Mark 5:9
5:9 Jesus 1 asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “My name is Legion, 2 for we are many.”
Mark 6:18
6:18 For John had repeatedly told 3 Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 4
Mark 7:9
7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up 5 your tradition.
Mark 7:29
7:29 Then 6 he said to her, “Because you said this, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.”
Mark 10:43
10:43 But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,
1 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 sn The name Legion means “thousands,” a word taken from a Latin term for a large group of soldiers. The term not only suggests a multiple possession, but also adds a military feel to the account. This is a true battle.
3 tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.
4 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.
5 tc The translation here follows the reading στήσητε (sthshte, “set up”) found in D W Θ Ë1 28 565 2542 it sys,p Cyp. The majority of mss here read τηρήσητε (thrhsete; א A L Ë13 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.
6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.