CHAPTER 1
1. The beginning of the glad news of Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of Elohim,
Beginning: commencement, and the early followers of Yeshua who stayed the truest to the Torah held that his “anointing” (derived from the term Messiah) took place when he was immersed by Yochanan; thus Markos’ account begins here. It can also mean “most important” part, culled down from extensive data. (Yoch. 21:25) Son of Elohim: his anointing was as king (and priest), and “Son of Elohim” is a special title for the kings in the line of David, at least beginning with Shlomo. (2 Shmu’el 7:14)
2. as it was written in Yeshayahu the prophet: “Look! I am sending My messenger before your face, who will prepare your way ahead of you.
Yeshayahu: This passage is from Mal’akhi 3:1, but the writings of several prophets were grouped together in a single scroll, headed up by Yeshayahu. Or he may have had the latter part of the quote in mind but as an afterthought added the first portion.
3. “The voice of one calling out in the uninhabited land, ‘Make YHWH’s path ready! Level off His roadways!”
Uninhabited land: or wilderness; the parallel line in Hebrew, left out of the quote, specifies the Aravah, the particular desert where Yochanan was indeed lifting up his voice. (v. 7) Level off: to make His journey smooth and safe. This part of the quote is from Yeshayahu 40:3. The Qumran community believed themselves to be the fulfillment of this prophecy (Dead Sea Scrolls 1QS 8:12b-16a; 9:19-20), and many believe Yochanan may have been raised in this community after his parents were assassinated, but left it when he understood his special calling. This Gospel may be set in polemical opposition to the Qumran community in some ways. (Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg)
4. Yochanan came in the [lonely] wasteland, ritually immersing and heralding an immersion into a sending away of sins.
Sending away: release or pardon that brings a complete freedom from a thing (not just its penalty but its very presence, as with the scapegoat of Lev. 16:21, which was sent off into the wilderness).
5. And [people] from all [over] the territory of Yehudah and everyone [from] Yerushalayim was going out to him and being immersed under hi[s supervision] in the Yarden River, [fully] acknowledging their sins.
Under: not “by” as if his hands were on them, but he was the witness to ensure that they had gone fully under the water, not because this made a difference spiritually but so that the picture would be complete.
6. Now Yochanan was clothed in [a garment of] camel’s hair and a leather belt [with pouch] around his waist, and eating locusts and wild honey.
Locusts are indeed clean animals to eat (Lev. 11:22), and were often consumed by the priestly class, of which Yochanan was part, but there may be another interpretation here: Seeds of the carob tree (a “superfood” on which one can subsists for long periods, such as in the desert) are also called locust beans, and they are native to the Mediterranean region, including the Middle East, where it has been cultivated at least since Avraham’s time. They are the same in English, and in Greek the words are also very similar: akrides vs. engkrides. A Hebrew translation from the Aramaic version renders it “roots”. Wild honey could be the sap of some trees or more likely derived from dates, which are plentiful in the region, but evidence has been found of beekeeping in Israel at this time as well, so some may have certainly strayed into the wild and made their own hives.
7. He was proclaiming, “One who is coming after me is more powerful than I, the strap of whose sandal I am not fit to stoop down and loosen.
This is the language of a levirate marriage, in which the nearest kinsman of a man who died childless provides a stand-in seed to keep that man’s name alive. One who refused to fulfill this duty had his shoe loosed (Deut. 25:9) as a symbol that he would not build up his brother’s household. Interestingly, Yochanan spoke of being the friend of the bridegroom, and when his disciples started following Yeshua, he was not upset (Yoch. 3:30); it was not suitable for him to accuse this one who came after him, since the “marriage” between himself and Israel had not been sufficiently fruitful, but now a close relative of his would be able to make it so, thus “giving progeny” to the Torah and prophets, which could only get as far as him but not fully bring the Kingdom about. (See Luke 16:16.) And Yeshua would fulfill this obligation, so Yochanan would not have any reason to fault him.
8. “I immersed you with water, but he will immerse you with the Spirit of Holiness.
He could complete the picture, but only Yeshua could bring the right conditions for the reality behind the picture to actually come about.
9. Now what took place in those days [was] that Yeshua came from Natzereth in the Galil and was ritually immersed in the Yarden River under Yochanan.
10. And as soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the sky split open and the Spirit coming down into him like a dove,
11. and a voice came out of the skies: “You are My son, the Beloved; in you I am well-pleased.”
Beloved: probably the equivalent of the Hebrew yakhid, meaning a specially-favored son as Yitzhaq was called in relation to Avraham. Well-pleased: or, I accept you favorably, I consider you good, I approve of you.
12. And right away the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness,
13. and he was in the wilderness 40 days, being tested by the Accuser. While he was in the company of the wild animals, messengers were attending to him.
As the unfallen second Adam, the animals may not have been hostile to him, and, in a reversion to the Garden of Eden, he had to undergo the same kind of test the first Adam underwent, but the angels were not barring his way to the Tree of Life, but rather showing him favor and strengthening him so history would not repeat itself.
14. And with the delivering over of Yochanan, Yeshua went up into the Galil, proclaiming Elohim’s glad news
With: or after, but in connection with. Yeshua may not have felt safe in Yehudah, which was also the territory under the Herod who had arrested Yochanan, so he went back to the territory where he had grown up, some 60 miles north.
15. and saying, “The season has come to fullness, and the Kingdom of Elohim has come near; turn back and trust in the glad news!”
16. And, going along beside the Lake of Galil, he saw Shim’on and Andreas, Shimon’s brother, casting a net into the lake, because they were fishermen.
17. And Yeshua said to them, “Come! Follow me, and I will make you fishers of human beings!”
He was referring to Yirmeyahu 16:16, where YHWH promises to send fishermen to find the exiled descendants of Israel (which at that time referred especially to the Northern Kingdom) and bring them back to the covenant. Yeshua knew the time of “no mercy” (Hoshea 1:6) would be over within at the most 16 more years (the doubling of the Northern Kingdom’s 390-year sentence, per Yirmeyahu 16:18 and Y’hezq’el 4:5), so he went looking for literal fishermen to fulfill this promise.
18. And right away, they abandoned their fishing nets and accompanied him.
19. Then, having gone a little further, he saw Yaaqov the son of Zavdi and his brother Yochanan, and they were in the boat adjusting their nets.
Adjusting: or repairing. They might have had different “settings” on these dragnets to tighten up the mesh I order to catch different types of fish. This is a good lesson for those of us who continue to carry on their calling of fishing for lost Israelites, for not every method will be appropriate for every kind of “fish”.
20. And as soon as he called them, they left their father Zavdi in the boat with the hired servants, they followed him away.
Hired servants: The remains of the home of Shim’on (v. 16) in Kfar Nahum (v. 21), seen in photo at left, in the center of town about two doors down from the synagogue, show that his family was fairly wealthy, and would be able to afford to hire day laborers like this.
21. They journeyed on into Kfar Nahum, and right away he started regularly going into the synagogue and teaching [every] Sabbath.
The remains of this very synagogue have been found. On the photo, the black basalt portion is the synagogue referred to here, with the much better-preserved remains of a synagogue built a century later on top of them in white stones.
22. and they were struck with astonishment on the basis of his teaching, because he was teaching them as one having authority, and not like the scribes.
Authority: delegated by the very Author, with the connotation of capability, mastery, competency, and freedom; those who commonly taught there usually based their interpretations on the opinions of the most prominent Pharisaical (P’rushim) rabbis of their day, but there was always debate, as exemplified in the Mishnah and Talmud. They did not have the same level of authority, because they were not the authorized teachers of Israel; the priests and Levites were, and these were still somewhat represented by the Tzadduqim (Sadducees), who were, however, becoming more and more marginalized in the society of that day as the rabbis edged them out more and more. Yeshua had some Levite blood in him, and so had not just expertise but authorization, in addition to his role as king of Israel, who was a different type of guardian of the Torah.
23. And right at that moment there was a man in the synagogue with an unclean spirit [in him], and
24. he was saying, “What do you have to do with us, Yeshua the Natzarene? Have you come to totally destroy us? I know who you are—the holy one of Elohim!”
25. But Yeshua forbade him [from saying any more], telling [it], “Be quiet and come out of him!”
Quiet: literally, muzzled. This message was not meant to be proclaimed by unclean spirits, who work for the Father of Lies; it was true—in part; he had not yet come to destroy them but to free men from their power and authority.
26. Then, having thrown him into convulsions and emitted a noise with a loud voice, the unclean spirit came out from him.
27. And they all were astounded so as to inquire toward one another, saying, “What is this new teaching? With authority he gives orders even to the unclean spirits, and they submit to [what they] hear him [say]!”
Astounded: amazed almost to the point of being terrified.
28. And immediately the report about him went out everywhere into the whole surrounding region of the Galil.
29. And as soon as they came out from the synagogue, they came into the house of Shim’on and Andreos, along with Yaaqov and Yochanan.
30. But Shim’on’s mother-in-law was lying [there] sick, burning with a fever, so right away they told him about her.
31. So having approached her, taking hold of her hand, he woke her up, and the fever was sent out of her, and she started waiting on them.
Waiting on: attending to them, especially in the area of food service.
32. Once evening had come, when the sun went down, they began bringing to him all those who were diseased, and those under the power of demons.
33. And the whole city was assembled together facing the door.
34. And he healed many who were sick, having many kinds of diseases, and expelled many demons, and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they recognized [who] he [was] (the Messiah).
35. And very early, while there was still much of the night [left], he got up, went outside, and went away to a solitary place, and was praying there.
36. And Shim’on and those who were with him went looking for him,
37. and when they had found him, they told him, “Everyone is searching for you!”
38. And he said to them, “Let’s go a different way into the adjoining villages, so that I can make proclamation there too, because that’s why I have come out [here].”
39. And he was going into their synagogues—into all of Galilee—making proclamation and expelling the demons.
Why were there so many demons around at this time as compared to the stories from centuries before in Israel? Dr. Erwin Lutzer puts it this way: “Just think of it from the demonic point of view. [Yeshua] comes, the devil knows that He’s the Son of [Elohim], and he wants to oppose all that [Yeshua] is doing. I have no doubt that the devil began to concentrate his activity in Israel, where [Yeshua] was, and maybe that’s why every time [Yeshua] turned around, it seems as if there was another demon that He had to confront.” They were very opposed to the message of liberty he was proclaiming (Yeshayahu 61”1, as he quoted in Luke 4:18) and wanted to make a front-line attack so as to “nip it in the bud”.
40. And a man with tzara’ath came toward him, calling him near and getting down on his knees and saying to him, “If you are willing, you have the power to make me clean!”
Tzara’ath: a skin disease with spiritual causes, as we see in Numbers 12:10, 2 Chron. 26:20, and 2 Kings 5:27. Thus, “make me clean” has a deeper sense than mere physical healing. He wants to be freed of what caused this outward sign.
41. And, being moved with compassion, he extended his hand and touched him, and told him, “I am willing; be cleansed!”
While Yeshua would be ritually defiled by this until the evening, he was not within a day’s journey of the Temple anyway. It may have been something he was willing to sacrifice to help another onto higher ground, but we must raise the question also of whether he who had the power to render the man clean would even be susceptible to ritual impurity since, unlike the rest of us, his heart was not impure. So could this disease find anything within him to latch onto? (Compare Yochanan 14:30.)
42. And immediately the tzara’ath was gone from off him, and he was cleansed.
43. But right away he sent him off, having strictly warned him--
44. that is, he said to him, “Beware that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and bring the offering in regard to your cleansing that Moshe assigned as evidence to them.
Show: allow yourself to be inspected, with the implication of demonstrating that he was indeed cleansed, according to the rules given in Leviticus 13:2-28. Assigned: in Leviticus 14.
45. But when he had gone out, he started to make it known very publicly and spread the word abroad, to the point that [Yeshua] was no longer able to openly enter the city, but though he was out in solitary places, they kept coming to him from every direction.
Was Yeshua using reverse psychology so the Kingdom’s coming could be spread more widely? It does not appear so, because he was hindered from his carefully-calculated plans (v. 38), but as always, his compassion outweighed his personal preference for being undisturbed.
CHAPTER 2
1. And when he came back into Kfar Nahum after [several] days, it was reported that he [was] in the house.
The house: possibly Kefa’s home, which he made his headquarters, the remains of which have been located very close to the synagogue.
2. And so many [people] assembled that there was no room to hold any more, even at the door, and he was speaking the Word to them.
The Word: that is, the Word of YHWH, the Scriptures and possibly the underlying logic behind them.
3. And there came [some who] brought to him one who was paralyzed, being carried by four [people].
4. Since they were not able to get close to him [by coming] through the crowd, they took off the roof where he was and, having dug through [the ceiling], the lowered the stretcher on which the paralyzed [boy] was lying.
5. And when Yeshua saw their confidence, he said to the paralyzed [boy], “Child, your sins are forgiven.”
Forgiven: literally, permitted to depart, let go.
6. But some of the scribes were sitting there with cognitive dissonance in their hearts,
Cognitive dissonance: reasoning and deliberating back and forth in their minds in a way that led to confusion.
7. [thinking], “What is this [man] saying?! Who is able to forgive sins, except Elohim alone?”
8. And right away Yeshua recognized in his spirit that they were reasoning like this within themselves, and said to them, “Why are you debating these things in your hearts?
9. “Which is easier to say to the one who is paralyzed: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up, take your bed, and walk’?
10. “But in order that you may be clear that the Son of Adam has authority upon the earth to forgive sins”, he said to the disabled [boy],
Forgive: literally, send away, reminiscent of the scapegoat at Yom Kippur. He is referring to Exodus 23:20-21, where YHWH speaks of a messenger who would bear His name in himself, who would bring us to the place He has prepared (compare Yochanan 14:2), whom His people are responsible to obey, who would not forgive the sins of those who rebelled against him.
11. “I order you, get up, pick up your mat, and go into your [own] house!”
He told someone else to do the same thing—the part he could do—after doing the part he could not. (Yochanan 5:8) In the other case it turned into another teaching occasion, because it was the Sabbath and the man was accused of “working” because he carried this lightweight mat to the place he was supposed to be on the Sabbath (Ex. 16:29).
12. And he did get up, and right away, after picking up his mat, he went out, [right] in front of them all, to the point that they were beside themselves with giving honor to Elohim, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”
13. Then again he went out along the lakeside, and the whole crowd was coming toward him, so he taught them.
14. And going on from there, we saw Levi the son of Khalfai sitting on the tax-collection stand, and he said to him, “Come accompany me!” So he got up and came along with him.
15. And what transpired was that, while he was reclining [at dinner] in his house, that many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Yeshua and his disciples, because they were many and they were following him.
Sinners: people known to be especially, habitually doing the wrong thing, such as prostitutes.
16. When the scribes and P’rushim saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they were saying to his disciples, “Why does he eat with the tax collectors and sinners?”
17. And when he heard it, Yeshua said, “Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to summon the righteous, but sinners.”
18. Now the disciples of Yochanan and the P’rushim were abstaining from food, and they came and said to him, “Why are Yochanan’s disciples and the P’rushim’s disciples fasting, but your disciples are not fasting?”
19. And Yeshua said to them, “The wedding guests can’t fast while the bridegroom is there with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can’t fast.
20. “But days will come when the bridegroom will have been taken away from them, and then—in those days—they will fast.
21. “No one sews a patch of unshrunken cloth onto an old garment; if they do, the fill-in piece tears away from it—the new from the old—and a worse split results.
22. “And no one drops new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the wineskins, and the wine will be completely lost along with the wineskins. Instead, fresh wine [is put] into unused wineskins.”
All three analogies teach that “there is a right time for everything to be a delight to Heaven” (Qoh./Eccles. 3:1), but if we do even the best thing at the wrong time (or in an inappropriate way), the whole purpose will be defeated.
23. Now what took place on [one of] the Sabbaths was that he was passing through the planted fields, and his disciples started to make a path, plucking off the heads of grain.
If their purpose was to build a walkway, the accusation that follows might have been true, but Matithyahu 12:1 states what may have been too obvious to Markus—that they were eating this grain because they were hungry. That detail makes all the difference.
24. And the P’rushim started saying to him, “Look! Why are they doing what is not permissible on the Sabbath?”
25. And he said to them, “Didn’t you ever read what David did when he had a need and was hungry—[both] he and those who were with him?
26. “How he entered into the House of Elohim upon [permission from] Evyathar the high priest, and ate the Bread of the presence, which is not lawful [for anyone] except the priests to eat, and he also gave [some] to those who were with him?”
This is an argument “from greater to lesser”. His disciples were not doing anything nearly so audacious as that. What they were doing was comparable to what anyone would do during the shmittah or yovel years (Ex. 23:11; Lev. 25:12), and the Sabbath is indeed a microcosm of both of these. And even at normal times, anyone who was truly hungry could come eat what he needed from a field, where the owner was supposed to leave some for the needy anyway. (Lev. 19:10) They work not working, as in harvesting! They were getting enough for one meal, and would not even be carrying the lightweight grains beyond the borders of the field. So these people were “condemning those who were not guilty”. (Mat. 12:7)
27. And he told them, “The Sabbath was made on account of humanity, and not humanity on account of the Sabbath.
In Paulus’ terms, we are not “under the Torah”, though that does not mean we are not “married” to it and responsible to keep what it actually says; the day of rest was meant to serve us, rather than we to serve it. Just like the rest of the Torah, it is meant to be a delight, not a harsh taskmaster that confines us. It is there to liberate us (compare Yaaqov/James 1:25) and bring us relief. Looking at it any other way is seeing it wrongly. We only have to remember that it is there to bring relief to everyone else around us as well, and our leisure should not mean their labor.
28. “Thus, the Son of Adam is master even of the Sabbath.”
Son of Adam: or, son of humanity (the same term as in v. 27). A common couplet in Hebrew poetry is “…man…and the son of man…” (e.g., Num. 23:19; Psalm 8) He is using the latter term in the special sense in which Daniel used it, of the Messiah, saying that since man, even in his fallen state, is still “over the Sabbath” rather than “under it”, how much more does an unfallen man, the "Second Adam", have authority to correctly interpret what is and is not appropriate to do on the Sabbath?
CHAPTER 3
1. Once again when he entered into a synagogue, there was a person there whose hand was shriveled up,
2. and they were watching him carefully [to see] whether he would heal him on [one of] the Sabbaths, in order that they might find a charge to lodge against him.
Find a charge: literally, categorize. They wanted to pigeonhole him as a wrongdoer. They were looking for dirt on him, for any reason to discredit him because he was proving to be more of an expert than they and was exposing shortcomings that they did not want to admit they had. So of course they feared him and were angered by anything he did, because they were not looking for truth; they had already decided to hate him.
3. And he said to the person with the shriveled hand, “Stand up [and come] into the middle.”
4. And he said to them, “Is it permissible, on Sabbath [day]s, to do good or to do evil? To rescue a soul or to extinguish [it]?” But they were at a loss for words.
5. And, looking around at them with anger, and being moved to grief upon [seeing] the callousness of their hearts, he said to the person, “Extend your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored [to its original condition].
6. And as soon as they left, the P’rushim began to conspire with the Herodians against him, [as to] how they could permanently remove him.
Permanently remove: literally “cancel out”—a concept that is all too familiar today.
7. And Yeshua, along with his disciples, withdrew toward the lake, but a throng of many [people] accompanied him--from Galilee and from Judea
Withdrew: possibly to take refuge from this clear and present danger.
8. and from Yerushalayim and from Idumea and the other side of the Yarden and the environs of Tsur and Tsidon. A great throng came to him, having heard what great things he was doing.
9. And he told his disciples to get a boat ready for him on account of the crowd, so they would not press in on him,
10. because he had healed many; therefore whoever had severe pains were falling over him [just] so they could touch him.
11. And the impure spirits, whenever they recognized him, were rushing at him and shrieking, saying, “You are the Son of Elohim!”
Impure spirits: possibly some of those disembodied in the days of the Nefilim. (Gen. 6; 1 Hanokh 15:8-10)
12. And he would often warn them not to make it obvious who he was.
He may not have wanted the testimony to come from such witnesses, but he also had a job to do that required some people in high positions not to recognize who he was so they would act ignorantly in bringing about what had to occur (1 Cor. 2:8), so that they could be forgiven after it was accomplished. (Luke 23:34)
13. Then he went up into the mountains and invited those whom he wished to come with him, so they left and followed him.
14. And he appointed 12 (whom he called emissaries) so that they could be with him and so that he could send them out to make proclamation
15. and to have authority to expel the demons.
16. When he appointed the 12, he imposed the name [emissaries) on Shim’on Kefa,
17. and Yaaqov the son of Z’vadyah and Yochanan the brother of Yaaqov, upon whom he added the epithet “B’ney Regesh”, which means “sons of thunder”.
Z’vadyah (or Zavdi, as in 1 Chron. 27:27). B’ney Regesh: sons of thunderous tumult, similar to R’gaz, an Aramaic word for “rage). It may have been due to their volatile tempers as seen in Lukas 9:54.
18. and Andreas and Filippos and Bar-Talmai and Matithyahu and Th’oma and Yaaqov the son of Khalfai and Thaddai and Shim’on the Zealot
Andreas: from a Greek word for “manly”. Filippos: meaning “horse-lover”, this name was popular at this time because it was the name of one of the sons of Herod the Great. Bar-Talmai: son of Talmai, the name of one of King Dawid’s fathers-in-law, the king of Geshur. (2 Shmu’el 3:3; 2 Shmu’el 13:37; 1 Chronicles 3:2) Matithyahu: a name popularized by the Maccabees. Th’oma: means “twin”, which is why he was nicknamed “Ditto”. (Yochanan 11:16) Zealot: sometimes incorrectly rendered Kanaanite, because qan’an is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew qina’ (zeal or righteous jealousy).
19. and Yehudah the “cut-throat”, who would betray him.
Cut-throat: from the Latin word sicarii (for a small dagger often used by Zealots. Alt., ish kiryoth (man of the villages).
20. When he came into a house, a crowd started assembling, so that they were not even able to eat any bread!
21. When they heard [this], those who were close to him went out to [try to] restrain him, because they said, “He is out of his mind!”
22. And the scribes—those who had come down from Yerushalayim—were saying, “He has Baal-z’vuv!” and, “[It is] through the commander of demons that he expels demons!”
Baal-z’vuv: “Lord of the flies”, a high-ranking demon worshipped by the Philistines in Eqron. They were saying he was just putting on a show because he had an in with this “commander” who would allow him to “do tricks” involving those under its command.
23. When they had summoned him, he began speaking to them in similitudes: “How can haSatan expel haSatan?
24. “And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom is unable to remain standing.
25. “And if a household is divided against itself, that household will not be able to remain stable.
26. “So if haSatan has risen up against himself and has become disunited, he cannot stand firm, but is coming to [his] end.
27. “But no one who has entered into a powerful man’s home is able to rob [him of] his property unless he first ties up the powerful man, and then he can plunder his house.
28. “I tell you the truth: the sons of Adam will be forgiven all their sins and their abusive language, however many they may have vilified.
29. “But whoever may speak profanely in regard to the spirit of holiness does not have forgiveness [even] into the age, but is held liable [for] an eternal error.”
Speak profanely: malign, take lightly what is sacred, revile, hurl abuse at, or make a slanderous report about.
30. (Because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit!”)
He was motivated by the spirit of holiness, and they were claiming this spirit to be impure, and thus were doing the very thing he had just said could not be pardoned.
31. Then his mother and brothers came and, while standing outside, sent [someone] to him to summon him.
32. And there was a crowd sitting around him when they told him, “Look! Your mother, your brothers, and your sister are outside, looking for you!”
33. And in response he said to them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
34. And with a sweeping look at those sitting all around him in a circle, he said, “[These] here are my mother and my brothers!
35. “Because whoever will do what Elohim desires—this one is my brother or sister or mother!”
Indeed, he was beginning a “new (really restored) human race”, made up of those who choose to step out of Adam’s tainted heritage and into the second Adam’s perfect record, which he was willing to share with us. But this necessitates, in some sense, cutting ties with the old natural order and prioritizing the new.
CHAPTER 4
1. Then again, he began to teach beside the lake, and the biggest crowd was coming together toward him. So he got into a boat on the lake and sat down, while the whole crowd was on land right at [the shore of] the lake.
2. And he started teaching them many things in similitudes, and while he taught he was telling them,
3. “Listen! There was this sower who went out to sow [seed],
4. “and it turned out that as he sowed, some indeed fell along the road, and the birds came and devoured it.
5. “And other [seed] fell on the rocky [ground], where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up immediately since it did not have much depth of soil.
6. “But after the sun came [all the way] up, it became scorched, and because it did not have roots, it shriveled up.
7. “And other [seed] fell among the thornbushes, and the thorns grew up and choked it out, and it provided no fruit.
8. “And other [seed] fell into the good soil and began to give fruit, growing up and getting bigger, [this] one bearing thirtyfold, [that] one sixtyfold, and [another] one a hundredfold!”
9. And he was saying, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!”
10. But when he was alone, those who were around him, along with the twelve, were asking him about the similitude.
11. And he told them, “To you the secret of the Kingdom of Elohim has been granted, but to those who are outside, everything comes in similitudes,
Secret: literally, mystery—something hidden most of the time but revealed only under special circumstances.
12. “so that ‘seeing, they may see but not discern clearly, and hearing, they may hear but not put [two and two] together, lest they turn back’ and it be forgiven them.”
Compare Yeshayahu/Isa. 6:9-10; 42:20; Y’hezq’El/Ezek. 12:1-2. Why would YHWH not want them to turn back? Because in His overall plan, certain other things had to occur first. (See Yeshayahu 6:11-12. Rather than “not” it should be understood as “not yet”. (Yesh. 6:13) Forgiven: Heb., healed.
13. And he said to them, “Don’t you understand this similitude? Then how will you understand any of the similitudes?
This one is the key to the rest.
14. “The one who sows is sowing the Word.
The Word: that is, of YHWH.
15. “But those who are along the road where the Word is sown—they are the ones who, when they hear, haSatan immediately comes and takes away the Word that has been sown into them.
16. “And likewise, these sown upon the rocky places are those who, when they hear the Word, immediately receive it with joy,
17. “and they have no root in themselves, but are short-lived; thus, whenever pressure or persecution comes about on account of the Word, they are caused to stumble.
With too-easy access to water, even the largest trees can topple easily; those that have to work harder to reach the water develop strong roots and can withstand hurricanes.
18. “And these others, which were sown among thorns, are those who, having heard the Word,
19. “and the worries of this age, the delusion of wealth, and the desire concerning other matters choke out the Word, and it is rendered unfruitful.
20. “But these are those who have been sown on the good ground: whoever hears the Word and received it gladly and also successfully bring forth fruit—[this] one thirtyfold, [this] one sixtyfold, and [this] one a hundredfold.”
21. And he was saying to them, “A lamp isn’t brought in order to be put under a measuring-basket, is it, or under the bed? Isn’t it so that it can be put on the lampstand?
22. “Because there is nothing concealed but for the purpose of becoming visible, nor has anything come to be hidden away except that it should come to light.
23. “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
He had just told them they were given things that had been concealed; he is thus telling them what they should do with those things when the time was right. Those to whom he was speaking later correctly interpreted this, when persecuted (cf. v. 17) as, “We cannot do anything but speak of the things we have seen and heard!” (Acts 4:20) He just told them to wait until something important was in place before doing so. (Mat. 17:9)
24. And he was telling them, “Watch what you listen to! With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be added to you,
More: of the same, whether good or bad.
25. “because whoever has, to him it will be given, and whoever does not have, even what he does have will be taken away from him.
For someone who has merely religion but not a new heart (Y’hezq’El/Ezek. 36:26), the good record of deeds done well will no longer add up to the minimum requirement, but with the new birth (Yoch. 3:3ff), his deeds will improve even more (v. 24).
26. And he was saying, “This is what the Kingdom of Elohim is like: a sower who throws the seed onto the earth,
27. “and he sleeps and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts; how, he does not know.
28. “The earth brings forth fruit on its own: first a blade, then a head, then the fully-formed grain in the ear.
On its own: literally, automatically! I.e., it is not the sower who makes it work.
29. “But when it yields the fruit, right away he sends out the sickle, because the harvest is ready.”
30. And he was saying, “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of Elohim? Or with what illustration shall we present it?
31. “[It’s] like a grain of mustard which, when it is sown on the earth, is the smallest of seeds that are on earth,
32. “yet when it has been sown, it becomes bigger than any [other] garden herbs, and produces branches big [enough] for the birds f the air to be able to take up residence under its shade.”
Chuck Missler asked whether he is simply saying the Kingdom would become much bigger than anyone would ever expect, given its humble beginnings, or whether (since mustard plants in Galilee today do not get very big) he is saying it would become bigger than it was supposed to, inadvertently giving quarter to evil entities as well (since above he had just used birds or fowls as a picture of enemies that would snatch up the good seed that was sown).
33. And with many similitudes of this sort he kept speaking the word to them to the extent that they were able to listen.
34. But he would not speak to them other than with similitudes, but in private he would interpret [them] all to his own disciples.
35. Now on that [same] day, when it had become late, he said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.”
36. So, allowing the crowd to leave, they took him along since he was in the boat, and there were other boats with him.
37. And a sudden big windstorm came up, and the waves were splashing up into the boat, so that the boat was already getting filled up.
These were tiny fishing boats without decks, except possibly for a small covered area at the very back:
38. Now he was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion, so they woke him up and said to him, “Master! Is it of no concern to you that we might die?”
This is reminiscent of Yonah 1:5-6.
39. So, having been roused from his sleep, he sharply admonished the wind and said to the lake, "Silence! Calm down!" And the wind abated, and it became very calm.
Sharply admonished: to restrain it, but in a chiding way as if it were an animate, willful entity. Calm down: Gk., "be muzzled", a term used in exorcism, to silence a demon or render it ineffective. (Kee; cf. note on Mat. 8:26)
40. And he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still not have any confidence?”
41. And they were terrified with great awe, and said to each other, “Who is this, then, that even the wind and the lake obey him?”
CHAPTER 5
1. And they came to the other side of the lake, into the region of the Gerasenes.
Gerasenes: residents of Gerasa (whose ruins today are known as Jerash, in Jordan), the metropolis of the region and one of the Decapolis cities). Luke 8:26 specifies more precisely that this was the area of Gadara, another city from that time with a commanding view of the southern end of the lake.
2. And when he had gotten out of the boat, immediately a person with an unclean spirit came out to meet him,
3. who had [his] dwelling among the tombs, and no one was able to bind him any longer, even with chains.
4. (Because he had often been bound with fetters and chains, but the chains had been torn apart by him, and the fetters shattered, and no one was strong enough to subdue him,
5. and throughout every night and day he would shriek among the tombs and in the mountains and cut himself up with stones.)
Cut himself up: the term can mean cut in pieces, mangle, or wound. (Thayer)
6. And, having seen Yeshua from a distance, he ran and fell on his face in front of him
7. And, calling out [urgently] with s loud voice, he said, “What do you have to do with me, Yeshua, son of the Most High Elohim? I beg you by Elohim, swear that you won’t torment me!”
8. He said to him, “You unclean spirit, come out of the human being!”
9. And he asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “Legion is my name, because we are many!”
10. And he begged him numerous times that he would not send them out of the territory.
11. And near the mountain there was a big herd of pigs grazing,
12. and they begged him, saying, “Let us go into the pigs, so that we may enter into them!”
13. So he permitted them, and when they had gone out [of him] the unclean spirits entered into the pigs, and the herd—about 2,000 [of them]--rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned in the lake.
Some have speculated that this is where the term “deviled ham” originated!
14. And those who were pasturing them ran away into the city and countryside and reported [it], and they came out to see what it was that had been done.
15. When they came to Yeshua, they saw the one who had had the legion sitting, clothed and in his right mind, and they were terrified.
16. And those who had seen how it had come about for the man [who had been] possessed by a demon, and about the pigs,
17. and they began to beg him to leave their region.
18. And when he got into the boat, the one who had been possessed by demons was pleading with him that he might [stay] with him.
19. And he did not permit him, but said to him, “Go to your home and your own [people] and announce to them what great things YHWH did for you when He had mercy on you!”
20. So he left and began to proclaim throughout the Decapolis the many things Yeshua had done for him, and everyone was amazed.
Decapolis: a region of ten Greco-Roman cities, all but one of which were east of the Yarden River in what is now Syria and Jordan. The two that were closest to here were Gadara (Umm Qeis) and Gerasa (Jerash).
21. Now when Yeshua had crossed over again in the boat into the [region on] the other side, and while he was beside the sea, a great crowd gathered because of him.
22. When one of the synagogue leaders named Yair came by, he saw Yeshua and fell down toward his feet,
23. and he called him aside many [times], saying, “My little daughter is at the very end—holding on—so would you come lay hands on her so she can be cured and survive?”
Called aside: or invited, begged. Be cured: or, have her life saved.
24. So he left with him, and a big crowd followed him and was pressing in on him [from all sides].
25. Now a woman who had been twelve years with a flow of blood
26. and had undergone much ill-treatment under many physicians and had spent all she [had] but had not been benefitted in any way, but rather had gotten worse,
27. when she heard the [news] about Yeshua [being there], she came up in the crowd from behind [him] and grabbed hold of his outer garment,
28. because she was saying, “If I can at least touch his garments, I will be healed.”
How did she know this? Mat. 9:20 adds the detail that it was the extremity or fringe of his garment—on which the tzitzit would be hung. (Num. 15:38) The extremity in Hebrew is called the “wing”. She knew the prophecy in Mal'akhi 4:2 that the "Sun of Righteousness" would have "healing in his wings"!
29. And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she knew that she was healed from the affliction in [her] body.
30. But right away Yeshua, having become aware within himself that energy had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?”
31. And his disciples were saying to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you, and you say, ‘Who touched me’?”
32. But he kept looking around to identify the one who had done this.
33. And the woman, who had come to be in awe yet was trembling [with fear], came and prostrated herself before him and told him the whole truth.
34. But he said to her, “Daughter, your confidence has rescued you; go in peace, and be restored to health from your affliction!”
Daughter: not young enough even to be his daughter, he was using something like the affectionate idiom, “Daughter of my people”, which Yirmeyahu so often used.
35. While he was still speaking, they came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any further?”
36. But Yeshua, overhearing the message that [they] spoke, said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; only have faith.”
Have faith: or trust, be confident.
37. And he did not permit anyone to accompany him except “the Rock” and Yaaqov and ochanan, Yaaqov’s brother.
38. When they arrived in the synagogue ruler’s household, he contemplated [the] commotion—the weeping and much noisy wailing.
This was the custom upon the death of someone who was loved. Sometimes professional mourners were even hired to make the noise in a more dramatic way.
39. So when he entered, he said to them, “Why are you in such a panic and lamenting? The child is not dead, but [only] sleeping!”
40. And they started ridiculing him, but after driving them all out, he took along the child’s father and mother, and those who were with him, and went into the place where the child was.
Went into: the Greek term can also mean “to intervene”, which he certainly did, including the authority by which he motivated the mocking mourners to run away cowering. (Don Francisco)
41. Then, having grasped the child’s hand, he said to her, “Talitha, qum!”, which, being translated is, “Little girl, I tell you, get up!”
Get up: includes both the sense of waking up and rising—exactly what one would say to someone who has overslept.
42. And at once the young girl got up and began walking around (because she was twelve years of age). And they were beside themselves with great ecstasy.
Twelve years: This is no mere incidental explanation. Twelve years was how long the woman who met him on the way there had suffered from her affliction. Twelve constantly reminds us of “all Israel”—the 12 tribes. Chuck Missler suggests that the woman, if she had been Jewish, would not have dared to touch his garment and rendered him ritually unclean, so she may represent the Gentiles who have been helped by Yeshua during the interim while he prepares to resurrect all of Israel, even the “lost” tribes. Beside themselves: or overwhelmed, overcome. The term for how ecstatic they were literally means “bewildered or having one’s mind displaced by the shock of such amazement”!
43. And he gave them strict instructions that no one should know about this, and he gave orders that she should be given something to eat.
Given: or offered, but he knew her recovery would be much quicker with the proper nourishment.
CHAPTER 6
1. And he went out from there and came into his hometown, and his disciples accompanied him.
This would have been Naztereth, situated on a cliff overlooking the Yezre’el Valley to the south.
2. And when the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and most of those who heard were astonished, saying, “Where did this [ma]n get these things, and what [kind of] wisdom has been given to him, in addition to such powerful [works] as have been generated through his hands?
3. Isn’t this the craftsman—Miryam’s son and the brother of Yaaqov and Yossi and Yehudah and Shim’on? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
Craftsman: traditionally a carpenter, others think he was a stone mason because there would have been much work for this kind of artisan at the nearby Roman city of Tzipprori (Sepphoris). Otehrs see it as an idiom for a rabbi or Torah teacher, but that does not fit the tone of their question, for why wold they be shocked that a rabbi (or a rabbi’s son) could teach Torah?
4. And Yeshua said to them, “A prophet does not go unrecognized except in his hometown, and among his relatives, or in his own household.”
5. And he was not able to do many powerful [works] there, except that he healed a few who were persistently sick, having laid hands on them.
6. And he was surprised at their lack of trust, so he went through the surrounding villages, teaching.
7. And he summoned the Twelve, and began to send them out two by two, and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
8. And he instructed them t o take nothing for the journey except a walking-stick alone—no bread, no bag, no money in the belt--
Walking-stick: or staff, for support, but which could double as a club for defense if needed.
9. but wearing sandals, and not [even] two sets of clothing to wear.
10. He was telling them, “Wherever [you go], if you enter a house [for lodging], stay there until you leave that locale,
The Essenes, with whom Yeshua seems to have been affiliated, had a network of homes in which like-minded travelers could find lodging and be confident that the food would be kosher and things would be done strictly according to the Torah.
11. and whatever place will not welcome you or listen to you, when you depart from there, shake the loose soil off your feet [in a dramatic gesture] as evidence against them; I tell you the truth: on the day of judgment, it will be more tolerable for S’dom or ‘Amorrah than for that city.
12. So when they went out, they proclaimed that [people] should repent.
13. Also, they were expelling many demons and anointing many chronically-ill people with olive oil and healing [them].
They were not merely laying hands on the sick as Yeshua often did, but using this symbolic gesture to ask YHWH to instantly heal them. The term for “anointing” can also mean applying medicinally as an ointment, which may have been the case for some, but not all that they affected.
14. And King Herodos heard [about it], because his name had become well-known, and they were saying, “Yochanan the immerser has risen form the dead, and that is how these powers are operating within him!”
15. Others were saying that he [was] Eliyahu, while yet others were saying, “A prophet, like one of the prophets!”
Eliyahu: because Mal’akhi prophesied that YHWH would send Eliyahu back a second time.
16. But when Herodos heard, he was saying, “Yochanan, the one I beheaded—he has risen [back] up!”
17. (Because Herodos himself had arrested Yochanan and chained him up in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Filippos’ wife, because he had married her,
18. since Yochanan had been telling Herodos, “It isn’t lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
19. And Herodos held a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, but was not able,
20. because Herodos held Yochanan in reverence, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and he kept a close watch on him, and when he heard him, he was often at a loss [fo words] and enjoyed listening to him.
Kept a close watch: or, kept him in mind, even kept him safe.
21. Now there came a well-timed day, when, on his birthday, Herodos made a banquet for his highest officials and for the [military] commanders of thousands and for the foremost [people] of the Galil,
22. and when Herodias’ own daughter came in and danced, it pleased Herodos and those who were with him at the table, and the king told the girl, “Request whatever you wish from me, and I will give it to you!”
23. And he made an oath to her: “However much you might ask, I will give you—up to half of my kingdom!”
He must have been very taken with her and probably very drunk!
24. So when she went out, she said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” And she said, “The head of Yochanan the immerser!”
25. And she came right [back] to the king speedily, [and] asked, “I want you to, right now, give me the head of Yochanan the immerser on a platter!”
26. Though it made the king sorrowful in every way, on account of his oath and those who were dining with him, he did not want to break his promise to her.
In every way: literally, “all-around”. Who were dining: who had witnessed his words, rash though they were, and he did not want to lose face. Break his promise: literally, set her aside, displace, abrogate, or refuse.
27. So immediately the king sent a guard and gave orders to be brought his head, so he went and beheaded him in the prison
This took place at the Makhaerus, a fortress/palace on the east side of the Dead Sea.
28. and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
29. And when they heard, his disciples came and removed his body and laid it in a tomb.)
30. When those who had been sent reconvened with Yeshua, they reported to him all that they had accomplished and how much they had taught.
31. And he told them, “You [all] come privately into a solitary place [by] yourselves, and get a little rest”—because those who were coming and going were so many, they hadn’t even found time to eat.
32. So they went away in the boat to a solitary place by themselves.
33. When they saw them leaving, many recognized them, and [people] from all the cities ran there together on foot and got there ahead of them.
34. When he got out, he saw a big crowd, and was moved with compassion in regard to them, because they were like sheep who had no shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.
35. Now when the hour was already becoming lengthened, his disciples were telling him, “This place is isolated, and the hour is already late.
36. “Dismiss them so they can go into the surrounding farms and villages to buy themselves something to eat.”
37. But in reply he said to them, “You give them [something] to eat!” And they said to him, “If we leave, can we buy two hundred days’ wages’ [worth of] bread to give them to eat?!”
38. But he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go see!” And when they had found out, they said, “Five—and two fish!”
39. And he gave them orders to have them all sit down group by group on the green grass.
40. So they relaxed in companies of a hundred or fifty.
41. And, taking hold of the five loaves and two fish, he looked up into the heaven, said a blessing, and broke the loaves into pieces and kept giving them to his disciples so that they could set it in front of them, and he distributed the two fish to [them] all.
Looked into heaven: not just the sky (as the term also means), but another realm where there was infinite supply, and, regarding that as the foremost reality, he brought it to bear on the dimensions in which we normally operate. (George Kirk) Like the widow whose oil kept increasing as long as she needed more, Yeshua somehow duplicated the atoms that were present in the same format they were already in, so that they multiplied. Blessing: Though the Torah command is to thank YHWH after we have eaten to our satisfaction (Deut. 8:10), by this time the tradition of blessing YHWH before a meal as well had become established, and Yeshua seems to have endorsed the practice. After all, can you thank YHWH too much?
42. And they all ate [until] they were stuffed.
43. And they picked up twelve baskets full of the fragments, in addition to the fish.
44. And those who had eaten of the loaves were five thousand men.
And this was in addition to women and children (Mat. 14:21), so were there 20,000 people or more in all?
45. And he urged his disciples to embark into the boat right away and proceed him across toward Beyth-tsayadah.
Beyth-tsayadah means “house of hunters”, possibly including fishermen, but the juxtaposition of hunters and fish, as in Yirmeyahu 16:16, with the idea of multiplying fish in the midst of the land (Gen. 48:16) along with 12 baskets full was to jog their memories of the context—Efrayim and Menashe, the Northern Kingdom in both cases, added to Yehudah to include all 12 tribes of Israel, and Yeshua hints at this as a sign that ran deeper than the mere need to fill these people’s physical stomachs. (8:19; Mat. 16:9-11; Yochanan 6:26)
46. And, having taken leave of them, he went off into a mountainous area to pray.
After such a busy time that would assault his outer senses, Yeshua needed time and silence to hear YHWH’s voice about what was next on His agenda.
47. And when evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on the land.
48. And he saw them straining at the rowing, because the wind was against them. Around the fourth watch of the night he came toward them, walking on top of the lake, and intending to approach them.
49. But, seeing him walking on top of the lake, it seemed to them that he was a ghost, and they screamed,
Ghost: an apparition or phantasm. While this was not a reality mentioned directly in the Torah, Yeshua did explain that the evil spirits he often cast out were the disembodied giants born of the “sons of the Elohim” and daughters of men (Gen. 6) mentioned in 1 Hanokh (Enoch) 15:8-10. (Mat. 12:43)
50. because [they] all saw him and were distressed. But right away he spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is me. Don’t be scared!”
Take courage: or, be confident, or loosely, “Trust me!” It is me: or, literally, I am [the one you are seeing].
51. And he came toward them, mounting up into the boat, and the wind subsided. And they were astounded far beyond anything that was around them,
Yeshua exceeded all they anticipated, because he surmounted the normal natural limitations, operating on the same principles by which he had drawn additional bread from the heavens. Being unfallen, he understood the dynamics of both physics and spiritual principles far beyond what any of the rest of us can. But we can begin to taste those powers in before the Age to Come. (Heb. 6:5; 1 Cor. 2:9-10)
52. because they had not yet synthesized [the significance] of the loaves, but their hearts had been rendered insensitive.
Synthesized: literally, put together. Insensitive: full or calloused, unable to perceive any principles on which these events were based, and therefore just saying, “Wow!” but not trying to “wraps their minds around” what was really being shown them.
53. And, having crossed over to the land, they came into Gennesaret and drew up to moor at the shore.
Gennesaret: called Ginosar today, the site of an alcove in the shadow of the Arbel cliff where the water deep enough to dock. A boat from this time period was found under the sand here when the lake level was down in the 1980s, and some speculate that it may have been this boat or another in which Yeshua rode. It has been preserved and is on display at a museum at a kibbutz right there.
54. And once they had gotten out of the boat, having immediately recognized [him],
55. they ran throughout that whole region and began to carry those who were sick on [their] mats to wherever they heard he was.
56. And whenever he came into towns or cities or farm villages, they were laying those who were enfeebled in the marketplaces and calling him over so that they might touch just the corner of his garment, and as many as took hold of him were being healed.
Corner of his garment: See note on 5:28.
CHAPTER 7
1. And the P’rushim and some of the scribes, who had come from Yerushalayim, were gathered near him,
2. and they noticed some of his disciples eating the bread with “defiled hands”—that is, unwashed--
3. because the P’rushim and all the Judeans do not eat unless they strictly wash their hands, holding fast to the tradition handed down by the elders.
Strictly: from the word for fist, or possibly, “from the elbow to the knuckles”; the term is the root word for our modern word “pygmy”, being first used in this way by ancient Greek writers of a mythological race of dwarves.
4. Nor do they dine [on anything brought] from the marketplace unless they [first] submerge it [in water], and there are many other [customs] they received which they hold to—immersions of cups and measuring-pitchers and bronze utensils and dining-couches.
5. Then the P’rushim and the scribes questioned him, “Why do your students not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
Walk: a specific Hebraic idiom for a particular manner of keeping the Torah—or in this case, things added to it, which had taken on a life of their own, having become such a common custom that they were already confused with commands YHWH actually gave.
6. And he told them, “Rightly did Yeshayahu prophesy concerning you hypocrites, as it has been written, ‘This people honors Me with the lips, but their heart is kept back from Me;
Kept back: the term’s root-meaning is "to have something, because far away from something else" (J. Thayer)
7. “‘rather, they worship Me to no purpose, teaching human injunctions [as if they were] doctrines.’
Heb., “their fear of Me is a commandment of men learned by rote”. The quote is from Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 29:13.
8. “For, laying aside the commandment of Elohim, you hold to the tradition of men—for example, the washing of pots and cups: and many other similar things you do.”
9. And he said to them [P'rushim and scribes], “Full well you reject the commandment of YHWH, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10. "For Moshe said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and, ‘Whoever curses father or mother, let him die the death’,
The references are to Exodus 20:12 and 21:17.
11. "But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, It is qorban, that is to say, an offering, by whatever you might be profited by me; [he shall be free].
Qorban: Hebrew for “drawing near”, and an idiom for particular offerings brought to the Temple altar.
12. "And you allow him to no longer do anything for his father or his mother;
13. "Making the word of Elohim of no effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and you do many similar things."
In Second-Temple times there was so much pressure to outdo one’s neighbors in religious zeal that some people were even using resources meant to provide for their elderly parents to make extra donations to the Temple. They were confusing the obligations men had added with what YHWH Himself had said. By doing things He never really required, they were violating YHWH’s higher-priority command to honor one’s father and mother. The way YHWH says He wants us to worship Him is not with extravagant gifts or high-sounding doctrines, but by taking care of His other people. What parent doesn’t enjoy it when his children tell him they love him? But it sours everything when he sees them mistreating each other. Matthew adds a quotation from Yeshayahu 29:13.
14. And calling the whole crowd closer to him, he said to them, “All of you listen to me, and put it together:
15. “There is nothing outside the person that can defile him by entering into him. Rather, the things that come out from him—those are the things that profane him.
16. “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
17. And when he left the crowd [and] entered into a house, his students questioned him about the comparison.
18. And he said to them, “Are you just as undiscerning? Can’t you understand that anything that enters into the man from outside is unable to defile him?
19. “Because it doesn’t enter into his heart, but into his belly, then it goes out into the waste-bowl, [thus] purging all foods.”
Thus purging all foods: i.e., ridding the body of them. The parallel passage in Matithyahu 15:17 does not even have this phrase, which has caused much controversy, some trying to twist it to be speaking about “purifying” foods which are not kosher (i.e., making them acceptable to eat!), when the context is clearly eating with unwashed hands (v. 5) and ingesting whatever dirt might be on them, not the type of food eaten.
20. Then he said, “What comes out of a person—that is what defiles him!
21. “Because from within—out of the heart—proceed the bad reasonings, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22. “thefts, greedy desires, malice, deceit, unbridled lust, a bad eye, injurious speech, arrogance, senselessness--
A bad eye: a Hebrew idiom for not being generous but stingy.
23. “all of these bad things come out from within, and they [are what] defile a person.”
24. But he got up from there and proceeded into the district of Tsor [and Tsidon], and he entered into a house, not wanting anyone to know, but he was not able to remain hidden.
Tsor and Tsidon: on the Mediterranean coast north of Israel in what is now Lebanon.
25. But as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit came and prostrated herself at his feet.
26. But the woman was Greek, or Syro-phoenician origin, and she kept asking him to expel the demon out of her daughter.
Syro-phoenician: from that very region. “Syrian” was a broader designation for one of the four Greek administrative regions into which Aexander’s empire was divided, but the Phoenician area was limited to the area near the two cities of verse 24, which had been allied with King Shlomo a thousand years before, and with the Northen Kingdom of Israel for a long time thereafter, so undoubtedly there were many Israelites of Ephraimite descent who had settled there when the Kingdom was dispersed, it being a natural place for them to escape to. Unless he was just trying to escape the crowds in a place fewer people knew of him (as v. 24 does suggest), Yeshua would have little other reason to go there than to be looking for the “lost sheep of the House of Israel” (Mat. 15:24) But she does not seem to have been one of them:
27. And he was telling her, “Let the children be fed to [their] satisfaction first, because it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs!”
28. But she answered and said to him, “Of course, master! Yet the dogs eat the children’s crumbs [that fall] down under the table.”
29. And he said to her, “Because of this reasoning, go; the demon has gone out from your daughter.”
This reasoning: i.e., “By this logic—that, come to think of it, really makes sense!”
30. And when she went into her home, she found the child lying on the bed, and the demon having left.
31. And again, having left the environs of Tsor, he came by way of Tsidon to the lake of the Galil, right in the middle of the district of the Ten Cities.
Ten Cities: Gk., Dekapolis, all of which were generally southeast of the lake, except Scythopolis (formerly called Beth She’an), which was west of the Yarden River where the Yezre’el Valley met it. That Valley comes all the way across from the Mediterranean and is easy to traverse, so it would have been a natural route for him to take.
32. And they led to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking, and they called him over so that he might lay the hand on him.
It is common for those who are deaf to have a speech impediment, because they can only pronounce words as they read the lips of the speaker and guess at what vowels and vocalizations are being used or not used. But there was also a physical reason he could not move his tongue properly. (v. 35)
33. And, having taken him aside, away from the crowd by himself, he thrust his fingers into his ears and, having spit, he grasped his tongue.
Grasped: or attached it (apparently the spit) to his tongue. Just as infected saliva can spread disease, could the pure DNA in Yeshua’s unfallen saliva spread some beneficial quality to this man’s body?
34. And, having looked up into the heaven, he gave a deep sigh and said to him, “Effathah!” (That is, “Be thoroughly opened up!”
Looked up into heaven: just as when he multiplied the loaves and fish, he was drawing on something he saw in the higher realm (truer reality). Deep sigh: The term means to groan because of pressure of being exerted forward (Thayer) like the loud sounds a mother makes during childbirth or like the vocal exhalation when one heaves something heavy. Was he doing something like a deeper chiropractic adjustment within the inner parts of this man’s head? Effathah: with the accent on the last syllable and the “h” pronounced, this Aramaic word is a cognate to the Hebrew pethaH.
35. And his ears were opened up and right away the ligament of his tongue was loosened up, and he began speaking correctly!
Ligament: used figuratively of a chain that imprisons or a string that impedes, so it seems that it was too tight or stiffened so as to be unable to move. Yeshua used a strong effort (v. 34) and, being very familiar with the physical workings of the body (or somehow due to looking into the other dimension, being able to see like an X-ray or an MRI scanner), apparently knew exactly how to jar it back into the right position along with whatever was not functioning in his inner ears.
36. And he gave them strict instructions to tell no one [about it], but the more he forbade them, all the more enthusiastically were they proclaiming [it].
37. And they were immeasurably amazed, saying, “Everything he’s done, he’s done well! He causes both the deaf to hear and the inarticulate to speak!”
CHAPTER 8
1. In those days, again since the crowd was huge and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples over and said to them,
2. “I have pity on he crowd because they have already been staying with me for three days and have nothing hat they can eat!
3. “And if I send them away to their homes hungry, they may faint on the way, because some of them have come from a long distance.”
4. And his disciples answered him, “Where will anyone here be able to get enough bread to satisfy these [people] in an uninhabited area?”
5. So he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”
6. So he instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and when he had taken the seven loaves and expressed thanks, he broke off pieces and kept giving them to his disciples to bring it right to them, so they set it in front of the crowd.
7. And they had a few small fish, and, having said a blessing [over] them, he told them to set these before them as well.
8. And they ate and were satisfied, and they took away seven baskets of surplus pieces.
9. Now there were about 4,000 [people], and he sent them away.
10. Then right away, he got into the boat with his disciples, and went into the district of Dalmanutha.
Dalmanutha: a town or village near Magdalah, on the west side of the lake.
11. And the P’rushim came out and started debating with him, seeking from him an authenticating sign from heaven, to put him to a test.
12. And sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, “Why does this kind [of people] look for a miraculous confirmation? I tell you the truth, if any sign will be given to this type…”
13. And, sending them away, he again embarked and went away to the other side [of the lake].
14. And they forgot to get bread, and [were wondering] whether they did not have even one loaf with them in the boat.
15. But he started instructing them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the P’rushim and the leaven of Herodos!”
16. And they were discussing with each other [the fact] that they had no bread.
17. And, being aware of this, he said, “Why are you concluding [that I said this] because you don’t have bread? Don’t you understand yet? Haven’t you put [two and two] together? Do you have unperceptive hearts?
18. “Having eyes, can you not see? [Though you] have ears, can you not hear? And don’t you remember?
19. “When I distributed the loaves to the 5,000, how many full baskets of pieces did you take away?” And they told him, “Twelve.”
20. “And when [I did the same] to the 4,000, how many baskets filled with fragments did you pick up?” And they said, “Seven.”
21. And he was saying to them, “Don’t you understand yet?”
He was speaking about the P’rushim (and Herodos), and he seems to be emphasizing the numbers. We could thus also take into consideration how many loaves he started with each time. He fed more people with five loaves than with seven, and still had more left over. Could he have been saying that the P’rushim, who added to the five books of the Torah, thinking this would be more satisfying, still did not have enough to feed all twelve tribes of Israel? Yet with the Torah alone, he did?
22. When they came into Beyth-tsayadah, they brought him a blind man and begged him to [make a difference by] touching him.
23. So, taking hold of the blind man’s hand, he led him out from the town and spit into his eyes, he placed his hands on him and asked him if he could see anything.
24. And he looked up and said, “I see then men because, like trees, I see [them] walking around!”
25. The he put his hands on his eyes again, and when he opened his eyes [and looked through them], they were restored to their original condition, and he began to see everything clearly.
There were two stages of healing. He could see enough to avoid stumbling--much as the House of Israel has met Yeshua as Savior (thus having the most essential factor) yet missed the context in which he is best understood. Those sent to regather the rest of the House will see more than those who merely bask in what we have received, since the focus is no longer on self. But two-stage healing was intentional. Trees are often an idiom for people in Scripture. (Psalm 1:3; 92:12; Yirmeyahu 17:8, etc.) It seems this man’s spiritual insight was restored first, then his physical sight—a picture of how the House of Israel received YHWH’s mercy back long before becoming a people again bound for a physical Land. (R. Webster; see Hosea 1.)
26. And he sent him to his own home, saying, “Don’t go into the town, or tell anyone in the town.”
Was he using reverse psychology here to get him to spread the word, or was he just trying to be sure he could get away to his next appointment?
27. And Yeshua and his disciples went out into the villages of Caesarea Filippi, and on the way, he was questioning his disciples, saying, “Who are people saying that I am?”
28. And they answered him, “[Some are] saying, ‘Yochanan the Immerser’, and others, ‘Eliyahu’; still others, ‘one of the prophets’.”
29. And he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” And “the Rock” answered and told him, “You are the Messiah!”
Messiah: Hebrew for “anointed one”—symbolic of being chosen by YHWH for a particular important task. It was usually only done to His choice of king or high priest.
30. But he forbade them to tell anyone about him.
31. And he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Ben Adam to suffer many things and to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be put to death, but after three days to rise back up.
Ben Adam: Dani’el’s description of the one to whom YHWH would give an eternal kingdom. (Dan. 7:13) Rejected: repudiated after having been examined, as on e disapproved or disqualified according to their standards.
32. As he was speaking frankly about this matter, “the Rock” took him aside and began to chide him.
I.e., “You should not say things like that! What's this talk about dying?”
33. But he turned and looked at his disciples and rebuked “Rock” and said, “Get back in place behind me, adversary! Because you are not thinking in terms of Elohim’s [ways], but those of humanity.
Adversary: literally, satan, but in Hebrew it has a generic sense as well as a specific; he was not saying Kefa was the devil, but that he was placing himself in opposition to YHWH’s plan and could derail it by being too short-sighted in his perspective. Thinking: the Greek term combines both the visceral and cognitive aspects; he was reacting according to his gut response rather than pondering what Yeshua had revealed to him.
34. Having called the crowd to himself along with the disciples, he told them, “If anyone wants to come after me, he must disregard himself and pick up his execution stake, then follow me!
35. “Because whoever may want to protect his own life will lose it, but whoever may lose his life for my sake and that if the glad message will save it,
36. “because how does it benefit a person to acquire the whole world yet forfeit his own soul?
Acquire: or gain. Forfeit: or suffer damage or detriment. He is speaking in profit-and-loss terminology. It may not be a complete forfeiture, as in eternal damnation, but considerably less reward in the Kingdom than he would have had if he had risked the present age to invest in the one to come.
37. “For what can a person give in exchange for his own soul?
Exchange: purchase price, equivalent, or ransom.
38. “Because if anyone is ashamed of me and these words of mine in this [present] adulterous and sinful era, the Ben Adam will also be ashamed of him when he arrives with the honor of his Father along with the holy angels.”
Ashamed: singled out particularly for having placed his confidence in the wrong things. (Thayer) Holy angels: for some forfeited their holiness, and will not accompany him.
CHAPTER 9
1. And He told them, "Be assured that some of those who are standing here will certainly not taste of death until they see the Kingdom of YHWH having come in power.
2. And after six days, Yeshua privately took Kefa, Yaaqov, and Yochanan with him to a high mountain, and there was no one else with them. And right in front of their eyes, his form underwent a drastic change.
After six days: I.e., six days later, but the specific wording here gives us a picture of Yeshua's glorification after six "days", that is 6,000 years of human history. (see note on Yoch. 2:1)
3. And his garments became dazzlingly white like snow, much whiter than any launderer on earth could every make them.
4. And they saw Eliyahu, along with Moshe standing there, speaking with Yeshua.
This seems to have occurred at the same place where Moshe died, and where Eliyahu was carried to heaven in the fiery chariot—or even at Mt. Sinai, where both of them had met with YHWH. Moshe was seen as a symbol for the Torah, and Eliyahu is often regarded as representing all of the prophets. This falls in line with what Yeshua said about the Torah and the prophets bearing witness to Him. Compare the two witnesses in Rev. 11:4ff; Zech. 4:11ff with Moshe and Eliyahu, and see note on Yochanan 3:29. Moshe was not allowed to see YHWH's face (Ex. 33:23), so no one has seen YHWH; Yeshua is the one who has revealed him (Yoch. 1:18; 14:9; 2 Cor. 4:6; Col. 1:15), having, possibly through the extremely difficulty choice made in the previous chapter, reclaimed the image of YHWH that Adam lost, which WAS, and now Moshe, whose own face had shone after simply being in YHWH’s presence, “saw” Him to the only extent anyone ever could, through this manifestation that went beyond most in this age—probably a vision or “time warp” that took them into the age to come for a moment.
5. In response, Kefa said to Yeshua, "Master, it's good that we're here! Let us make three booths, one for you, one for Moshe, and one for Eliyahu!"
Booths: Heb., sukkoth, so this was probably at the time of the festival by the same name, thus setting the stage for understanding other parts of the passage.
6. After all, he didn't know what else to say, and they were very much afraid!
7. And a cloud began to overshadow them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My Son, the Beloved; listen to him."
Cloud: Compare Rev. 11:12, where the two witnesses are again taken up to heaven in a cloud. Eliyahu was spirited to heaven once before, and a cloud is what led Moshe in the wilderness, and where He met YHWH on Mt. Sinai. Yeshua will also "come with the clouds", a phrase often referring to huge crowds of people.
8. And suddenly they looked around and couldn't see anyone except Yeshua with them by himself anymore.
9. Now as they came down from the mountain, he distinctly ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10. And they retained that saying among themselves, discussing what the “rising from the dead” might [mean].
11. And they put a question to him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Eliyahu must come first?”
That teaching is derived from Mal’akhi 4:5.
12. And he answered and told them, “Eliyahu certainly is coming first, and restores all things [to their former condition]. But how indeed is it written of the Son of Man that he must undergo many [sufferings] and be treated with contempt?”
13. “But I tell you that Eliyahu has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, as it was written about him."
Matithyahu 17:13 adds the interpretation that he was speaking about Yochanan the Immerser.
14. Now when he came to his students, he saw a big crowd around them, and the scribes having a discussion with them.
15. And immediately, all the people, when they saw him, were struck with great relief, and ran to welcome him.
16. And he asked the scribes, “What were you discussing with them?”
17. And one among the crowd answered and said, “Master, I brought you my son, who has a spirit that makes him mute,
18. And whenever it seizes him it hurls him to the ground with convulsions, and he foams and grinds his teeth and withers away. I told your students to expel it, but they were unable to.”
Withers away: or dries up.
19. And Yeshua answered and said, “O unbelieving generation! How long must I be with you, and how long must I bear with you? Bring him to me.”
20. So they brought him to him, and as soon as Yeshua looked at him, the adversary took control of him and made him fall to the earth, and he began [rolling in] the dust and foaming [at his mouth].
Verses 20-28 appear in Shem-Tov’s compilation, which mainly draws from the text of Matithyahu, suggesting that this was originally part of Matithyahu but was only preserved in the Greek version of Markos, not Matithyahu. So this section is translated from Hebrew. Took control of: or subdued, from a word for forcing him to his knees.
21. Then Yeshua asked the lad’s father, “How long a time has the adversary taken [control of] him?” And the father replied, “From such and such a time onward.
This information may have given Yeshua insight into the exact cause of the problem. The Greek and Aramaic say, “Since he was a child.”
22. “Many times it makes him fall into fire or into water to somehow destroy him if possible. So if you, my master, are able to help him in any way, help him!” And the man was raised to favor in his eyes, and he was filled with compassion for him.
23. And he said to him, “If you are able to believe, you will be able to accomplish anything, because to the one who believes, all things are easy.”
24. And right away the lad’s father cried out with a loud shout, “Master, I really do believe! So help me according to my trust!”
A loud shout: Greek, with tears. According to my trust: This suggests a very different idea than the Greek, which says, “Help my unbelief!”
25. When Yeshua saw that the people were gathering because of this, [speaking to the spirit] and said to it, “Tight-gripping and muting, here I am! I order you to come out from [him] right now, and from now on never return here!”
26. And the adversary came out, screaming and inflicting pain, and the lad was left as if dead, so that many started saying that he was dead.
Screaming and inflicting pain: Greek, took hold of him, tearing (at) him severely.
27. But Yeshua took hold of him and stood him up, and he got up.
28. And when Yeshua entered the house, the students approached Yeshua privately and said to him, “Why weren’t we able to get it [to come] out?”
29. And he said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
30. Then they left there and crossed over the Galil, but he did not want anyone to know it
31. because he was instructing his students and informing them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him, but after they kill him, he will rise up [on] the third day.”
32. But they did not understand this matter, and were afraid to question him.
33. When he came to Kfar Nahum, being in the house, he asked them, “What were you discussing among yourselves on the way?”
34. But they kept silent, because on the way they had been arguing about among them was the greatest.
35. So he sat down and called [all] twelve [of them] and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he must be[come] last of all and servant of all.
36. He took a small child and placed him in their midst, and when he had taken him up in his arms, he said to them,
37. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me but the One who sent me.
38. And Yochanan answered and said, “Master, we saw someone expelling demons in your name, but he does not join us, so we prohibited him because he does not join with us.”
39. But Yeshua said, “Don’t prohibit him! Because there is no one who can do a powerful work in my name who will quickly be able to speak badly about me.
40. “Because he who is not against is on our side.
41. “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name because you belong to Messiah—it is trustworthy, I tell you, that he will not lose his reward.
42. “But whoever causes one of these little ones who trust in me to stumble, it would be more appropriate for him that a millstone be hung around his neck and he be thrown into the sea!
43. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life handicapped than to have two hands [but] to go away into the Valley of Hinnom—into the fire that never goes out.
Valley (Gey) of Hinnom: corrupted into the Greek “Ge-henna”, where the idol Molech had been worshipped by making infants pass through its fiery hands. It was so abhorrent that the valley was later considered unworthy of any nobler use than burning garbage. Like the prophets before him, Yeshua uses this valley to illustrate the reward of the wicked, because fires were kept burning there day and night because there was always refuse to burn.
44. “and their worm is never finished [gnawing], and the fire is not quenched.
Worm: specifically a kind that feeds on dead bodies. I.e., there are enough evil people being cast into this valley that the worms never lack someone to feed off.
45. “And if your foot causes you to stumble, amputate it! It is better to enter into life maimed than, having two feet, to be thrown into the Valley of Hinnom—into the inextinguishable fire,
46. “where their worm is never finished [gnawing], and the fire is not quenched.
47. “And if your eye causes you to stumble, throw it away! It is better for you to enter into the Kingdom of Elohim with one eye than to be thrown, having two eyes, into the Valley of Hinnom,
48. “where their worm is never finished [gnawing], and the fire is not quenched,
49. “because everyone will be salted with fire, and every slaughter-offering will be sprinkled with salt.
The salt preserves the meat that has been stripped of its skin, especially in a hot climate like Israel’s, especially before refrigeration was available. It could take a considerable amount of time from the slaughter until the offering is placed on the altar, so salt is needed in the meantime. So salt must be brought as part of one’s offering. (See Leviticus 2:13)
50. “Salt is good! However, if it becomes tasteless, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another!”
Salt is good: while a few people may need low-sodium diets to counter other problems, there are many beneficial effects of salt, which tends to get a bad rap these days. Yeshua himself endorses its usual use! Tasteless: or insipid, flat. We can lose our effectiveness by the sins we allow ourselves to fall into (vv. 43-47), and how then will we be of any use to others—or to YHWH? But salt had idiomatic meanings as well in this culture. A salt covenant (Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5, and still extant in some Arab cultures) refers to the eating of salt together by the two parties, sealing the agreement. permanently (gotquestions.org; Chris Suitt) So this appears to be the background for this connection that sounds so cryptic to modern ears. In Colossians 4:6, Paul speaks of a conversation full of grace, “seasoned with salt”, so that we will know how to answer each person. This sounds like the same thing—a palatable discussion because, though we may disagree, if we are connected with YHWH through Yeshua, we are also in permanent covenant with all of YHWH’s other people, and should treat one another in such a way as to remember that we must continue dealing with one another throughout this whole age and the next.
CHAPTER 10
1. And getting up from there, he came into the district of Judea and on the other side of the Yarden, and again crowds assembled toward them, and again, as he was accustomed to do, he was teaching them.
2. And approaching [him], the P’rushim were asking him whether it is lawful for a can to divorce his wife—to test him.
3. But in response he said, “What did Moshe command you?”
4. And they said, “Moshe permitted [someone] to write a certificate of repudiation and send her away.”
In Hebrew this is called a get. It is required so that the woman not be left in the lurch and herself be unable to remarry because without it she would still technically belong to the one who had sent her away and was no longer providing for her.
5. But Yeshua told them, “[Aiming] toward your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you.
6. “However, from the beginning of creation, ‘He made them male and female.
7. “‘On account of this, a man will leave his father and mother and stick closely to his wife,
8. “‘and the two will turn into one flesh’, so that they are no longer two but rather one flesh.
He quoted Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 as his authority.
9. “Therefore what Elohim has joined together, let no human being separate.”
Separate: literally, put a space between.
10. And [when they went] into the house again, his disciples were questioning him concerning this.
11. And he told them, "Whoever will divorce his wife in order to marry another commits adultery against her.
In order to: literally "and", but the Greek word is sometimes used as a conjunction of intent or purpose; otherwise, anyone who ever remarried after divorcing his wife for any reason would be committing adultery. Yeshua does place one qualification on this statement in Matt. 5:32—except for unfaithfulness.
12. “And if a woman has divorced her husband to marry another, she is committing adultery.”
13. Then [some people] brought little children to him so that he could touch them, but his students turned them away.
Touch: the term connotes having an impact or placing his hands on them in a way that influences or changes them. Turned away: chided or admonished them with the implication that he had more important things to do.
14. But when he noticed [what they were doing], Yeshua became angry, and said, “Allow the little children to come toward me; don’t hinder them. In fact, the Kingdom of Elohim belongs to this kind [of people]!
This is one of a very few times we are told that Yeshua got angry. This shows what was really important to him, and he was incredulous that they could get what seemed to him such a basic principle wrong.
15. “I tell you the truth: whoever will not receive the Kingdom of Elohim like a [little] child will by no means enter into it.”
Receive: accept, welcome. Like a little child: eagerly, simply, without second thoughts based on all the “adult” considerations that would hold us back form wholeheartedly, unreservedly “jumping in”.
16. And taking them into his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.
17. And, when he had departed on his journey, someone ran up to him, fell down on his knee, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”
18. But Yeshua said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except YHWH alone.
Good: agathos--intrinsically and inherently, which is true of no human being, even one who has not sinned up to this point in his life, as contrasted with kalos (subjectively nice to look at, noble, honorable, approved—a term that can be used of human beings, and which he did use to describe himself in Yochanan 10:11, 14). He still, however, had the potential to choose evil at this point in his life, though unlike Adam, he never did so, and was therefore rewarded and raised to a much higher level. (Philippians 2:9)
19. “You know the commandments: ‘You must not murder’, ‘You must not commit adultery’, ‘You must not steal’, ‘You must not bring false testimony’, ‘Honor your father and mother.’
21. As he watched him with interest, Yeshua loved him, and said to him, “Your one shortcoming [is this]: Go and sell however much you may have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven—then come here [and] accompany me!”
22. But upon [hearing] this message, he became somber, and went away distressed, because he was one who had many properties.
Distressed: or sorrowing, grieved. Properties: i.e., possessions of land. This may not have been the end of te story, but it gave him much to chew on and gave Yeshua an occasion to teach one of his most vivid lessons:
23. And, looking around, Yeshua said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter into the Kingdom of Elohim!”
24. But the disciples were astonished at his words. But Yeshua, responding again, told them, “Children, how difficult it is [for those who trust in riches] to enter into the Kingdom of Elohim!
Who trust: or, who are persuaded by riches. The Byzantine Majority Text includes this phrase; some manuscripts do not.
25. “It is easier for a [thick] cable to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Elohim.”
Cable: Camel in Greek, but possibly a mistaken translation of the Aramaic/Hebrew word (which probably came first) which can mean either. A cable can be pulled apart strand by strand, fed through, and then reassembled—like the clothing plundered from the Egyptians and reworked into the priestly garments. (R. Webster) But “eye of a needle” is also identified by some as an idi0m for a very tight or narrow place\, and is used as such in the Talmud and Midrash.
26. Now they were stricken with extreme panic, saying among themselves, “Then who can be delivered?!”
Their line of reasoning seems to have been, “If the rich, who must be seen as righteous by God by dint of their evident blessing, can't be saved, who can be?" (Hebrew New Testament Studies)
27. Fixing [his eyes] on them, Yeshua said, “With humans, [it is] impossible, but not with Elohim, because all things can be done by Elohim.”
28. Then “the Rock” began to say to him, “Look, we have have let go of everything and followed you!”
29. And Yeshua was saying, “I tell you the truth. There is no man who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the sake of the Glad News,
30 but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands—along with persecutions--and in the world to come, eternal life.
31. “But many [who are now] first will be last, and the last, first.”
32. Now they were on the road that goes up into Yerushalayim, and Yeshua was leading the way [for] them, and they were astonished, but those accompanying him were afraid, so Yeshua again took the twelve aside and began to talk about the things that were about to come upon him:
Up: Yerushalayim is in a mountainous location, and thus it is a physical ascent to get there, but it is also metaphorically and symbolically the highest place in the world, because it is the place where YHWH chose to set His name (literally in several ways)—and may one day actually be physically the highest point on earth. (Mikha 4:1)
33. “Look, we are going up into Yerusahalayim, and the Ben Adam will be turned over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and surrender him to the Gentiles,
34. “and they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him, and after the third day he will rise back up”
35. Then Yaaqov and Yochanan, the two sons of Zavdi, approached him, saying, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask!”
36. But he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37. So they said to him, “Grant that when your intrinsic majesty is manifested, one of us can sit at your right hand and one at your left!”
38. But Yeshua said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and undergo the miqvah in which I am to be immersed?”
The cup: of YHWH’s wrath. (See Yirmeyahu 25:15; Rev. 14:10; 16:19, etc.) Miqvah: a Jewish ritual bath in which one is fully immersed to meet the requirements of a complete washing to ensure ritual purity before entering a holy place.
39. But they told him, “We are able!” And he said Yeshua told them, “The cup which I drink you will drink, and you will undergo the miqvah in which I am immersed,
40. “but to sit at my right hand or my left is not mine to grant, but [to those] for whom it has been prepared.”
Prepared: or arranged for, made ready, ordained—i.e., those whom YHWH has designated for this honor.
41. And when they heard this, the [other] ten began to be sorely displeased about Yaaqov and Yochanan.
42. So, summoning them, Yeshua said to them, “You are aware that those considered rulers of the Gentiles subjugate them, and their ‘great ones’ have the privilege of exercising full authority over them.
43. “But it will not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must [wait on] you as an errand-boy,
44. “and whoever wants to be first among you must become everyone’s servant,
Servant: or even slave, bondservant, or attendant as used of a king—not doing as he pleases, but keeping the best interests of those around him foremost on his mind.
45. “because even the Ben Adam did not come to be served, but to serve, and to donate his soul as a ransom for many.”
Donate his soul: or give his life, and in Hebrew the equivalent term is said to be “located” in the blood. (Lev. 17:11) Ransom: redemption-price—for a slave, in context, by which he can be liberated. Yeshua said everyone who sins is a slave to sin. (Yochanan 8:34)
46. Then they came into Y’rikho, and when he was leaving Y’rikho—with his disciples and a rather large crowd—the son of Tim’ay, Bar-Tim’ay, a blind beggar, was sitting beside the road.
Leaving Y’rikho: Luke 18:35 says it was as he was drawing near to Y’rikho. Do not imagine the authors were so slack as to create a contradiction. Y’rikho had been destroyed with a curse on the one who would rebuild it (Y’hoshua 6:26), and though this did come true (1 Kings 16:34) prior to the days of Elisha the prophet, it, too, was destroyed, and the Y’rikho of Yeshua’s day was two miles from the ruins of the old town, and on the way to Yerushalayim, as he left the old one he would still be approaching the new one, which seems to be the case since Luke 19 speaks of an event that occurred in the currently-inhabited town. (A.T. Robertson) Tim’ay: seemingly related to the Hebrew word for ritual impurity (tamey’) but possibly from a Greek word meaning “highly honored”, which might be likely if he was a Hellenistic Jew.
47. And when he heard that it was Yeshua of Natzereth [passing], he began to scream out and say, “Son of David! Yeshua, have mercy on me!”
Son of David: a title for the Messiah, based on prophecies, but by tradition, in explanation of how the Messiah was to both suffer and die and also be a conquering king, there were though to be two Messiahs, one called the Son of Yosef and the other called the Son of David. By saying this, he was not only proclaiming his belief that Yeshua was Messiah but that he was the one who was to conquer and reign—though Yeshua had just spoken of his impending death. He alludes to the seeming paradox in his answer to Yochanan the Immerser in Luke 7:19-23.
48. But many were reprimanding him so that he would calm down. But he kept screaming out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49. So Yeshua stopped and told [them] to call him. So they summoned the blind man, saying, “Cheer up! Stand up! He’s calling you!”
Cheer up: or, take courage, don’t be afraid—because hope is “warming up” to bolster in him the confidence to motivate him to act.
50. So he tossed his outer garment aside, sprang up, and came toward Yeshua.
51. And Yeshua responded by saying to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Great rabbi—that I may receive my sight!”
It sounds like he was surprised that Yeshua would not recognize what was wrong with him, but Yeshua was just getting him to ask very specifically so that it could be clearly known what YHWH had done. Great rabbi: or “master rabbi”—a term normally reserved for the top religious leader, such as the president of the Sanhedrin. He was recognizing Yeshua’s great importance in YHWH’s scheme of order.
52. And Yeshua told him, “Go; your confidence has healed you!” And right away he regained his sight and started following him on the way.
CHAPTER 11
1. Now when they got close to Yerushalayim—[coming] into Beyth-fagé and Beyth-anyah, toward the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples
He was arriving from the east. They may have thought this was the time he was going to fulfill the prophecy in Z’kharyah 14:4.
2. and told then, “Go on into the village directly across from you, and as soon as you enter it you will find a [donkey’s] colt tied, on which no human being has yet sat. Untie it and bring it!
3. “And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’, say, ‘Because the Master has need of it, then he’ll send it right back here [again].’”
This was apparently the home of someone he knew and who recognized Yeshua as his teacher or at least who knew whose disciples they were. He had raised El’azar from the dead right here, so he was well-known there.
4. So they went and found the colt, which had been tied outside, in front of the door, on the street, and they untied it.
5. And some of the ones standing there started saying to them, “What are you doing untying the colt?”
6. But they spoke to them just as Yeshua had told them [to], so they gave them permission.
7. When they brought the colt to Yeshua, they threw their outer garments onto it, and he sat down on top of it.
8. And many of them spread their outer garments out onto the road, while others [spread] branches that had been cut from the fields.
They were forming a makeshift “red carpet” for his arrival in the city.
9. And those who led the way and those who accompanied him were calling out, “‘Hoshi ana! ‘Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of YHWH!’
Hoshi ana: “Deliver us now, we beg you!” They were quoting Psalm 118:25-26, part of a Messianic psalm that just before this says, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone; this is YHWH’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that YHWH has made.” Indeed it was, for this was the 10th of Aviv, the same day He had commanded Israel to select a lamb for Passover, bring it into the house, and inspect it. (Exodus 12:3ff) The selection of Yeshua took place here, his entry into the House in verse 11, his rejection by the “builders” after their “inspection” (assessment) of his actions is seen in verse 18 below and more fully in verses 27 and 28 (two days later, for the inspection is to take place over 4 days). Markos’ account also emphasizes Yeshua’s inspection of the condition of the city. (See note on v. 14.)
10. “Blessed is the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David!. Save us in the ultimate [manner]!”
11. As he came into Yerusahalyim to the Temple, he looked all around to survey everything, but since the hour was already late, he went into Beyth-anyah with the twelve.
12. On the following day, as they were leaving Beyth-anyah, He was hungry,
13. And He noticed a fig tree in the distance that had leaves, and went over to it, to see whether He could find any fruit on it. And when He came to it, He found nothing except leaves, for it was not the time for figs.
14. In response, Yeshua said to the tree, "Let no one ever eat fruit from you again—forever!" And His disciples heard Him say it.
Forever: This seems harsh, but in the Middle East, fig trees do not have leaves either until the figs start growing, so though it was unseasonal, it was deceitful in its “promise”. But this may have been part of his taking stock of the “fig tree” that was idiomatic of his people (Hoshea 9:10), but there being no figs is reminiscent of Yirmeyahu 8:13, when the prophet was speaking to Yerushalayim about its hypocrisy in thinking YHWH was among them but each doing his own thing, thinking there to be peace when there was not, but being unashamed of their abominations at the time of their visitation. (Yirm. 8:5-12)
15. And they came to Yerushalayim. And entering into the Temple, Yeshua began to throw out those who were selling and buying in the Temple; He also overturned the moneychangers' tables and the seats of those who sold the doves,
His timing here was very significant. Considering that it was the day after He entered Yerushalayim on the donkey (the 10th of Nisan), Passover was approaching, and this is when the eldest son of each household removes all leaven from the house. Yeshua, as the firstborn Son, was removing the leaven of injustice from His Father's house! During this season, leaven represents sin (especially pride, which makes us seem like more than we are). He had authority to do this, because the king in the line of David had jurisdiction over certain financial aspects of what went on in the Temple. (2 Kings 22) The religious establishment in place at the Temple now was not from the line of Tzadoq, but were priests who had bought their positions when Rome sold them to the highest bidders. The Temple officials were growing rich by “gouging” the worshippers who needed to buy animals for offerings, because they had a monopoly on the market. When he disrupted their commerce, the priests and scribes became afraid and began looking for a way to kill him. Why didn’t they just have him arrested and escorted away by the guards? Because undoubtedly people had kept up with who the rightful heir to the throne of David was, though no one had exercised the authority that came with it for over 600 years, and they knew a Judahite king had the right to forbid any activity in the Temple precinct that violated the Torah. He was following in the reforms of his ancestor Yoshiyahu. This was all they needed to bring the charge against him that he said he was king. No one but a king could do this.
16. and he would not allow anyone to carry a container through the Temple.
17. And he began teaching and saying to them, “Has it not been written, ‘My House shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples’? You, however, have made it a ‘den of robbers’.”
The first quote, which he cites overtly, is from Yeshayahu 56:7. Most people are not aware that his follow-up statement is a quote in the affirmative of what Yirmeyahu (Jermeiah) said in the interrogative. He confirmed that this awful possibility had been fulfilled, and thus rendered judgment on the condition of YHWH’s nation, especially its capital, for Yirmeyahu followed up his question with the pronouncement, “‘Behold, I Myself have seen it’, says YHWH.” (Yirm. 7:11) Yeshua was surely alluding to this.
18. When the chief priests and scribes heard it, they were looking for ways by which they could utterly destroy him, because they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was amazed upon his teaching.
19. And when evening came, they were departing from the city,
20. and, passing by [the same way they gone] earlier, the saw the fig tree, which had withered away from the [very] roots.
Yirmeyahu (Jer.) 8:13 (see note on v. 14) also speaks of the “leaf being withered” in the context of the figs trees without figs, so this event is certainly an allusion to that prophecy in which YHWH says He will “give [the people of Yerushalayim] that in which they transgressed”.
21. And, being reminded [of what had occurred], “the Rock” said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has dried up!”
Cursed: or doomed.
22. And in response, Yeshua said to him, “Have confidence in YHWH!
23. “I tell you the truth, whoever may say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted away and thrown into the sea’ and will not waver in his heart, but believes that what he says is taking place, it will be so for him.”
This mountain: possibly the Mount of Olives, which they were looking at (which will indeed be removed—half to the north and half to the south, allowing the trapped inhabitants to escape the crisis and allowing waters to flow out of Yerushalayim toward the Dead Sea, bringing life into it, according to Z’kharyah 14), or possibly Mt. Sinai, which was raised above the heads of all Israel (Deut. 4:11) and hung over them as either a threat or a wedding canopy. The threat aspect could be removed by faith.
24. “Therefore, I tell you, anything, however much [it may be] that you, too, may ask [when] praying, be confident that you have received it, and it will come into existence for you.
25. “And whenever you stand, praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father, who is in the heavens, may also forgive you your trespasses.
Trespasses: or false steps, lapses, or slip-ups; the term has to do with walking across a line one is not meant to cross.
26. [“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgiven your trespasses.]”
27. When they came back into Yerushalayim, as he was walking around in the Temple, the chief priests, scribes, and elders came toward him,
28. and were saying to him, “By what authority are you doing these things?” Or, “Who gave you this authority, that you should do such things?”
Such things: as he had done the previous day. (vv. 15-16)
29. And Yeshua said to them, “I will put one question to you to think about, and if you take up the challenge, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things:
30. “The immersion of Yochanan—was it from heaven or from humans? Answer me.”
31. And they began discussing [it] among themselves, saying, “What should we say? If we say, ‘From heaven’, he will say, ‘Then how come you didn’t believe him?’
32. “But if we say, ‘From humans…’” (They were afraid of the crowd, because they all held that Yochanan really was a prophet.)
33. So in reply, they said to Yeshua, “We don’t know.” So Yeshua said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”
This is just one example of the wisdom by which he confounded his accusers. (6:2; Mat. 22:46; Lukas 20:26)
CHAPTER 12
1. And he began to tell them an allegory: “A person planted a vineyard and put a fence around it, dug a winevat, built a tower, rented it out to farmers, and went travelling abroad.
Fence: or hedge, partition, or anything that could create a separate enclosure. Tower: to allow him to see in all directions whether anyone was breaking into the vineyard.
2. “Then in the right season he sent a servant to the farmers so that he could receive soe of the vineyard’s fruit from the farmers.
3. “But they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4. “And again he sent them a servant—a different one—but they gave him a head-wound and treated him disgracefully.
5. “Then he sent another, and that one they killed—then many others, whom, sure enough, they did beat, but some of them they killed.
6. “Finally, having still one son, whom he greatly loved, he sent him to them, thinking, ‘[Certainly] they will have respect for my son!’
Have respect for: or, pay attention to, turn and be ashamed of their previous actions.
7. “But those farmers said to themselves, ‘This is the one who will inherit ownership; come on, let’s kill him, and the property will become ours!’
8. “So they laid hold of him aggressively, killed him, and threw him outside of the vineyard.
9. “Now, what [do you think] the owner of the vineyard will do? He will come and completely destroy those farmers, and give the vineyard to others!
10. “Haven’t you even noticed this Scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner;
Noticed: They would have certainly read it or heard it many times, in Psalm 118:22, which is part of the New Moon liturgy. But did they pay attention to what it was saying and how it might apply to what they were now doing?
11. “‘this originated from YHWH, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12. And they were looking for an opening to seize him, because they realized that he had directed the analogy toward them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him alone and went away.
13. Then they sent him some of the P’rushim and the Herodians, in order to trap him in [his] words.
14. When they came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and you have no regard for anyone, because you don’t look at people’s outward appearance, but teach the way of Elohim on [the basis of] truth. Is it lawful to give taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or not?”
Have no regard: no vested interest.
15. And recognizing their pretense, he said to them, “Why ar you trying to lead me on? Bring me a denarius [coin], so I can look at it.”
Pretense: hypocrisy, feigned honesty. Bring me: He might not have carried such a coin with him, since it was used for this purpose, though daily wages were often paid with these coins; being an itinerant, he might not have always had enough money on him to show one to them himself.
16. So they brought it, and he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” So they told him, “Caesar’s.”
Image: likeness, representation, picture.
17. And Yeshua told them, “Give Caesar’s things back to Caesar, and [give] Elohim’s things to Elohim!” And they were amazed about him.
And what (or who) is it that bear's Elohim's image? (See Gen. 1:27)
18. And some Tzadduqim (who say there will be no resurrection) came to Him, and asked Him a question, saying,
Most Tzadduqim did believe in the resurrection, but one sect, the Boethusians, did not, saying that they could not find it in the Torah, and they did not hold to any beliefs that they could not prove from the Torah. Yeshua would show them that the concept might not have been overt in the Torah, but was certainly implicit:
19. "Teacher, Moshe wrote for us that if anyone's brother should die and leave behind a wife, but leave no children, that his brother should take the wife and produce offspring for his brother.
20. “There were seven brothers, and the first one took a wife but died, leaving no descendant.
If they utilized other Scriptures beyond the Torah, they may have taken Psalm 22:29-30 to mean that the only way one would be represented after his death was by having progeny. This may be the case in regard to earthly inheritance and maintaining tribal property rights, as in the question of Tz’lofkhad’s daughters (Num. 36:1ff), but it has nothing to do with life after death or in the Age to Come.
21. “And the second took, [but] also died without leaving progeny, and it was just the same for the third,
22. “and none of the seven left any descendant, and last of all, the woman died too.
23. “In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? Because [all] seven of them had her as a wife!”
24. Yeshua was saying to them, “Do you not wander [into error] in regard to this, knowing neither the Scriptures nor the power of Elohim?
25. "For when they rise again from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in Heaven.
This cryptic saying, found nowhere in the canonical Scriptures, is based on 1 Enoch/Hanokh 15:6-7, which he seems to have considered Scripture (v. 24), has caused consternation to many, thinking that they would no longer have a special relationship to their spouse after the resurrection. But if this is YHWH's will, we know it will be replaced by something far better. In fact, Le Comte du Nouy notes that plants that reproduce themselves asexually never die a natural death. They just keep doubling their numbers by dividing into two, whereas sexual reproduction brings such major population increase that one generation must die off to make room for the next. (Early men may have been permitted to live longer because they were so few and had children so many years after their births that overcrowding would not be a problem for a very long time.) Custance adds that while the possibilities of variation grow immensely with the division of the sexes, this also introduces death for the individual. Maybe this relates to what Yeshua said here, and may tell us something about the angels. Chawwah (Eve) was separated from Adam to enhance their enjoyment of one another and render them beneficially interdependent, but introduced the need for death. If they had not sinned, YHWH might have moved them to a higher state no longer dependent on time and space by other means than death, having been schooled in this world until "innocence was turned into virtue" and taken away like Hanokh (Gen. 5:24). There will apparently be children born in the Kingdom (Yeshayahu/Isa. 65:20), but possibly only to those who did not die prior to its arrival. The transfiguration may have been a glimpse of what would have become of Yeshua had he not needed to sacrifice this deathlessness to purchase our redemption (see note on Heb. 12:2).
26. "Moreover, concerning the dead, to show you that they are raised, haven't you read in the book of Moshe how in the thornbush Elohim spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the Elohim of Avraham, the Elohim of Yitzhaq, and the Elohim of Yaaqov’?
These men had died before He spoke to Moshe, but He did not consider them dead because He still counted Himself their Elohim.
27. “He is not the Elohim of the dead, but the Elohim of the living; consequently, you are being greatly misled.”
I.e., the patriarchs are very much alive, just not in this dimension at present, and still awaiting their re-embodiment.
28. Now one of the scribes who had heard them arguing, since he saw how well he had answered them, approached and asked him, “Which is the most important commandment of all?”
29. Yeshua responded, “The primary one is this: ‘Listen, Israel! YHWH [is] our Elohim; YHWH is one,
30. “‘and you shall love YHWH your Elohim out of your whole heart, out of your whole soul, out of your whole mind, and from all your forcefulness.’
Soul…mind: in Hebrew there are only three locales for our love of YHWH; apparently the Greek text wanted to clarify that “nefesh” could have both the meaning of “soul” and of “mind”, and therefore included both since both do apply in this case.
31. “A second is this: ‘You shall love your fellow as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32. And the scribe said to him, “Well spoken, teacher, [and based] on truth: He is one, and there is no other but Him,
33. “and to love Him out of the whole heart, out of the whole intellect, and out of all [one’s] forcefulness, and to love [one’s] fellow as oneself is much more important than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34. And Yeshua, looking intently at him [and seeing] that he had answered intelligently, said, “You are not far fom the Kingdom of Elohim.” And no one dared to interrogate him any further.
35. And in response, while teaching in the Temple, Yeshua was saying “How is it that the scribes say that the Messiah is David’s son?
36. “With the spirit of holiness, David himself said, ‘YHWH said to my Master, “Sit to My right hand until I can place your enemies as a footstool to your feet.”’
37. “David himself calls him ‘Master’; so then how is he his son?” And the huge crowd was listening to him with pleasure.
The son would normally be the one who calls his father (or older ancestor) “Master”, so he is highlighting the fact that somehow the Messiah would supersede David in importance, and David knew this.
38. And while teaching, he was saying, “Be wary of the scribes—the ones who want to walk around in dignified robes and be saluted in the marketplaces,
Y’hezq’El prophesied that in the Kingdom, even priests would have to leave their identifying garments in the Temple precincts when they went out into public so as to avoid this kind of out-of-context recognition. (Ezek. 42:14)
39. “and [to have] the most prominent seats in the synagogues and places of honor at feasts--
40. “who devour the houses of the widows, and as an excuse make long prayers. These will receive the more abundant judgment.”
Devour: i.e., accept payment for their prayers from those who cannot afford to pay them.
41. And sitting down directly opposite the donation-box, he was watching how the crowd put copper into the collection receptacle, and many rich [people] were throwing a lot in.
Collection receptacle: It was shaped like a shofar (see photo), with a narrow end and a wider portion. (Prager)
42. And one poor widow came and dropped in two lepta, which is [the equivalent of’ a quadrantes.
Quadrantes: a quarter of an “as”, which is 1/16 of a sesterius. I.e., this was a very tiny amount—like a British half-penny or less.
43. And, calling his disciples to him, he said, “I tell you the truth: this destitute widow has put in more than all of those contributing to the treasury,
44. “because all of them donated from what was left over for them, but she, out of her poverty, gave it all—as much as she had, everything she had to live on.”
YHWH, Who was impressed by this widow’s dedication, showed Yeshua, His messenger, what could not have been obvious to anyone since she did not tout her donation as some others might have.
CHAPTER 13
1. When [they were] departing from the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! Such stones and such structures!”
Some single building blocks on the western retaining wall are over 40 feet long. (See photo at left.) And according to Joseph Good, who has researched the layout of the second Temple more extensively than possibly anyone else, believes the buildings surrounding the Temple courts were much bigger than has previously been thought. (See his rendering below.)
2. And Yeshua said to him, “Do you see these huge buildings? Not one stone will be left on another, which will not be thrown down.
This is the Torah’s protocol for a house whose leprosy is still not gone after individual stones are taken out and replaced. (Lev. 14:34-45) Metaphorically, this House was full of leprosy. The rabbinic explanation for why the Temple was destroyed was “brother hating brother without a cause”. Yeshua gave another reason for it also in Luke 19:44. The stones which were thrown down from the top of the Temple Mount, breaking up the street below, can still be seen today. (See photo at left.)
3. When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, “the Rock”, Yaaqov, Yochanan, and Andreas asked him privately ,
4. “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the signal of when all of these things are about to be accomplished?”
Accomplished: completed or fulfilled.
5. But Yeshua began to tell them, “Watch out, so that no one will mislead you!
6. “Many will come, using my name, saying, ‘I am [he]’, and will mislead many.
7. “But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed; it has to come about, but it is not yet the end,
8. “because ethnic group will rise up against ethnic group, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in more places than usual. There will be famines. These are the beginning of the throes of childbirth.
Childbirth: bringing the Kingdom of Elohim into the world. This is an allusion to Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 37:3 and 66:9, where it appears there will not be strength to deliver the “child”, but YHWH asks why He would bring it to that point but not finish the process. Compare Revelation 12:5, 13.
9. “But watch out for yourselves: they will turn you over to religious councils and synagogues; you will be beaten and will stand before provincial leaders and rulers on account of me, as evidence for them,
Synagogues: Sometimes it will be religious officials who will persecute his followers, and other times political.
10. “and the glad news must first be proclaimed into all the ethnic groups.
11. “But when they arrest you and turn you over, don’t worry ahead of time about what to say, but whatever is given to you in that hour, that is what you should say, because it is not you who are speaking to them, but the spirit of the Holy One.
Worry: or ponder, plan in your mind.
12. “And brother will betray brother to death, and a father, his child; and children will rise up against [their] patents, to put them in danger of death.
13. “And you will be hated by all [kinds of people] on account of my name, but whoever perseveres all the way to the goal will be brought to safety.
Goal: or to the end or extreme limit—not surrendering even if condemned to death.
14. “But when you see the ‘appalling abomination’ which was mentioned by Dani’el the prophet standing where it should not (let the one who is reading think it through!), gthen let those who are in Judea escape to the mountains.
Appalling: Gk., of desolation. (The reference is to Daniel 12:11.)
15. “Someone who is on the roof of the house should not go down or go in to take anything out of his house.
16. “And the one [who has gone] into the field should not go back behind him to pick up his clothing.
17. “But woe to those who have [babies] in the womb or the ones who are nursing infants in those days!
18. “But pray that it may not be during a [winter] storm,
19. “because in those days there will be dire straits, the likes of which there has never been since the beginning of Elohim’s creation until now, nor will there ever be,
Dire straits: trouble, distress, severely stressful times in which the pressure is great from all sides.
20. “and if YHWH had not cut those days short, nothing mortal at all would survive, but for the sake of the chosen ones, whom He selected, the days are cut short.
21. “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here’s the Messiah! Look—over there!’, don’t believe [it],
22. “because counterfeit messiahs and false prophets will arise and will present signs and marvels so as to lead astray, if possible, [even] the chosen.
23. “You, however, be on your guard; I have warned you of all [these] things in advance.
24. “But in those days, accompanying that [kind of] trouble, ‘the sun will be obscured, and the moon will not provide its [full] brightness,
He is quoting or alluding strongly to Yeshayahu/Isa. 13:10, which is in the same context—the “Day of YHWH”. (13:9)
25. “and the stars will be falling out of the sky’, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.
Powers: most likely spiritual entities like the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), but also possibly the forces that keep the heavenly bodies in motion and in their right orbits. Shaken: or disturbed, agitated, incited (especially if the former).
26. “And then they will see the Son of Humanity coming in clouds with great force and weightiness.
27. “And at that time he will send the messengers, and he will gather his chosen from the four winds, from the extreme end of the earth to the extreme end of the sky.
Winds: i.e., cardinal directions. Israel was scattered to all these places, even the extremities of the sky (Deut. 30:4), but YHWH will recall us from all of these places. (Yeshayahu 43:6) Apparently not until this time will all Israel be regathered,
28. “But learn the analogy from the fig tree: when its branch has at long last become tender and the leaves sprout, you know that the summer is nearing.
29. “In just the same way, you, when you see these things coming about, recognize that he is near—[pushing] right against the door!
30. “I tell you the truth, that this generation will not come to an end before all these things have taken place.
Generation: much is made of trying to determine if he means he will return within 40 or 70 years after a certain event in this sequence—usually taking the fig tree’s budding as meaning the return of the Jews to the land of Israel, but the term can also mean “age” or even “race” (i.e., the chosen race will not be destroyed).
31. “The sky and the earth will come to an end, but my words will by no means pass away.
Pass away: become null and void, have their fulfillment averted, perish, or be spoken in vain.
32. “But concerning that day or that hour—not the messengers in heaven or even the Son, but only the Father.
In Hebrew wedding tradition, the son does not go to get his bride until his father says it is time. (Compare Mat. 22:4, 8) He may know when it is nearing, but does not know the exact moment until it is upon him.
33. “Be watchful; stay alert, because you do not know when the right moment [will] be.
34. “[It is] like a person on a journey abroad, who has left his home and given each of his servants authority for his [area of] responsibility, and he gave the doorkeeper orders to be vigilant.
35. “Therefore you stay vigilant, because you do not know when the master of the house will arrive—whether late in the day, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or at daybreak.
Vigilant: watchful, alert, staying awake when one is meant to, no matter how late.
36. “Don’t let him come unexpectedly and find you having dozed off!
37. “But what I tell you, I am telling everyone: be vigilant!”
CHAPTER 14
1. Now after two days, it was going to be the Passover and the [week of] Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes were trying to figure out how to seize him by stealth and put him to death,
Stealth: treachery, trickery—i.e., finding a false pretext to arrest him, or a way to get him to “take the bait”, since they had not found any legitimate reason to do so.
2. because they were saying, “Not during the feast, lest there should be an outcry from the people.”
YHWH overruled this plotting because Yeshua had a long-standing appointment to keep as the “Passover lamb”.
3. Now when he was in Beyth Anyah at the home of Shim’on the jar-merchant, while he was reclining at [the] table, a woman came with an alabaster [flask]of genuine spikenard ointment—very expensive!—and she poured it over his head.
Jar-merchant: or, jar-maker (Aramaic., garaba); the Greek renders it “leper” (which would be gar’ba in Aramaic, very similar, but a leper would not be permitted to live in the city, per Lev. 13:46, and Yeshua would not be likely to enter his home while he was in that condition). This suggests the primacy of the Aramaic text, from which the Greek would be a translation rather than the original.
4. But some [of those present] were incensed within themselves, [thinking], “To what purpose was this fragrant ointment wasted?
5. “Because this ointment could have been sold for more than 300 denarii and donated to the poor!” And they were snorting at her with stern indignation.
More than 300 denarii: One denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer, so this represented nearly an average year’s income. The sentiment was good, but they did not realize how valuable Yeshua was and how little longer any of them would be able to express such appreciation for his actions.
6. But Yeshua said, “Leave her alone; why are you giving her such a hard time? She has done a beautiful deed for me.
Giving: the term denotes “in an up-close-and-personal” way. Hard time: wearing her out as much as if they had made her do exhausting labor.
7. “Because you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want you can (always) do them good, but me you will not always have.
Always have the poor: This echoes Deuteronomy 15:11.
8. “She used what she had to anoint my body for burial in advance.
9. “So now I tell you the truth: wherever the glad message may be proclaimed throughout the whole world, what this [woman] has done will also be told in memory of her.
And Markos and Yochanan both made sure that this would be the case by including her story in their accounts.
10. Then Yehudah the Cut-throat went off to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.
11. And when they heard [it], they were very glad [for this break] and promised to give him money. So he was looking for a way to conveniently deliver him over.
12. Now the day before Unleavened Bread, when they were to slaughter the Passover [lamb], his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
13. So he sent two of his disciples and told them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying an earthen jar of water will meet you. Go with him,
A man: literally a person, but the “him” thereafter is in the masculine. He did not need to identify him further, because usually it was women who carried water, but among the Essenes there were many celibate men who would not have wives to do this for them. The place long identified as the “upper room” (v. 15) where this Passover was celebrated is in the Essene quarter.
14. “and wherever he may enter, say to the master of the house, ‘The teacher says, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’
The Essenes were also known for being very hospitable and offering lodging to travelers in many towns in Israel.
15. “And he will show you a large upper-story room, furnished and ready, so prepare it for us there.”
16. So his disciples left and entered into the city and found [everything] just as he had told them, so they got the Passover ready.
17. So when it became evening, he came with the twelve.
18. And as they reclined [at the table] and started eating, Yeshua said, “I tell you the truth: one of you who is partaking of food with me will betray me.”
19. And they became distressed and began to say to him, one by one, “It can’t be me, can it?”
20. So he said, “[It is] one of the twelve, who is dipping [the bread] along with me in the same bowl.
21. “For the Ben Adam must depart as it is written concerning him, but alas for that person by whom the Ben Adam is betrayed! It would be better for that person if he had not been born.”
22. As they were eating, he took some bread and, having said a blessing, broke it and gave it to them, saying, “Take [some]; this is my body.”
23. Then he took the cup and, having given thanks, he gave [it] to them, and they all drank from it.
24. And he told them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out on behalf of many.
Poured out: Yeshayahu prophesied that Messiah would “pour out his soul unto death”, bear the sin “of many”, and make intercession for transgressors. (53:12) How does one pour out one’s soul? Leviticus 17:11 says “the soul of the flesh is in the blood.”
25. “I tell you the truth, I will certainly not drink of the fruit of the grapevine any more until that day when I drink it anew in the Kingdom of Elohim.”
26. When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
A hymn: a traditional way to end the Passover seder. They did not need to say, "Next year in Yerushalayim!"
27. And Yeshua told them, “You will all be caused to desert me this very night, because it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’
He is quoting Zekharyah 13:7, though the “I will” is not the tense in Hebrew; it is imperative there. He knew it was speaking of himself because the context is about “My shepherd…the man who is My associate” or “fellow”. Yeshua is the only man since the pre-fallen Adam who was sufficiently righteous to be associated with YHWH.
28. “But after the arousing [and awakening], I will go on ahead of you into the Galil.”
He was compassionately inviting them to come join him there, despite the knowledge that they would desert him in his most difficult hour.
29. But “the Rock” made a claim to him: “Even if everyone deserts you, still I won’t!”
30. And Yeshua told him, “I tell you the truth: that this very night, before the crier calls out the second time, you yourself will disown me three times!”
The crier: Greek, rooster, but according to the Talmud, chickens were not permitted to be in Yerusahalayim at this time in history, because they were the only clean animal that emitted a foul odor when not defecating, and this was noy conducive to the holiness of the city. In Hebrew, the same word for “rooster” was used of the priest who would rouse the others to do their Temple duties early in the morning, and this would be audible in the part of Yerushalayim where Kefa would be at that time. (Joseph Good)
31. But he kept saying emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will not disown you!” And the others were all saying the same kind of thing.
Emphatically: or vehemently, in an exaggerated way.
32. And they came into an enclosed property, the name of which is Gath-Shemen, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
Gath-Shemen: literally, an oil press, similar to the one at left. A cave with the remnants of an olive press anchored into the wall has been located at this site at the foot of the Mount of Olives just across the Qidron Valley (Yochanan 18:1), known to David as the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psalm 23), east of Yerushalayim. It was surrounded by an olive orchard (an appropriate place to put it!), whose trees, though cut down by the Romans, have grown back. The requirement for the light in YHWH’s sanctuary is pure oil of crushed olives. (Exodus 27:20) Yeshua would fulfill this requirement very plainly as we will see in the next few verses:
33. And he took “the Rock”, Yaaqov, and Yochanan along with him, and he began to go out of his senses with terror, and to be deeply distressed.
34. And he said to them, “My psyche is encompassed with sorrow, even to the point of death; stay here and be watchful!”
Despite his never having disobeyed YHWH and thus maintaining his direct connection with Him, still the prospect of not just the extreme physical pain (having witnessed the type of death he knew he must undergo) but of bearing the brunt of YHWH’s wrath against the sins of others whom he would represent were terrifying to him.
35. And going on a little further, he fell down on the ground and was praying that if it was possible, [this] hour might be diverted from him.
Be diverted: so as to pass him by and omit the need for him to go through what he anticipated. If there was any other way for the sins of Israel and humanity at large to be done away with, he was not suicidal and did not have a martyr complex; he, like anyone, preferred to avoid such an experience.
36. And he was saying, “Abba—O Father—all things are possible with You; let this cup pass me by! Yet not what I want, but what You [want].”
Abba: the term of deepest endearment for one’s beloved father. This cup: of YHWH’s wrath (Yeshayahu 51:17, 22) which had to be poured on human sins, which would be embodied in Messiah as our sin offering. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
37. When he came he found that they had fallen asleep, and he said to “the Rock”, “Shim’on, are you sleeping? Weren’t you strong enough to stay alert for one hour?
Strong enough: an allusion to Shim’on’s overconfidence about his abilities to avoid thet temptation to desert Yeshua (vv. 29, 31):
38. “Stay awake and pray so that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed [ready and] willing, but the flesh is weak.
He knew that those who had the tainted blood of Adam flowing through them could not stand up against such pressure without additional help from YHWH, no matter how enthusiastic and predisposed one was to do the right thing.
39. And going away again, he prayed, saying the same thing.
40. And coming [back] again, he found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavily weighed down, and they did not know what to answer him.
Heavily weighed down: possibly from the emotional burden that had overwhelmed them when he told them they would all desert him. Just as Chawwah was unable to help Adam in his time of temptation, having fallen for it already herself, Yeshua’s “bride” was also helpless to provide any moral support in his time of deepest need.
41. Then he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough! The hour has come; look! The Ben Adam is being betrayed into the hands of the sinful [ones]!
It is enough: He may have said, “Dayenu”, the title of a song which has that meaning, and which is traditionally sung at the Passover meal they had just finished.
42. “Get up! Let’s be on our way. Look, the one who is betraying me is approaching!”
Yeshua had passed the test, having resolved to go through with what had to be done. The crushing in the “oil press” had produced pure oil fit to light YHWH’s Temple built of living stones. (1 Kefa 2:5)
43. And right away, while he was still speaking, Yehudah, one of the twelve, came up [to him], and with him, a crowd with swords and clubs, along with the chief priests and the scribes and the elders!
44. Now the one who was delivering him over had given them an agreed-upon signal, saying, “The one I kiss is the one; arrest him and take him away under guard.”
45. And as soon as he arrived, he came up to him and said, “Rabbi!”, and gave him an enthusiastic kiss.
He was acting as if he was surprised to see him in this place they had frequented on many occasions. (Yochanan 18:2)
46. So they [roughly] laid hands on him and seized him.
47. But a certain one of those standing by drew his sword and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear.
He undoubtedly had bad aim, having tied to slice his head off. Knowing this was none of his fault and that he would be ineligible to enter the Temple complex, being so disfigured now (Leviticus 21:21) and would therefore lose his livelihood, Yeshua compassionately healed this wound. (Luke 22:51)
48. And in response Yeshua said to them, “Have you come out as against a bandit, to capture me with swords and clubs?
49. “Day after day I was with you in the Temple, but you did not arrest me. But in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled…”
Fulfilled: literally, satisfied, finished, executed, filled to their fullest.
50. And, leaving him behind, everyone fled away.
51. And a young attendant was following him, having thrown a linen cloth around his naked body, and when they seized him,
52. he left behind the linen cloth, and ran away naked!
This is somewhat reminiscent of Yosef in Egypt who fled without at least one of his garments when Potifar’s wife tried to seduce him. (Gen. 39:12) But since Markos’ account is the only one that includes this detail of the story, many deduce that the young man may have been Markos himself. But being naked in a garden hearkens back to the situation before mankind sinned (Gen. 2:25), hinting at the reversal that was about to take place as Yeshua would also hang naked but unashamed, having done nothing wrong, in the process of bringing any who would join the Second Adam’s race one step closer to what we were in the primeval garden.
53. And they led Yeshua away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders, and scribes convened.
54. And “the Rock” followed him from a distance until he was within the court of the high priest, and he was sitting with the subordinates and warming himself near the [fire being used for] light.
“The Rock” is in quotes not just because it was his nickname, but the one known for his strength was about to prove very weak. This very house and courtyard have been excavated.
55. But the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking evidence against Yeshua so as to be able to put him to death, but were not finding any.
56. Many were bringing false witness against him, but their testimonies were not in agreement.
This is a sure sign of fabricated “evidence”.
57. And some of those who rose up against him with false testimony were saying,
58. “We heard him saying, ‘I will destroy this Temple, the one made with hands, and within three more days I will build another, made without hands!”
This was either a case of hearing what they wanted to hear or not listening carefully, for all he had said was, “Destroy this Temple, and I will rebuild it in three days.” Of course, he was speaking of his body, not the Temple made with hands. (Yochanan 2:19-21)
59. And their testimony did not agree either.
60. And having stood up and gone into their midst, the high priest interrogated Yeshua, saying, “Will you not answer anything [to] what these are testifying against you?”
61. But he was silent and did not answer anything. Again the high priest questioned him and said to him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
This indicates that the Messiah was expected to be called the Son of Elohim even by those who did noth think Yeshua fit the bill.
62. And Yeshua said, “I am, and you will behold the Ben Adam seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.
63. Then the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?
Though the high priest was forbidden to tear his garments (Exodus 39:23; Lev. 10:6), those who were buying the position probably knew the Torah very poorly. Another explanation is that rabbinic laws allowed the high priest to tear his garments only if the defendant had spoken the “unspeakable” name of YHWH. It is conjectured that this account spoke of this same incident, and that “the Power” in verse 62 was a euphemism for what Yeshua actually said. Jewish law states that “Whosoever hears the cursing of the name (of God) is obliged to rend, even at the cursing of the surnames he is obliged to rend; and he that hears it from an Israelite, both he that hears, and he that hears from the mouth of him that hears, he is obliged to rend…A blasphemer is not guilty, unless he expresses the name (of God); says R. Joshua ben Korcha, all the day the witnesses are examined … but when the cause is finished, they do not put to death because of the surnames, but they bring every man out, and ask the chief among them, and say to him, ‘Say expressly what thou hast heard’, and he says it: then the judges stand upon their feet and rend their garments, and do not sew them up again; and then the second and the third say, ‘I have heard the same as he’.'' (Maimonides, Hilch. Ovede Kochabim, c. 2. sect. 10. Vid. T. Hieros. Sanhedrin, fol. 25. 1; Mishnah Sanhedrin c. 7, section 5).
64. “You heard the blasphemy; how does it seem in your [opinion]?” And all of them judged him to be liable to death.
65. And some of them began to spit on him and to cover up his face all around and punch him and tell him, “Prophesy!” And the subordinate officers received him with slaps in the face.
Prophesy: i.e., “Tell us who it was that hit you—if you are really a prophet!” (Luke 22:64)
66. And while “the Rock” was below, in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s servant-girls approached
67. and, seeing “the Rock” warming himself, she looked carefully at him and said, “You were with the Nazarene, Yeshua, too!”
68. But he denied it, saying, “I neither know [him] nor do I comprehend what you are talking about!” And he went outside into the outer court, and right away the crier called out.
69. And the servant girl, seeing him, again began to say to the bystanders, “This is one of them!”
70. But he again denied it. And after a little while, the bystanders were again saying to “the Rock”, “Sure, you are one of them, because you are a Galilean too, and your pronunciation resembles [his]!”
71. But he began to invoke curses and swore with an oath, saying, “I don’t know this person whom you are talking about!”
72. And just then, for the second time, the crier called out, and “the Rock” remembered the thing Yeshua had said to him—"Before the crier calls out twice you will disown me three times”—and he threw himself down and began to cry uncontrollably.”
Luke 22:61 adds that Yeshua turned to look at “the Rock” at this time, adding to his shame. This translator has had the eerie experience of standing right where Shim’on was when so “busted”, in the courtyard of Qayafa the high priest’s house, at this time!
CHAPTER 15
1. And early in the morning, the chief priests having formed a conspiracy with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin, they tied Yeshua up, carried him away, and turned him over to Pilatus.
Pontius Pilatus was the Roman governor of Judea, based in Caesarea, but was in Yerushalayim to keep order during the feast where millions of people would converge on the Temple.
2. And Pilatus interrogated him: “Are you the king of the Jews?” And in response he said, “You say.”
You say: either a simple idiom of affirmative answer, or possibly, “as you would say”, or, in Rev. Mike Winger’s explanation, “Yes, but not in the way you think”—i.e., “in your manner of speaking”, suggesting that he really did not understand the nature of Yeshua’s kingship at this stage in history, for he was the rightful heir to David’s throne, but was not yet asserting this aspect of his rights.
3. And the chief priests were accusing him of many things,
4. so Pilatus began questioning him again, saying, “Are you not answering anything? Look at how many things they are accusing you of!”
5. But Yeshua gave no further answer, [much] to Pilatus’ amazement.
Yeshua had a job to do, and to insert any explanation at this point might derail the trajectory of where he knew things needed to head in order to accomplish the task YHWH was giving him.
6. But in recognition of the feast he was in the habit of releasing to them one prisoner, whomever they requested.
7. But there was one prisoner called Bar-Abbas, with the fellow-insurgents, who during the uprising had committed murder.
Bar-Abbas: His name or nickname means “son of the father” in Aramaic—a precursor to the Counterfeit Messiah, who claims to have the status Yeshua actually has.
8. And coming back up, the crowd began to demand [that he do] as he usually did for them.
9. But Pilatus responded to them by saying, “Do you want me to release to you the ‘King of the Jews’?”
10. –because he was aware that the chief priests had handed him over out of envy.
Envy: The crowds were attracted to Yeshua’s message rather than their interpretation of the Torah, and they wanted to be as popular as he, but he stood in the way of their achieving that.
11. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd [to demand] that he release Bar-Abbas to them instead.
12. But in response Pilatus again kept asking them, “The what do you want me to do to the one you call the ‘King of the Jews’?”
13. But once more they shrieked, “Crucify him!”
14. But Pilatus was saying to them, “Because…? What has he done wrong?” But all the more they screamed, “Crucify him!”
15. And, wanting to act in consideration for the crowd, Pilatus released Bar-Abbas to them, and having had Yeshua whipped, he turned him over to be crucified.
Democracy once again trumped justice. Whipped: with a flagellum, a scourge that had sharp pieces of metal or bone embedded in it, which would cut his flesh much more deeply than mere leather cords would. (See picture.)
16. And the soldiers took him away to the inner courtyard, which is the Praetorium, and called together the whole cohort.
Praetorium: a governor’s courtroom. Cohort: a military guard company that constituted one-tenth of a legion.
17. And they dressed him in purple, and, having twisted together a ‘crown’ of thorns, they put it around his [head],
Purple: reserved for royalty.
18. and they began to “salute” him: “Hail, O ‘King of the Jews’!”
19. And they kept hitting his head with a cane reed, spitting on him, and bowing to him, getting down on [one] knee.
All of this was in sarcastic mockery. The reed would have driven the thorns into his scalp, adding to the pain.
20. And when they had jeered at him, they took the purple [robe] off him and put his own garments on him, and while they were leading him out to crucify him,
Taking the robe off would have reopened the wounds that were beginning to scab up and stick to the cloth. Out: outside the city, for they would not execute someone in this manner within the city walls. They would usually crucify men near a busy road as a deterrent to crime.
21. they pressed a passer-by coming in from the countryside, one Shim’on from Kyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), into service to carry his crucifixion stake.
Yeshua was weakened by the flogging, and the crossbar was made of very heavy wood.
22. Then they brought him onto Gulgol’tha, a location which is translated “Place of a Skull”.
David brought Golyath’s head to Yerushalayim (1 Shmuel 17:54); was this spot named after that? Since Golyath was a remnant of the Anaqim left alive during the conquest of Kanaan (Y’hoshua 11:22), and that these giants may have been a vestige of the Nefilim, a half-human, half-demon race, did this relate to Yeshua’s “crushing the serpent’s head” when his heel was being bruised? A more common view is that there is a formation on the hillside at the highest point of Mount Moryah (where Avraham said YHWH would provide a lamb that saved his son from death) that looks like a skull with prominent eye sockets. How significant that the place of the death of the man most underserving of death in history should bear the permanent association with death.
23. And they were offering him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not accept it.
This was a typical way to deaden the pain of condemned persons, but Yeshua wanted to retain his full cognitive capacity and probably also chose to experience the full weight of what YHWH was giving him to undergo, possibly so that others who had no such painkillers offered to them when persecuted could take greater comfort in their savior having endured at least as much as they had to.
24. When they had put him on the crucifixion stake, they also distributed his garments [among themselves], casting lots for them [to determine] who should take which.
This perfectly fulfills Psalm 22:18 (19 in Hebrew).
25. Now it was the third hour when they put him on the crucifixion stake.
Third hour: halfway between sunrise and noon on a sundial.
26. And the inscription that was written against him as to his “crime” [read]: “The king of the Jews”.
27. And along with him they crucified two bandits, one to [his] right side and one to [his] left.
28. Thus was fulfilled the Scripture which says, “He was numbered with the lawless.”
This is Yeshayahu 53:12; in Hebrew it is stronger: “with the rebels”.
29. And those who were passing by were lightly using abusive language toward him, shaking their heads and saying, “The one who would demolish the Temple and rebuild it in three days,
Passing by: Crucifixions were usually positioned beside busy roads to be a deterrent to even more people to avoid breaking Romans laws. In this case, the road, which paralleled the northern wall of Yerusahalayim, was also right near the Damascus Gate (see photo), the only gate on the northern side of the city (north of the Temple altar, in parallel with Leviticus 1:11), at the crossroads with the way to Sh’khem, and thus even busier.
30. “save yourself [by] coming down off the crucifixion stake!”
31. Likewise also the chief priests, joking with one another along with the scribes, were saying, “He healed others [but] he can’t save himself!”
Joking: see Psalm 22:7-9. Healed: or saved, rescued, delivered. They did not realize how true this statement was, for the only way he could save many others was to sacrifice himself.
32. “The Messiah? The King of Israel? Let him come down from the stake now, so that we can see and believe!” Those who were being crucified with him were also taunting him.
Though the sign limited his kingship to the tribe of Yehudah (the Jews), they rightly surmised that, like David, Messiah would be king over all the tribes of Israel.
33. And when the sixth hour had arrived, a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Sixth hour: i.e., noon. It was dark at noonday, a sign that justice was not being done. (Yeshayahu 59:9-10; compare Deut. 28:29; Iyov/Job 5:14)
34. Then, at the ninth hour, Yeshua called out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabakhthani?”, which is translated, “My Elohim, my Elohim, for what purpose have You deserted me?”
This is the Aramaic version of the beginning of Psalm 22, and by saying the first line, he called their attention to the rest of the psalm, which describes this scenario perfectly, showing that in addition to being David’s own sentiments in a day of trouble, it was a prophecy as well.
35. When some of the bystanders heard it, they were saying, “Look! He’s calling Eliyahu!”
To someone who did not speak the language, it could have soundly vaguely like this.
36. Then someone ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, put it around a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let him alone; let’s see if Eliyahu comes and gets him down!”
37. But Yeshua, [with a] loud voice, let his spirit go out [from himself].
38. And the [door-screening] veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
The Gospel of the Hebrews, quoted by Jerome, says the exquisitely-carved lintel to which the veil was fastened was at this time shattered to pieces (by the earthquake mentioned in Mat. 27:51-52), and, in falling, tore the curtain. It was a common custom in Israel to tear one’s garment when grieved or mourning. (Gen. 37:34; Y’hoshua 7:5; Iyov 1:20; Yeshayahu 37:1, etc.) Considering the darkness that began at noon (v. 33), and that this was occurring on the day when the Passover lambs would be slaughtered, Amos 8:9-10 is very significant: “’On that day,’ declares YHWH Elohim, ‘I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning … I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.’” The veil at the entrance to the Temple (per Josephus’ Wars of the Jews) visible to all, unlike the one that divided the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies) was known at that time as “Elohim’s garment”. (Talmud; R. Sholom Wineberg) The Father tore His clothes in mourning for His only Son!
39. Then the centurion standing opposite him, seeing that he breathed his last in such a way, said, “Truly this man was the Son of Elohim!”
It was not usually possible for a victim of crucifixion to raise his voice loudly because of the intense difficulty in breathing and in exercising one’s diaphragm. He must have deduced that it would take supernatural strength to do so.
40. But there were also women watching from a distance, among whom were both Miryam the Magdalene and Miryam the mother of “little Yaaqov” and Yossi, as well as Salome,
The second Miryam appears to be Yeshua’s own mother, since he had two brothers with these names.
41. who had been following him and attending to him while he was in the Galil, along with many others who had accompanied him [when he came] up to Yerushalayim.
42. And when evening had arrived, since it was the [day of] preparation—that is, the eve of the Shabbaton--
Shabbaton: not the weekly sabbath but the first high day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Several of the appointments parallel in importance to Passover were also called a “sabbaths” in Leviticus 16 and 23.
43. Yosef, a prominent council member who had come from Ramathayim, who himself was also awaiting the Kingdom of Elohim, courageously went in and approached Pilatus and requested the body of Yeshua.
Council: the Sanhedrin, the religious judicial body with 72 members. Since only family members would normally have the body of a dead person released to them, and from numerous other sources, it is thought that this Yosef was either his mother’s father or uncle.
44. And Pilatus wondered whether he was already dead. So he called the centurion over and inquired of him if he had died by this time.
Wondered: in both senses; the term can also mean “marveled”, because it would have surprised him that a crucifixion victim would die within mere hours, as the process often took days. But Yeshua was both burdened with the weight of the sins of the world and also had chosen the particular moment to die, because he had an appointment as the “Lamb of Elohim” (Yoch. 1:29, 36) as the Passover lambs were at that very moment being offered in the Temple less than a mile away.
45. And having ascertained it from the centurion, he granted Yosef the corpse.
46. So, having purchase a cloth of fine linen, he took him down and wrapped [him] in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb that was hewn out of a rock. Then he rolled a stone over the entrance of the tomb.
47. And Miryam the Magadalene and Miryam the [mother] of Yossi were watching where he was laid.
CHAPTER 16
1. Now when the Sabbath was through, Miryam the Magdalene Miryam the [mother] of Yaaqov, and Salome bought aromatic spices, so they could anoint him when they arrived.
Sabbath: this time it is probably referring to the weekly Sabbath, which followed the first day of unleavened bread. If it were the latter and it preceded the Sabbath, they would not have been able to buy.
2. And very early on the first [day] of the Weeks, they came to the tomb once the sun had risen.
Weeks: the Greek is plural, thus indicating that it was not just the first day of that week (which it was also) but the first day of the 7-week count-up to Shavuoth, thus being the day of Firstfruits. (Ex. 34:22ff) Paul called Yeshua “the firstfruits of those who slept” (1 Cor. 15:20-23), giving new meaning to this day.
3. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb for us?”
4. –because it was extremely large. But, looking up, they saw that the stone had [already] been rolled away!
5. And, coming into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were awe-struck!
6. And he told then, “Don’t be astonished. Yeshua [whom] you are searching for—the Natzarene, who was crucified—has been raised up! He is not here! Look, here is the place they had put him!
Raised up: passive mood, indicating that it was done not by himself but by Someone else.
7. “But go, bring word to his disciples and to ‘the Rock’ that he is going on ahead of you into the Galil; there you will see him, just as he told you.”
Why did he single out “the Rock”? Yeshua must have told him to, specifically because “the Rock” would be the most doubtful of any of them as to whether Yeshua would ever want to see him again, after his threefold denial. (Don Francisco)
8. And once they got out, they ran away from the tomb, because trembling and shocked bewilderment had taken hold of them, and they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Bewilderment: literally, ecstasy, but it has its positive and negative forms. Subliminally they may have been excited as well, but they were still not sure if they could believe such unbelievably good news.
9. Thus, rising early in the morning on the first [day] of the week, he made himself known first to Miryam the Magdalene, from whom he had expelled seven demons.
10. She [in turn] went and told it to those who were with him, who had begun mourning and lamenting.
11. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they could not believe it.
12. But after these things, as two of them were walking, traveling into the countryside, he showed himself to them in another form.
Another form: with a different appearance—possibly even having shaven his face, since much of his beard had been pulled out, but possibly this change had to do with the fact that his body had been transformed into an immortal one, possibly without blood (conspicuously absent from mention in Luke 24:39) but sustained in a different way.
13. They, too, went and told it to the rest [of them], but they did not believe them either.
14. But later, they were reclining at the table, he appeared to the eleven and chided [them for] their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed the ones who had seen him raised from the dead.
15. And he said to them, “[When you] have gone into all of the [inhabited] world, proclaim the glad news to every [kind of] created being.
Created being: speaking of people of every type, though some even took it to mean animals, which would certainly one day also be freed from the curse induced by humanity (the same term is used in Romans 8:19), but the priority therefore is to rectify humanity. Some manuscripts of Markos end with this verse.
16. “The one who has believed and been immersed will be rescued, but the one who refuses to believe will be judged [to be worthy of punishment].
And been immersed: literally, in water, or figuratively (as it symbolizes), into the whole renewed lifestyle he made both possible and available.
17. “But these signs will accompany those who have believed: in my name they will expel demons; they will speak with new languages;
These…those: not all would necessarily accompany every believer, but in a representative sense where they did occur they would serve to validate the message they all shared. New: not necessarily nonexistent previously, but those they themselves had never spoken before.
18. “they will remove serpents with their grasp; if they drink anything deadly it will not injure them; they will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover wellness.”
Remove serpents: the sign would be literal, but there were far-reaching symbolic implications, reversing the effects dating all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Drink: though they would not do so intentionally, putting YHWH to the test. (Compare Mat. 4:7.)
19. Then, after speaking with them, the master Yeshua was carried up into the heavenly [realm] and sat down to the right side of Elohim.
Carried up: reminiscent of Eliyahu’s departure (2 Kings 2:11-12), though not as dramatic.
20. But those who had gone out proclaimed [this] everywhere, the Master partnering with them and confirming the message through the accompanying signs. But the instruction in regard to “the Rock” they carried out in short order. Moreover, after all these things, Yeshua himself sent out through them from east as far as west the holy and immortal proclamation of eternal deliverance. [It is] trustworthy!
Partnering: working with them to energize them. Confirming: ratifying, putting what they said on a more solid foundation so it would remain be well-established and remain. This ensured their success. Accompanying signs: those listed in verses 17-18. The instruction: see verse 7. In short order: or, with few words, concisely, briefly.
THE GLAD NEWS
AS RECOUNTED BY
Markus
INTRODUCTION: Markus is a much more concise, to the point, account of Yeshua's life than the other accounts. We have only the Greek and Aramaic versions, not Hebrew, but it seems to be based on the Hebrew version by Matithyahu, with annotations added to suit Markus' particular purposes. Photo above: the view of the Yezreel Valley from Natzereth, Yeshua's hometown.
Artwork by Rabbi Micha'el Washer; used by permission
The Judean Desert
Ritual immersion bath in nearby Qumran
Ruins of Gerasa, one of the Decapolis
Painting by Julie in South Carolina
Tsor (Tyre)
Possible site of Dalmanutha, mentioned only here.
Lepta coin
An inscription about Pilatus found at Caesarea
A tomb from this time with a similar stone to roll over the opening.
Pictures from the Temple Institute
