Discovery BoxMark 1:35 
Context1:35 Then 1 Jesus 2 got up early in the morning when it was still very dark, departed, and went out to a deserted place, and there he spent time in prayer. 3
Mark 2:14
Context2:14 As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. 4 “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.
Mark 4:1
Context4:1 Again he began to teach by the lake. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there while 5 the whole crowd was on the shore by the lake.
1 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn The imperfect προσηύχετο (proshuceto) implies some duration to the prayer.
4 tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion, so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.
sn The tax booth was a booth located on the edge of a city or town to collect taxes for trade. There was a tax booth in Capernaum, which was on the trade route from Damascus to Galilee and the Mediterranean. The “taxes” were collected on produce and goods brought into the area for sale, and were a sort of “sales tax” paid by the seller but obviously passed on to the purchaser in the form of increased prices (L&N 57.183). It was here that Jesus met Levi (also named Matthew [see Matt 9:9]) who was ultimately employed by the Romans, though perhaps more directly responsible to Herod Antipas. It was his job to collect taxes for Rome and he was thus despised by Jews who undoubtedly regarded him as a traitor.
5 tn Grk “and all the crowd.” The clause in this phrase, although coordinate in terms of grammar, is logically subordinate to the previous clause.
