translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: MRK

label: NET study note

text: 700 892). Another consideration is the possibility that very early in the transmissional history, scribes naturally inserted the most obvious subject (the Pharisees would be the obvious candidates as the ones to test Jesus). This may account for the reading with δέ , since Mark nowhere else uses this conjunction to introduce the Pharisees into the narrative. As solid as the internal arguments against the longer reading seem to be, the greatest weakness is the witnesses that support it. The Western mss are prone to alter the text by adding, deleting, substituting, or rearranging large amounts of material. There are times when the rationale for this seems inexplicable. In light of the much stronger evidence for “the Pharisees came,” even though it occurs in various permutations, it is probably wisest to retain the words. This judgment, however, is hardly certain. See the note on Pharisees in 2:16 .


text: A quotation from Gen 1:27; 5:2 .


text: A quotation from Gen 2:24 . The “two” refers to husband and wife, not father and mother mentioned in the previous verse. See the tc note on “mother” in v. 7 for discussion.


text: It was not uncommon in Jesus’ day for a Jewish man to divorce his wife, but it was extremely rare for a wife to initiate such an action against her husband, since among many things it would have probably left her destitute and without financial support. Mark’s inclusion of the statement And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery (v. 12 ) reflects more the problem of the predominantly Gentile church in Rome to which he was writing. As such it may be an interpretive and parenthetical comment by the author rather than part of the saying by Jesus, which would stop at the end of v. 11 . As such it should then be placed in parentheses. Further NT passages that deal with the issue of divorce and remarriage are Matt 5:31-32; 19:1-12 ; Luke 16:18 ; .


text: The kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Children are a picture of those whose simple trust illustrates what faith is all about. The remark illustrates how everyone is important to God, even those whom others regard as insignificant.


text: On receive see John 1:12 .


text: The point of the comparison receive the kingdom of God like a child has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit and willingness to be dependent and receive from others than any inherent humility the child might possess.


text: The rich man wanted to know what he must do to inherit eternal life , but Jesus had just finished teaching that eternal life was not earned but simply received ( 10:15 ).


text: Jesus’ response, Why do you call me good? , was designed to cause the young man to stop and think for a moment about who Jesus really was. The following statement No one is good except God alone seems to point the man in the direction of Jesus’ essential nature and the demands which logically follow on the man for having said it.


text: A quotation from Exod 20:12-16 ; Deut 5:16-20 , except for do not defraud , which is an allusion to Deut 24:14 .


text: Since my youth. Judaism regarded the age of thirteen as the age when a man would have become responsible to live by God’s commands.


text: The call for sacrifice comes with a promise of eternal reward: You will have treasure in heaven . Jesus’ call is a test to see how responsive the man is to God’s direction through him. Will he walk the path God’s agent calls him to walk? For a rich person who got it right, see Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10 .


text: The referent of the eye of a needle is a sewing needle. (The gate in Jerusalem known as “The Needle’s Eye” was built during the middle ages and was not in existence in Jesus’ day.) Jesus was speaking rhetorically to point out that apart from God’s intervention, salvation is impossible (v. 27 ).


text: The assumption is that the rich are blessed, so if they risk exclusion, who is left to be saved ?


text: Peter wants reassurance that the disciples’ response and sacrifice has been noticed.


text: Note that Mark (see also Matt 19:29 ; Luke 10:25, 18:30 ) portrays eternal life as something one receives in the age to come , unlike John, who emphasizes the possibility of receiving eternal life in the present ( John 5:24 ).


text: No more naïve words have ever been spoken as those found here coming from James and John, “ We are able .” They said it with such confidence and ease, yet they had little clue as to what they were affirming. In the next sentence Jesus confirms that they will indeed suffer for his name.


text: After the first passion prediction in 8:31 Jesus rebuked Peter as having been used by Satan. After the second passion prediction in 9:31 the disciples were concerned about who would be the greatest in the kingdom. After the third passion prediction in 10:33 James and John asked for positions of honor and rulership in the kingdom, revealing their complete misunderstanding of the nature of the kingdom and exposing their inadequacy as true disciples of Jesus. Jesus replied that such positions were for those for whom it has been prepared .


text: The Greek word for ransom ( λύτρον , lutron ) is found here and in Matt 20:28 and refers to the payment of a price in order to purchase the freedom of a slave. The idea of Jesus as the “ransom” is that he paid the price with his own life by standing in humanity’s place as a substitute, enduring the judgment that was deserved for sin.


text: Jesus was more than a Nazarene to this blind person, who saw quite well that Jesus was Son of David . There was a tradition in Judaism that the Son of David (Solomon) had great powers of healing (Josephus, Ant. 8.2.5 [8.42-49]).


text: Have mercy on me is a request for healing. It is not owed the man. He simply asks for God’s kind grace.