¹ tn Grk “Stand up in the middle.”

sn Most likely synagogues were arranged with benches along the walls and open space in the center for seating on the floor.

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

³ tn Or “up a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὅρος, eis to Joro").

sn The expression up the mountain here may be idiomatic or generic, much like the English “he went to the hospital” (cf. 15:29), or even intentionally reminiscent of Exod 24:12 (LXX), since the genre of the Sermon on the Mount seems to be that of a new Moses giving a new law.

⁴ tn Grk “it did not have root.”

⁵ sn Palestinian weeds like these thorns could grow up to six feet in height and have a major root system.

⁶ sn That is, crowded out the good plants.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁸ tn That is, “an official in charge of the synagogue”; ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93; cf. Luke 8:41).

sn The synagogue was a place for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership. See also the note on synagogue in 1:21.

⁹ tc Codex Bezae (D) and some Itala mss omit the words “named Jairus.” The evidence for the inclusion of the phrase is extremely strong, however. The witnesses in behalf of ὀνόματι ᾿Ιάϊρος (onomati Iairos) include {Ì⁴⁵ א A B C L Ï lat sy co}. The best explanation is that the phrase was accidentally dropped during the transmission of one strand of the Western text.

¹⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Grk “garment,” but here ἱμάτιον (Jimation) denotes the outer garment in particular.

¹² 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.

¹³ tn Grk “They.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “Coming up the crowd began to ask [him to do] as he was doing for them.”

¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.