1
Καὶ ὅτε ἐγγίζουσιν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα εἰς Βηθφαγὴ καὶ Βηθανίαν πρὸς τὸ Ὄρος τῶν Ἐλαιῶν, ἀποστέλλει δύο τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ
And when they draw near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, toward the Mount of Olives, he sends two of his disciples
Two of his disciples — they are not named, here or at 14:13.
first here Bethphage Βηθφαγή Bēthphagē
first here Bethany Βηθανία Bēthania
pronoun they = Jesus and the disciples
pronoun he = Jesus
pronoun his = Jesus
2
καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ὑπάγετε εἰς τὴν κώμην τὴν κατέναντι ὑμῶν, καὶ ⸀εὐθὺς εἰσπορευόμενοι εἰς αὐτὴν εὑρήσετε πῶλον δεδεμένον ἐφ’ ὃν οὐδεὶς ⸀οὔπω ἀνθρώπων ⸀ἐκάθισεν· ⸂λύσατε αὐτὸν καὶ φέρετε⸃.
and says to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and as soon as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has yet sat. Untie it and bring it.
Colt (πῶλος, pōlos) names a young animal without saying which kind; this book has one animal, Matthew 21:2 has two.
pronoun them = the two disciples
pronoun you = the two disciples
pronoun it = the village — the last two “it” are the colt
3
καὶ ἐάν τις ὑμῖν εἴπῃ· Τί ποιεῖτε τοῦτο; εἴπατε ⸀ὅτι Ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ χρείαν ἔχει· καὶ ⸀εὐθὺς αὐτὸν ἀποστέλλει ⸀πάλιν ὧδε.
And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?' say, ‘The Lord has need of it, and he sends it back here at once.'”
He sends it back here at once — the Greek can also be read “the Lord sends it back”, and it is left open.
pronoun you = the two disciples
pronoun this = untying the colt
pronoun it = the colt — both times
pronoun he = the Lord, or the owner — the text does not settle it
4
⸂καὶ ἀπῆλθον⸃ καὶ εὗρον πῶλον δεδεμένον ⸀πρὸς θύραν ἔξω ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀμφόδου, καὶ λύουσιν αὐτόν.
And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside on the street, and they untie it.
The errand is told a second time as it happened — this book likes the repeat.
pronoun they = the two disciples — both times
pronoun it = the colt
5
καί τινες τῶν ἐκεῖ ἑστηκότων ἔλεγον αὐτοῖς· Τί ποιεῖτε λύοντες τὸν πῶλον;
And some of those standing there were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”
The question of verse 3 is asked, in almost the words he gave them.
pronoun them = the two disciples
pronoun you = the two disciples
6
οἱ δὲ εἶπαν αὐτοῖς καθὼς ⸀εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς· καὶ ἀφῆκαν αὐτούς.
And they told them just as Jesus had said, and they let them go.
They let them go — the whole exchange closes in one line.
first here Jesus Ἰησοῦς Iēsous
pronoun they = the two disciples — “they let them go” is the bystanders
pronoun them = the bystanders — “they let them go” is the two disciples
7
καὶ ⸀φέρουσιν τὸν πῶλον πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν, καὶ ⸀ἐπιβάλλουσιν αὐτῷ τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐπ’ ⸀αὐτόν.
And they bring the colt to Jesus, and throw their garments on it, and he sat on it.
Their garments — the disciples' own cloaks are used for a saddle.
pronoun they = the disciples
pronoun their = the disciples
pronoun it = the colt — both times
pronoun he = Jesus
8
⸂καὶ πολλοὶ⸃ τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν ἔστρωσαν εἰς τὴν ὁδόν, ἄλλοι δὲ στιβάδας ⸂κόψαντες ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν⸃.
And many spread their garments on the road, and others leafy branches they had cut from the fields.
Leafy branches — this book does not say palms; John 12:13 does.
pronoun they = the many
9
καὶ οἱ προάγοντες καὶ οἱ ἀκολουθοῦντες ⸀ἔκραζον· Ὡσαννά· Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου·
And those going ahead and those following were crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna is Hebrew, kept as sound; it is a plea — “save now” — not a word of praise.
Why this rendering
Mark.11.9 Observation
Syntactic observation
Ὡσαννά is a Semitic transliteration that Mark does not gloss. Usually he does gloss what he brings over — 3:17 Boanerges with sons of thunder, 5:41 Talitha koum with which translated means, 7:11 Korban with which is, Gift, 7:34 Ephphatha with be opened, 15:22 Golgotha with place of a skull, 15:34 Eloi Eloi with its rendering, and at 10:46 he unpacks the name Bartimaeus as the son of Timaeus. What he leaves unglossed is Hosanna (11:9, 10), the Rabbi forms (9:5, 10:51, 11:21, 14:45) and Beelzeboul (3:22) — Amen and Satan stand apart, having become words that decline inside Greek sentences. Hosanna comes twice, both in this scene. Εὐλογημένος is a perfect passive participle — blessed, the blessing already given and standing. The direction matters: the crowd is not pronouncing a blessing but naming the one who comes as one already blessed. Verse 10 applies the same form to a kingdom — Εὐλογημένη ἡ ἐρχομένη βασιλεία, blessed, the coming kingdom. Man and kingdom set side by side in the same participial shape. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἔκραζον·).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Basis Keeps the direction of the passive participle: he is the one blessed.
“Praise to him who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Basis Renders the shout as an act of praise.
Rejected The direction reverses. The Greek says not what the crowd does but what the one coming is — and since v.10 lays the same form on a kingdom, only keeping the form lets the two shouts read as a pair.
Lost in translation
what Hosanna once meant The text supplies no gloss, so what the word once meant is knowledge from outside it. Keeping the transliteration keeps the silence Mark left.
Survives in · this edition — 9 of the nine carry it (this language among them)
10
Εὐλογημένη ἡ ἐρχομένη ⸀βασιλεία τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Δαυίδ· Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις.
Blessed is the coming kingdom — the kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest.”
The kingdom of our father David — only this book has this line, and it does not say “Son of David”.
first here daughter Δαυίδ Dauid
pronoun our = the crowd
11
Καὶ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς ⸀Ἱεροσόλυμα εἰς τὸ ἱερόν· καὶ περιβλεψάμενος πάντα ⸀ὀψὲ ἤδη οὔσης τῆς ὥρας ἐξῆλθεν εἰς Βηθανίαν μετὰ τῶν δώδεκα.
And he entered Jerusalem, into the temple; and having looked around at everything, the hour being already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Having looked around at everything — he goes in, looks, and leaves. Only this book has this quiet first entry.
pronoun he = Jesus — both times
12
Καὶ τῇ ἐπαύριον ἐξελθόντων αὐτῶν ἀπὸ Βηθανίας ἐπείνασεν.
And on the next day, as they were coming out from Bethany, he was hungry.
The cursing of the tree is split around the temple scene — this book alone braids them.
pronoun they = Jesus and the disciples
pronoun he = Jesus
13
καὶ ἰδὼν συκῆν ⸀ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἔχουσαν φύλλα ἦλθεν εἰ ἄρα ⸂τι εὑρήσει⸃ ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ ἐλθὼν ἐπ’ αὐτὴν οὐδὲν εὗρεν εἰ μὴ φύλλα, ⸂ὁ γὰρ καιρὸς οὐκ ἦν⸃ σύκων.
And seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether he would find anything on it. And coming to it he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs.
For it was not the season for figs — the writer says the tree was not at fault, and lets the difficulty stand.
pronoun he = Jesus — both times
pronoun it = the fig tree — every “it” here is the fig tree
14
καὶ ⸀ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτῇ· Μηκέτι ⸂εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἐκ σοῦ⸃ μηδεὶς καρπὸν φάγοι. καὶ ἤκουον οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ.
And answering he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples were listening.
And his disciples were listening — the writer marks the hearers, because verse 21 will turn on it.
pronoun he = Jesus
pronoun it = the fig tree
pronoun you = the fig tree
pronoun his = Jesus
Why this rendering
Mark.11.14 Observation
Syntactic observation
φάγοι is an optative. And it is the only optative in the whole of Mark — one word out of 11,286. The book runs on imperatives and subjunctives; the mood shifts only in this one sentence, spoken to a fig tree. The optative is the mood of wish, so the sentence has the shape not of a command but of a wish: may no one ever eat fruit from you again. The curse arrives in the grammar of prayer. What makes it hard is the placement of the line before it — at v.13 the narrator adds ὁ γὰρ καιρὸς οὐκ ἦν σύκων, for it was not the season for figs. The author states the reason there was no fruit, and then records the curse. And at the end he attaches καὶ ἤκουον οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, and his disciples were listening — marking that the words are aimed not at the tree but at the hearers. The temple scene of vv.15-19 is then inserted, and v.20 returns to the withered tree: Mark's recurring sandwich arrangement. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἀποκριθεὶς ⸂εἰς σοῦ⸃).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”
Basis Renders the optative as a wish — may no one — rather than converting it to a command.
“No one will ever eat fruit from you again.”
Basis Renders it as a future statement.
Rejected A prediction and a wish are not the same speech. This is the one place the book changes mood, and a plain future erases that singularity from the sentence.
Lost in translation
the shift of mood English has no distinct optative. May carries the sense, but the fact that this is a grammatical form appearing exactly once in the book has nowhere to show itself in a translation.
this edition — none of the nine carries it (measured)
15
Καὶ ἔρχονται εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα. καὶ ⸀εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν ἤρξατο ἐκβάλλειν τοὺς πωλοῦντας καὶ ⸀τοὺς ἀγοράζοντας ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ, καὶ τὰς τραπέζας τῶν κολλυβιστῶν καὶ τὰς καθέδρας τῶν πωλούντων τὰς περιστερὰς κατέστρεψεν
And they come to Jerusalem. And entering the temple he began to drive out those selling and those buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those selling doves;
Drive out is the demon-verb of 1:34 and 3:15.
pronoun they = Jesus and the disciples
pronoun he = Jesus — both times
16
καὶ οὐκ ἤφιεν ἵνα τις διενέγκῃ σκεῦος διὰ τοῦ ἱεροῦ,
and he would not allow anyone to carry a vessel through the temple.
Carry a vessel through the temple — only this book records this.
pronoun he = Jesus
17
καὶ ἐδίδασκεν ⸂καὶ ἔλεγεν⸃ ⸀αὐτοῖς· Οὐ γέγραπται ὅτι Ὁ οἶκός μου οἶκος προσευχῆς κληθήσεται πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν; ὑμεῖς δὲ ⸀πεποιήκατε αὐτὸν σπήλαιον λῃστῶν.
And he was teaching and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
For all the nations — only this book keeps that half of the quotation. Den of robbers uses the word of 15:27.
pronoun he = Jesus
pronoun them = those in the temple
pronoun My = the one speaking in the quotation
pronoun you = those in the temple
pronoun it = my house
Why this rendering
Mark.11.17 Observation
Syntactic observation
λῃστής occurs three times in Mark, and the three places run in a line. At 11:17 Jesus calls the temple a den of λῃσταί; at 14:48, being arrested, he asks whether they came out with swords and clubs as against a λῃστής; at 15:27 he is crucified between two λῃσταί. Whether that line is visible depends on the rendering — not a thief but an armed robber, a word that in the period could also mean an armed insurgent. σπήλαιον, cave or den, occurs only here in the book. The extent of the quotation is worth noting too: the sentence quotes through πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, for all the nations, and the next sentence follows on the fact that this court was the court of the nations. προσευχή likewise has only two places in Mark — 9:29 and here. And the sentence is a question: it opens Οὐ γέγραπται, is it not written, putting back to them what they already know. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸂καὶ ἔλεγεν⸃ ⸀αὐτοῖς· ⸀πεποιήκατε).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “a den of robbers” — the same word as at 14:48 and 15:27
Basis Binds the three places with one word, so the name he uses becomes the name used of him at his arrest and the name of the men beside him.
“a den of thieves”
Basis Renders the traders' dishonesty as theft.
Rejected λῃστής is not the κλέπτης who steals in secret but the man who takes by force. Rendered thief, the arrest of 14:48 and the two men of 15:27 become different words and the line breaks.
Lost in translation
the political grain of λῃστής That the word was also used of armed insurgents in the period comes from lexica and historians, not from the text. Robber carries the violence but not that grain.
this edition — none of the nine carries it (measured)
18
καὶ ἤκουσαν οἱ ⸂ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς⸃, καὶ ἐζήτουν πῶς αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν· ἐφοβοῦντο γὰρ αὐτόν, ⸂πᾶς γὰρ⸃ ὁ ὄχλος ἐξεπλήσσετο ἐπὶ τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ.
And the chief priests and the scribes heard, and were seeking how they might destroy him; for they feared him, since all the crowd was astounded at his teaching.
They feared him — the fear is the reason given for the plot.
pronoun they = the chief priests and the scribes — both times
pronoun him = Jesus — both times
19
Καὶ ⸀ὅταν ὀψὲ ἐγένετο, ⸀ἐξεπορεύοντο ἔξω τῆς πόλεως.
And whenever evening came, they were going out of the city.
Whenever evening came — the writer says it was their habit.
pronoun they = Jesus and the disciples
20
Καὶ ⸂παραπορευόμενοι πρωῒ⸃ εἶδον τὴν συκῆν ἐξηραμμένην ἐκ ῥιζῶν.
And passing by early in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.
Withered from the roots — this book gives the tree a day to die; Matthew 21:19 has it at once.
pronoun they = Jesus and the disciples
21
καὶ ἀναμνησθεὶς ὁ Πέτρος λέγει αὐτῷ· Ῥαββί, ἴδε ἡ συκῆ ἣν κατηράσω ἐξήρανται.
And remembering, Peter says to him, “Rabbi, look — the fig tree you cursed has withered.”
Cursed — Peter names the act with a word Jesus did not use.
first here Peter Πέτρος Petros
pronoun him = Jesus
pronoun you = Jesus
22
καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ἔχετε πίστιν θεοῦ·
And answering, Jesus says to them, “Have faith in God.
Have faith in God — the Greek can also be read “have the faith of God”.
pronoun them = the disciples
23
⸀ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ὃς ἂν εἴπῃ τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ· Ἄρθητι καὶ βλήθητι εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ μὴ διακριθῇ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἀλλὰ ⸀πιστεύῃ ὅτι ⸂ὃ λαλεῖ γίνεται, ἔσται αὐτῷ⸃.
Amen I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not waver in his heart but believes that what he says comes about — it will be his.
Waver (διακρίνομαι, diakrinomai) is to be divided in oneself.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples
pronoun his = whoever says to this mountain — every “his” here is the same
pronoun he = whoever says to this mountain
pronoun it = what he says
24
διὰ τοῦτο λέγω ὑμῖν, πάντα ὅσα ⸂προσεύχεσθε καὶ αἰτεῖσθε⸃, πιστεύετε ὅτι ⸀ἐλάβετε, καὶ ἔσται ὑμῖν.
Therefore I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you received it, and it will be yours.
You received it stands in a past tense before the asking is answered.
pronoun I = Jesus
pronoun you = the disciples — every “you” here is the disciples
pronoun it = what you ask for — both times
Why this rendering
Mark.11.24 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἐλάβετε is aorist indicative — you received. The two verbs before it are present (προσεύχεσθε, you pray; αἰτεῖσθε, you ask) and the one after is future (ἔσται, it will be); only the content of the believing stands in the past. The tenses run present—past—future, out of joint, and the dislocation is what the sentence asks: while asking now, believe you have already received, and then it will be. The Textus Receptus prints λαμβάνετε, present, you receive, smoothing the tense to match its neighbours — the direction in which the difficulty disappears. SBLGNT prints the aorist and marks it. The aorist is the harder reading. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸂προσεύχεσθε αἰτεῖσθε⸃, ⸀ἐλάβετε,).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “believe that you received it, and it will be yours.”
Basis Keeps the aorist of the base text. The dislocation of tense is what the sentence asks.
“believe that you receive.”
Basis Follows the present of the Textus Receptus.
Rejected By our base-text decision we follow SBLGNT, and the direction runs one way: a copyist smoothing a dislocated tense is easy to imagine, one dislocating a smooth tense is not.
25
καὶ ὅταν ⸀στήκετε προσευχόμενοι, ἀφίετε εἴ τι ἔχετε κατά τινος, ἵνα καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἀφῇ ὑμῖν τὰ παραπτώματα ⸀ὑμῶν.
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father in the heavens may also forgive you your trespasses.”
Trespasses (παραπτώματα, paraptōmata) is a falling-beside word. Verse 26 is not in the base text this edition follows.
pronoun you = the disciples — every “you” here is the disciples
pronoun your = the disciples — both times
Why this rendering
Mark.11.25 Observation
Syntactic observation
Verse 26 is absent from SBLGNT — 25 is followed by 27. The Textus Receptus adds here: but if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses — the positive of v.25 turned negative to complete the pair, the same kind of verse as Mark 7:16 and 9:44, 46. 개역한글, though of the Textus Receptus line, prints no verse 26 here. The inside of v.25 is likewise full of rarities for this book: παράπτωμα, trespass, occurs only here in Mark, and calling God ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, your Father who is in the heavens, happens only here — Mark's other places for God as father (8:38, his Father; 13:32, the Father; 14:36, Abba) take other forms. στήκετε names the posture: standing. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀στήκετε ⸀ὑμῶν.).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted End at v.25; print no verse 26
Basis Follows the base text, showing the numbering skip from 25 to 27.
Print verse 26
Basis Follows the Textus Receptus.
Rejected By our base-text decision we follow SBLGNT. Completing a positive with its negative to round out a parallel is a common direction in copying.
27
Καὶ ἔρχονται πάλιν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα. καὶ ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ περιπατοῦντος αὐτοῦ ἔρχονται πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι
And they come again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders come to him,
The three groups named here are the same three of 8:31.
pronoun they = Jesus and the disciples
pronoun he = Jesus
pronoun him = Jesus
28
καὶ ⸀ἔλεγον αὐτῷ· Ἐν ποίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ ταῦτα ποιεῖς; ⸀ἢ τίς σοι ⸂ἔδωκεν τὴν ἐξουσίαν ταύτην⸃ ἵνα ταῦτα ποιῇς;
and were saying to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?”
Authority is the word of 1:22, where the crowd first named it.
pronoun him = Jesus
pronoun you = Jesus — both times
pronoun these things = what he did in the temple
pronoun them = these things
29
ὁ δὲ ⸀Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Ἐπερωτήσω ⸀ὑμᾶς ἕνα λόγον, καὶ ἀποκρίθητέ μοι, καὶ ἐρῶ ὑμῖν ἐν ποίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ ταῦτα ποιῶ·
And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
The question is answered with a question, as at 3:4 and 10:3.
pronoun them = the chief priests, scribes and elders
pronoun I = Jesus — every “I” here is Jesus
pronoun you = the chief priests, scribes and elders — both times
pronoun me = Jesus
30
τὸ βάπτισμα ⸀τὸ Ἰωάννου ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἦν ἢ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων; ἀποκρίθητέ μοι.
The baptism of John — was it from heaven or from men? Answer me.”
From heaven is a way of saying “from God” without naming God.
first here John Ἰωάννης Iōannēs
pronoun it = the baptism of John
pronoun me = Jesus
31
καὶ ⸀διελογίζοντο πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς λέγοντες· ⸂Τί εἴπωμεν;⸃ ἐὰν εἴπωμεν· Ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, ἐρεῖ· Διὰ τί ⸀οὖν οὐκ ἐπιστεύσατε αὐτῷ;
And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, “What shall we say? If we say ‘From heaven,' he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?'
The writer lets the reader hear them work it out.
pronoun they = the chief priests, scribes and elders
pronoun themselves = the same
pronoun we = the same — both times
pronoun he = Jesus
pronoun you = the chief priests, scribes and elders
pronoun him = John
32
ἀλλὰ εἴπωμεν· Ἐξ ἀνθρώπων;— ἐφοβοῦντο τὸν ⸀ὄχλον, ἅπαντες γὰρ εἶχον τὸν Ἰωάννην ⸂ὄντως ὅτι⸃ προφήτης ἦν.
But shall we say, ‘From men'?” — they feared the crowd, for all held that John indeed was a prophet.
The sentence breaks off — the writer steps in with the reason before they finish.
pronoun we = the chief priests, scribes and elders
pronoun they = the same
33
καὶ ἀποκριθέντες ⸂τῷ Ἰησοῦ λέγουσιν⸃· Οὐκ οἴδαμεν. καὶ ὁ ⸀Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς· Οὐδὲ ἐγὼ λέγω ὑμῖν ἐν ποίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ ταῦτα ποιῶ.
And answering Jesus they say, “We do not know.” And Jesus says to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
We do not know — the answer refuses the question, and so does his.
pronoun they = the chief priests, scribes and elders
pronoun We = the same
pronoun them = the same
pronoun I = Jesus — both times
pronoun you = the same