Markus 1:3

1:3 the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make ¹  his paths straight.’” ² 

Markus 2:5

2:5 When Jesus saw their ³  faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁴ 

Markus 3:21

3:21 When his family ⁵  heard this they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Markus 5:38

5:38 They came to the house of the synagogue ruler where ⁶  he saw noisy confusion and people weeping and wailing loudly. ⁷ 

Markus 6:6

6:6 And he was amazed because of their unbelief. Then ⁸  he went around among the villages and taught.

Markus 7:10

7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ ⁹  and, ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ¹⁰ 

Markus 12:29

12:29 Jesus answered, “The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Markus 15:6

Jesus and Barabbas

15:6 During the feast it was customary to release one prisoner to the people, ¹¹  whomever they requested.

¹ sn This call to “make his paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

² sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

³ sn The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.

⁴ sn The passive voice here is a divine passive (ExSyn 437). It is clear that God does the forgiving.

⁵ tc Western witnesses D W it, instead of reading οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (Joi par’ aujtou, here translated “family”), have περὶ αὐτοῦ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ λοιποί (peri autou Joi grammatei" kai Joi loipoi, “[when] the scribes and others [heard] about him”). But this reading is obviously motivated, for it removes the embarrassing statement about Jesus’ family’s opinion of him as “out of his mind” and transfers this view to the Lord’s opponents. The fact that virtually all other witnesses have οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ here, coupled with the strong internal evidence for the shorter reading, shows this Western reading to be secondary.

tn On the meaning “family” for οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ (Joi par’ autou), see BDAG 756-57 s.v. παρά A.3.b.β.ב.

sn The incident involving the religious leaders accusing Jesus of being in league with the devil (3:22-30) is sandwiched between Mark’s mention of Jesus’ family coming to restrain him (the Greek word for restrain here is also used to mean arrest; see Mark 6:17; 12:12; 14:1, 44, 46, 49, 51) because they thought he was out of his mind (3:21). It is probably Mark’s intention in this structure to show that Jesus’ family is to be regarded as not altogether unlike the experts in the law [scribes] in their perception of the true identity of Jesus; they are incorrect in their understanding of him as well. The tone is obviously one of sadness and the emphasis on Jesus’ true family in vv. 31-35 serves to underscore the comparison between his relatives and the scribes on the one hand, and those who truly obey God on the other.

⁶ tn Grk “and,” though such paratactic structure is rather awkward in English.

⁷ sn This group probably includes outside or even professional mourners, not just family, because a large group seems to be present.

⁸ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

¹⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

¹¹ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

sn The custom of Pilate to release one prisoner to them is unknown outside the gospels in Jewish writings, but it was a Roman custom at the time and thus probably used in Palestine as well (cf. Matt 27:15; John 18:39); see W. W. Wessel, “Mark,” EBC 8:773-74.