This is one of the hardest verses in the gospels to interpret. Various views exist for what generation means. (1) Some take it as meaning “race” and thus as an assurance that the Jewish race (nation) will not pass away. But it is very questionable that the Greek term γενεά (genea) can have this meaning. Two other options are possible. (2) Generation might mean “this type of generation” and refer to the generation of wicked humanity. Then the point is that humanity will not perish, because God will redeem it. Or (3) generation may refer to “the generation that sees the signs of the end” (v. 26), who will also see the end itself. In other words, once the movement to the return of Christ starts, all the events connected with it happen very quickly, in rapid succession.