Mark 8:15-21

8:15 And Jesus¹ ordered them,² “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees³ and the yeast of Herod!” 8:16 So they began to discuss with one another about having no bread.⁴ 8:17 When he learned of this,⁵ Jesus said to them, “Why are you arguing⁶ about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Have your hearts been hardened? 8:18 Though you have eyes, don’t you see? And though you have ears, can’t you hear?⁷ Don’t you remember? 8:19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied, “Twelve.” 8:20 “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?” They replied,⁸ “Seven.” 8:21 Then⁹ he said to them, “Do you still not understand?”¹⁰

¹tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²tn Grk “was giving them orders, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

³sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

⁴tn Grk “And they were discussing with one another that they had no bread.”

⁵tn Or “becoming aware of it.”

⁶tn Or “discussing.”

⁷tn Grk “do you not hear?”

⁸tc ‡ A difficult textual problem is found here, involving three different variants: καὶ λέγουσιν (kai legousin) is found in א pc; οἱ δὲ εἶπον (Joi de eipon) is the reading of Ì⁴⁵ A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï it; and καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ (kai legousin autw) is supported by B C L (Δ 579 892) 2427 pc. The first two variants would not be translated differently; the third reading, however, would add “to him” after “they replied.” What complicates the issue is that the external evidence is fairly evenly split between the second and third readings, though the first reading is in agreement with the second reading in lacking the dative pronoun. Indeed, another layout of the problem here could treat this as two distinct problems: καὶ λέγουσιν vs. οἱ δὲ εἶπον and αὐτῷ vs. omission of the word. In this second arrangement of the problem, the reading without the pronoun has slightly stronger support (Ì⁴⁵ א A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï it). Internally, Mark never elsewhere uses the form εἶπον for the third person plural indicative form of this verb (it is always εἶπαν [eipan]). And although only one other time in Mark is the object lacking after λέγουσιν (6:38), it is a similar context (viz., the disciples’ response before Jesus feeds the 5000). Very tentatively, the reading that is followed here is καὶ λέγουσιν. NA²⁷ puts αὐτῷ in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

⁹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to indicate the implied sequence in the narrative.

¹⁰sn Do you still not understand? The disciples in Mark’s Gospel often misunderstood the miracles of Jesus as well as his teaching. Between Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Mark paints the most revealing portrait of the shortcomings of the Twelve (cf. 6:51-52; 7:17-19; 8:1-10, 14-21, 27-30, 33; 9:5, 10, 33; 10:28, 35-45; 14:19, 29-31, 32-37, 50, 66-72).