Mark 1:23-45

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Mark 1:23 sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.
2. Mark 1:23 tn Grk “he cried out, saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
3. Mark 1:24 tn Grk “What to us and to you?” This is an idiom meaning, “We have nothing to do with one another,” or “Why bother us!” The phrase τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί (ti hēmin kai soi) is Semitic in origin, though it made its way into colloquial Greek (BDAG 275 s.v. ἐγώ). The equivalent Hebrew expression in the OT had two basic meanings: (1) When one person was unjustly bothering another, the injured party could say “What to me and to you?” meaning, “What have I done to you that you should do this to me?” (Judg 11:12, 2 Chr 35:21, 1 Kgs 17:18). (2) When someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his own, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” meaning, “That is your business, how am I involved?” (2 Kgs 3:13, Hos 14:8). Option (1) implies hostility, while option (2) merely implies disengagement. BDAG suggests the following as glosses for this expression: What have I to do with you? What have we in common? Leave me alone! Never mind! Hostility between Jesus and the demons is certainly to be understood in this context, hence the translation: “Leave me alone….” For a very similar expression see Lk 8:28 and (in a different context) John 2:4.
4. Mark 1:24 sn The confession of Jesus as the Holy One here is significant, coming from an unclean spirit. Jesus, as the Holy One of God, who bears God’s Spirit and is the expression of holiness, comes to deal with uncleanness and unholiness.
5. Mark 1:25 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
6. Mark 1:25 tn Grk “rebuked him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
7. Mark 1:25 sn The command Come out of him! is an example of Jesus’ authority (see v. 22). Unlike other exorcists, Jesus did not use magical incantations nor did he invoke anyone else’s name.
8. Mark 1:28 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
9. Mark 1:29 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
10. Mark 1:29 sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.
11. Mark 1:29 sn There is now significant agreement among scholars that the house of Simon Peter in Capernaum has been found beneath the ruins of a fifth-century Byzantine church some 84 ft south of the synagogue. At the bottom of several layers of archaeological remains is a first-century house that apparently was designated for public viewing sometime in the mid-first century, and continued to be so in subsequent centuries. For details see S. Loffreda, “Capernaum—Jesus’ Own City,” Bible and Spade 10.1 (1981): 1-17.
12. Mark 1:30 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
13. Mark 1:30 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14. Mark 1:31 tn The imperfect verb is taken ingressively here.
15. Mark 1:34 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
16. Mark 1:34 sn Note how the author distinguishes healing from exorcism here, implying that the two are not identical.
17. Mark 1:34 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
18. Mark 1:34 sn Why Jesus would not permit the demons to speak is much discussed. Two possibilities are (1) the mere source of the testimony (demonic) and (2) that the title, with its political implications, may have had elements that Jesus wished to avoid until the full nature of his mission was clarified.
19. Mark 1:34 tc The mss vary on what is read at the end of v. 34. Some have “they knew him to be the Christ,” with various Greek constructions (ᾔδεισαν αὐτὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι [ēdeisan auton Christon einai] in B L W Θ ƒ¹ 28 33^vid 565 al bo; ᾔδεισαν τὸν Χριστὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι [ēdeisan ton Christon auton einai] in [א²] C [ƒ¹³ 700] 892 1241 [1424]); codex D has “they knew him and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons,” reproducing exactly the first half of the verse. These first two longer readings are predictable expansions to an enticingly brief statement; the fact that there are significant variations on the word order and presence or absence of τόν argues against their authenticity as well. D’s reading is a palpable error of sight. The reading adopted in the translation is supported by א* A 0130 M lat. This support, though hardly overwhelming in itself, in combination with strong internal evidence, renders the shorter reading fairly certain.
20. Mark 1:35 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
21. Mark 1:35 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22. Mark 1:35 tn The imperfect προσηύχετο (prosēucheto) implies some duration to the prayer.
23. Mark 1:38 tn Grk “And he said to them.”
24. Mark 1:38 tn Grk “Because for this purpose I have come forth.”
25. Mark 1:39 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
26. Mark 1:39 sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.
27. Mark 1:40 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
28. Mark 1:40 sn The ancient term for leprosy covers a wider array of conditions than what is called leprosy today (Hansen’s disease). In the OT the Hebrew term generally referred to a number of exfoliative (scaly) skin diseases (when applied to humans). A person with one of these diseases was totally ostracized from society until he was declared cured (Lev 13:45-46). In the NT the Greek term also refers to a number of skin diseases, but there is some evidence that true leprosy (Hansen’s disease) could be referred to, since that disease began to be described by Greek physicians in Alexandria, Egypt around 300 B.C. and thus might have been present in Judea and Galilee just before the time of Jesus.
29. Mark 1:40 tn This is a third class condition. The report portrays the leper making no presumptions about whether Jesus will heal him or not.
30. Mark 1:41 tc The reading found in almost the entire NT ms tradition is σπλαγχνισθείς (splanchnistheis, “moved with compassion”). Codex Bezae (D) and a few Latin mss (a d ff² r¹*) here read ὀργισθείς (orgistheis, “moved with anger”). Just as important, the second-century Diatessaron by Tatian almost surely spoke of Jesus’ anger here. On the one hand, the external evidence is so overwhelming for σπλαγχνισθείς that only solid internal reasoning could overturn it. On the other hand, various creative arguments that have been offered for accidental changes in the early transmission of the text from σπλαγχνισθείς to ὀργισθείς generally reveal more about the ingenuity of the scholar than the authenticity of the text. Inner-Greek, inner-Latin, and inner-Syriac accidental changes have all been suggested, but they lack conviction. (See, e.g., Peter J. Williams, “An examination of Ehrman’s case for ὀργισθείς in Mark 1:41, ” NovT 53 [2011]: 1–12, who argues for an inner-Greek corruption; Metzger, TCGNT 65, suggests “It is possible that the reading ὀργισθείς either (a) was suggested by ἐμβριμησάμενος of ver. 43, or (b) arose from confusion between similar words in Aramaic (compare Syriac ethraḥm, “he had pity,” with ethra‘em, “he was enraged”).” It remains far more difficult to account for a change from “moved with compassion” to “moved with anger” than it is to envision a copyist softening “moved with anger” to “moved with compassion.” Against this, it has been asserted that it is difficult to explain why scribes would be prone to soften the text here but not in Mark 3:5 or 10:14 (where Jesus is also said to be angry or indignant). However, at France notes, this view “ignores the fact that in those passages, unlike here, there was obvious cause for anger” (R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark, NIGTC [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002], 115). In the parallels both Matthew and Luke have neither ὀργισθείς nor σπλαγχνισθείς here. The simplest explanation for this omission is that their copies of Mark read ὀργισθείς and the other evangelists simply deleted it. Nevertheless, a decision in this case is not easy. Perhaps the best defense of the “angry” reading is Bart D. Ehrman’s “A Leper in the Hands of an Angry Jesus,” in New Testament Greek and Exegesis: Essays in Honor of Gerald F. Hawthorne, ed. Amy M. Donaldson and Timothy B. Sailors (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 77–98. For discussion of the evidence and bibliography, see D. B. Wallace, “Textual Criticism and the Criterion of Embarrassment,” Jesus, Skepticism, and the Problem of History: Criteria and Context in the Study of Christian Origins, ed. Darrell L. Bock and J. Ed. Komoszewski (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, forthcoming), discussion on Mark 1:41.
31. Mark 1:41 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32. Mark 1:41 sn Touched. This touch would have rendered Jesus ceremonially unclean (Lev 5:3; see also m. Nega’im 3.1; 11.1; 12.1; 13.6-12).
33. Mark 1:43 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
34. Mark 1:43 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the man who was healed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
35. Mark 1:44 tn Grk “And after warning him, he immediately sent him away and told him.”
36. Mark 1:44 sn The silence ordered by Jesus was probably meant to last only until the cleansing took place with the priests and sought to prevent Jesus’ healings from becoming the central focus of the people’s reaction to him. See also 1:34; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26, 30; 9:9 for other cases where Jesus asks for silence concerning him and his ministry.
37. Mark 1:44 sn On the phrase bring the offering that Moses commanded see Lev 14:1-32.
38. Mark 1:44 tn Or “as an indictment against them”; or “as proof to the people.” This phrase could be taken as referring to a positive witness to the priests, a negative testimony against them, or as a testimony to the community that the man had indeed been cured. In any case, the testimony shows that Jesus is healing and ministering to those in need.
39. Mark 1:45 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man who was healed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
40. Mark 1:45 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
41. Mark 1:45 tn Grk “and”; καί (kai) often has a mildly contrastive force, as here.
42. Mark 1:45 tn The imperfect verb has been translated iteratively.