Mark 6:30-56

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Mark 6:30 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
2. Mark 6:32 sn See the note at Mark 1:19 for a description of the first-century fishing boat discovered in 1986 near Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
3. Mark 6:33 tn Grk “ran together on foot.” The idea of συντρέχω (suntrechō) is “to come together quickly to form a crowd” (L&N 15.133).
4. Mark 6:33 tn Or “cities.”
5. Mark 6:33 tc The translation here follows the reading προῆλθον (proēlthon, “they preceded”), found in א B (0187) 892 lat co. Some mss (D 28 33 700) read συνῆλθον (sunēlthon, “arrived there with them”), while the majority of mss, most of them late (P^84vid [A ƒ¹³] M sy^h), conflate the two readings (προῆλθον αὐτοὺς καὶ συνῆλθον πρὸς αὐτόν, “they preceded them and came together to him”). The reading adopted here thus has better external credentials than the variants. As well, it is the harder reading internally, being changed “by copyists who thought it unlikely that the crowd on the land could have outstripped the boat” (TCGNT 78).
6. Mark 6:34 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7. Mark 6:34 tn Grk “came out [of the boat],” with the reference to the boat understood.
8. Mark 6:34 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate this action is the result of Jesus’ compassion on the crowd in the narrative.
9. Mark 6:35 tn Or “a desert” (meaning a deserted or desolate area with sparse vegetation).
10. Mark 6:37 tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokritheis) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence has been changed for clarity.
11. Mark 6:37 tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (humeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.
12. Mark 6:37 sn The silver coin referred to here is the denarius. A denarius, inscribed with a picture of Tiberius Caesar, was worth approximately one day’s wage for a laborer. Two hundred denarii was thus approximately equal to eight months’ wages. The disciples did not have the resources in their possession to feed the large crowd, so Jesus’ request is his way of causing them to trust him as part of their growth in discipleship.
13. Mark 6:41 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
14. Mark 6:41 tc ‡ Most mss (P⁴⁵ A D W Θ ƒ^1,13 M lat sy) have αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) after τοῖς μαθηταῖς (tois mathētais, “the disciples”), but several excellent witnesses (א B L Δ 33 579 892 1241 1424) lack the pronoun. This kind of variant is often a predictable expansion of the text; further, that many significant mss lack the pronoun gives support for the shorter reading. For these reasons, the pronoun is considered to be secondary. NA²⁸ puts αὐτοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.tn Grk “the disciples”; the Greek article has been translated here as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
15. Mark 6:44 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate a somewhat parenthetical remark by the author.
16. Mark 6:44 tn The Greek word here is ἀνήρ, meaning “adult male” (BDAG 79 s.v. 1). According to Matt 14:21, Jesus fed not only 5,000 men, but also an unspecified number of women and children.
17. Mark 6:44 tc Many good mss (P⁴⁵ א D W Θ ƒ^1,13 28 565 700 2542 lat sa) lack τοὺς ἄρτους (tous artous, lit. “the loaves” [here translated “the bread”]). On the other hand, just as weighty mss (A B L 33 M) have the words. Although a decision is not easy, the most satisfactory explanation seems to be that scribes were more prone to delete than to add the words here. They may have been puzzled as to why “the bread” should be mentioned without a corresponding mention of “fish.” Since neither Matt 14:21 or Luke 9:17 explicitly mention the bread, a desire for harmonization may have motivated the copyists as well. On the other hand, D and W are prone to longer, explanatory readings. Since they both lack the words here, it is likely that their archetypes also lacked the words. But given Mark’s pleonastic style, the good witnesses with “the bread,” and a reasonable explanation for the omission, “the bread” is most likely part of the initial text of Mark.
18. Mark 6:45 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19. Mark 6:45 sn See the note at Mark 1:19 for a description of the first-century fishing boat discovered in 1986 near Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
20. Mark 6:48 tn This verse is one complete sentence in the Greek text, but it has been broken into two sentences in English for clarity.
21. Mark 6:48 tn Grk “about the fourth watch of the night,” between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
22. Mark 6:48 tn Or “on the lake.”
23. Mark 6:48 tn The καί (kai) was translated so as to introduce a subordinate clause, i.e., with the use of “for.” See BDF §442.9.
24. Mark 6:48 sn The statement he wanted to pass by them is somewhat difficult to understand. There are at least two common interpretations: (1) it refers to the perspective of the disciples, that is, from their point of view it seemed that Jesus wanted to pass by them; or (2) it refers to a theophany and uses the language of the Greek Old Testament (LXX) when God “passed by” Moses at Sinai (cf. Exod 33:19, 22). According to the latter alternative, Jesus is “passing by” the disciples during their struggle, in order to assure them of his presence with them. See W L. Lane, Mark (NICNT), 236.
25. Mark 6:49 tn Grk “on the sea,” “on the lake.” The translation “water” has been used here for stylistic reasons (cf. the same phrase in v. 48).
26. Mark 6:49 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
27. Mark 6:50 tn Grk “he spoke with them, and said to them.”
28. Mark 6:53 sn Gennesaret was a fertile plain south of Capernaum (see also Matt 14:34). This name was also sometimes used for the Sea of Galilee (Luke 5:1).
29. Mark 6:54 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
30. Mark 6:55 tn Grk “wherever they heard he was.”
31. Mark 6:56 sn The marketplaces (Greek agora) were not only places of trade and commerce in the first century Greco-Roman world. They were places of discussion and dialogue (the “public square”), places of judgment (courts held session there), places for idle people and those seeking work, and places for children to play.
32. Mark 6:56 tn Grk “asked that they might touch.”