¹ sn Jesus’ point is that he associates with those who are sick because they have the need and will respond to the offer of help. A person who is healthy (or who thinks mistakenly that he is) will not seek treatment.

² tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

³ sn Herod was technically not a king, but a tetrarch, a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king. A tetrarch ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. In the NT, Herod, who ruled over Galilee, is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage rather than an official title.

⁴ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁶ tn While Matthew and Luke consistently use the noun βαπτίστης (baptisths, “the Baptist”) to refer to John, as a kind of a title, Mark prefers the substantival participle ὁ βαπτίζων (Jo baptizwn, “the one who baptizes, the baptizer”) to describe him (only twice does he use the noun [Mark 6:25; 8:28]).

⁷ tn Grk “was fearing,” “was respecting”; the imperfect tense connotes an ongoing fear or respect for John.

⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tc In place of ἠπόρει (hporei, “he was baffled”) the majority of mss (A C D ˹ 33 Ï lat sy) have ἐποίει (epoiei, “he did”; cf. KJV’s “he did many things.”) The best mss (א B L [W] Θ 2427 co) support the reading followed in the translation. The variation may be no more than a simple case of confusion of letters, since the two readings look very much alike. The verb ποιέω (poiew, “I do”) certainly occurs more frequently than ἀπορέω (aporew, “I am at a loss”), so a scribe would be more likely to write a more familiar word. Further, even though the reading ἐποίει is the harder reading in terms of the sense, it is virtually nonsensical here, rendering it most likely an unintentional corruption.

tn Or “terribly disturbed,” “rather perplexed.” The verb ἀπορέω (aporew) means “to be in perplexity, with the implication of serious anxiety” (L&N 32.9).

¹¹ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “and yet” to indicate the concessive nature of the final clause.

¹² tn Grk “him”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹³ tn Or “The chief priests and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

¹⁴ tn Grk “how they could destroy him.”

¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

¹⁶ tn Or “One of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

¹⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.