Markus 2:15

2:15 As Jesus ¹  was having a meal ²  in Levi’s ³  home, many tax collectors ⁴  and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

Markus 6:4

6:4 Then ⁵  Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own house.”

Markus 10:29-30

10:29 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, ⁶  there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel 10:30 who will not receive in this age ⁷  a hundred times as much – homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions ⁸  – and in the age to come, eternal life. ⁹ 

Markus 13:34

13:34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves ¹⁰  in charge, assigning ¹¹  to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert.

Markus 14:3

Jesus’ Anointing

14:3 Now ¹²  while Jesus ¹³  was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, reclining at the table, ¹⁴  a woman came with an alabaster jar ¹⁵  of costly aromatic oil ¹⁶  from pure nard. After breaking open the jar, she poured it on his head.

[2:15]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:15]  ² tn Grk “As he reclined at table.”

[2:15]  sn As Jesus was having a meal. 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.

[2:15]  ³ tn Grk “his.”

[2:15]  ⁴ sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked.

[6:4]  ⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:29]  ⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:30]  ⁷ tn Grk “this time” (καιρός, kairos), but for stylistic reasons this has been translated “this age” here.

[10:30]  ⁸ tn Grk “with persecutions.” The “all” has been supplied to clarify that the prepositional phrase belongs not just to the “fields.”

[10:30]  ⁹ sn 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).

[13:34]  ¹⁰ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.

[13:34]  ¹¹ tn Grk “giving.”

[14:3]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[14:3]  ¹³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:3]  ¹⁴ sn 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.

[14:3]  ¹⁵ sn A jar made of alabaster stone was normally used for very precious substances like perfumes. It normally had a long neck which was sealed and had to be broken off so the contents could be used.

[14:3]  ¹⁶ tn Μύρον (muron) was usually made of myrrh (from which the English word is derived) but here it is used in the sense of ointment or perfumed oil (L&N 6.205). The adjective πιστικῆς (pistikh") is difficult with regard to its exact meaning; some have taken it to derive from πίστις (pistis) and relate to the purity of the oil of nard. More probably it is something like a brand name, “pistic nard,” the exact significance of which has not been discovered.

[14:3]  sn Nard or spikenard is a fragrant oil from the root and spike of the nard plant of northern India. This aromatic oil, if made of something like nard, would have been extremely expensive, costing up to a year’s pay for an average laborer.