Markus 4:4

4:4 And as he sowed, some seed ¹  fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

Markus 15:6

Jesus and Barabbas

15:6 During the feast it was customary to release one prisoner to the people, ²  whomever they requested.

[4:4]  ¹ tn Mark’s version of the parable, like Luke’s (cf. Luke 8:4-8), uses the collective singular to refer to the seed throughout, so singular pronouns have been used consistently throughout this parable in the English translation. However, the parallel account in Matt 13:1-9 begins with plural pronouns in v. 4 but then switches to the collective singular in v. 5 ff.

[15:6]  ² tn Grk “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  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.