Markus 4:32

4:32 when it is sown, it grows up, ¹  becomes the greatest of all garden plants, and grows large branches so that the wild birds ²  can nest in its shade.” ³ 

Markus 5:2

5:2 Just as Jesus ⁴  was getting out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit ⁵  came from the tombs and met him. ⁶ 

Markus 6:8

6:8 He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff ⁷  – no bread, no bag, ⁸  no money in their belts –

Markus 10:27

10:27 Jesus looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans, ⁹  but not for God; all things are possible for God.”

Markus 13:26

13:26 Then everyone ¹⁰  will see the Son of Man arriving in the clouds ¹¹  with great power and glory.

Markus 16:12

16:12 After this he appeared in a different form to two of them while they were on their way to the country.

[4:32]  ¹ tn Mark 4:31-32 is fairly awkward in Greek. Literally the sentence reads as follows: “As a mustard seed, which when sown in the earth, being the smallest of all the seeds in the earth, and when it is sown, it grows up…” The structure has been rendered in more idiomatic English, although some of the awkward structure has been retained for rhetorical effect.

[4:32]  ² tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[4:32]  ³ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.

[5:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:2]  ⁵ sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.

[5:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “met him from the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.” When this is converted to normal English word order (“a man met him from the tombs with an unclean spirit”) it sounds as if “with an unclean spirit” modifies “the tombs.” Likewise, “a man with an unclean spirit from the tombs met him” implies that the unclean spirit came from the tombs, while the Greek text is clear that it is the man who had the unclean spirit who came from the tombs. To make this clear a second verb, “came,” is supplied in English: “came from the tombs and met him.”

[6:8]  ⁷ sn Neither Matt 10:9-10 nor Luke 9:3 allow for a staff. It might be that Matthew and Luke mean not taking an extra staff, or that the expression is merely rhetorical for “traveling light,” which has been rendered in two slightly different ways.

[6:8]  ⁸ tn Or “no traveler’s bag”; or possibly “no beggar’s bag” (L&N 6.145; BDAG 811 s.v. πήρα).

[10:27]  ⁹ tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποις (anqrwpois) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NASB 1995 update, “people”). Because of the contrast here between mere mortals and God (“impossible for men…all things are possible for God”) the phrase “mere humans” has been used in the translation.

[13:26]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “they.”

[13:26]  ¹¹ sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full judging authority.