Mark 9:42
Context9:42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone 1 tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.
Mark 11:23
Context11:23 I tell you the truth, 2 if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
1 tn Grk “the millstone of a donkey.” This refers to a large flat stone turned by a donkey in the process of grinding grain (BDAG 661 s.v. μύλος 2; L&N 7.68-69). The same term is used in the parallel account in Matt 18:6.
sn The punishment of drowning with a heavy weight attached is extremely gruesome and reflects Jesus’ views concerning those who cause others who believe in him to sin.
2 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”