Home
Mark Chapter 13

Mark Chapter 13

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Note: this glossary is currently a work in progress; entries that do not expand will be added as time permits

Ages/of ages
“ages” and “of ages” are the Greek words “αἰών” (aión, noun form) and “αἰώνιος” (aiónios, adjective form) respectively.  The adjective form is typically translated “eternal”, as in “eternal life”. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, “Life Time Entirety”) such as a person’s lifetime (an older Greek sense), an age/epoch (e.g., 2 Cor 4:4), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context often dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9).  Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen for the adjective form so that both the time and quality senses remain visible.

Clean/unclean

Covenant

Faith

Flesh

Forgive/forgiveness

Grace
The Greek word is “χάρις” (charis), most often translated “grace”, “gift”, or “thanks”. It was a technical term in the 1st century, referring to the Patronage system in place. The Patron (from “pater” = “father”) would give gifts or do favors (both called a charis). A charis was always given/done freely to anyone who would be grateful for it, and this person then became a “client” of the patron. The clients were expected to reciprocate by telling everyone what the patron had done, and offering their services to the patron whenever the patron needed them. This reciprocal act was also called “charis”, and the ones who reciprocated were “being faithful” by giving thanks in this way. Both were done out of gratitude, not legal obligation. A client who wasn’t faithful and grateful probably wouldn’t receive any more charis from his patron, or any other patrons. The patron was responsible for taking care of all his clients, and making sure their needs were met. New Testament usage typically casts God the Father as a Heavenly Patron, to whom Christians should be grateful and faithful because of the gifts He has given us. (e.g. salvation, provision, protection, etc.)

Holy

Justification

Law (Torah)

Make purification

Pure/Impure

Purification offering
In the Old Testament, this is typically the Hebrew “חַטָּ֖את” (khat-tat); in the New Testament, it’s typically “περὶ ἁμαρτίας” (peri hamartias), which is what the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek) used to translate the Hebrew. It’s traditionally translated “sin offering”, but that translation has less support in high-level scholarship. The Hebrew word can mean “sin”, but it can also mean “purification” (e.g. Numbers 8:7). This offering was used to purify uncleanness, whether or not a sin was committed. Thus, it was required even when no sin was committed, such as after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), for certain diseases (Leviticus 14), etc. High-level, peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g. Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on the “purification offering” understanding. The BOS Bible has aligned itself with that high-level, peer-reviewed scholarship in its translation.

Ransom

Redemption

Repent/repentance

Righteous/righteousness

Salvation/save

Soul
“soul” is the Greek word “ψυχή/psuché” and Hebrew word “נֶפֶשׁ/nephesh”. The BOS Bible translates these words as “soul” for consistency, and so the full meaning of “soul” isn’t obscured by different translations in different places. They closely overlap in meaning and are typically translated “soul” or “life”. They refer to the animating force of a living thing, and thus can also refer to its life, or to the whole of any person or creature, including animals (e.g. fish in Revelation 8:9 and Genesis 1). They are frequently used as an emphatic reference to a person’s whole self, including longings, deep emotions, and inner life. (e.g. Ps 42:11) Note: while “soul” has significant overlap in meaning with “spirit”, the words have distinct meanings and usages throughout scripture. For example, lions tear apart a soul in Psalm 7:2, and a “dead soul” is mentioned in Leviticus 21:11; “spirit” has no analogous usages, and it returns to God at death (Ecc 12:7; Acts 7:59). The adjective forms of soul and spirit are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; see also: Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Sin

Click to Collapse the Glossary
The temple’s destruction foretold
  1. And while He’s departing from the temple, one of His disciples tells Him: “Teacher, behold what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!”
  2. And Jesus told him: “You see these great buildings?  There definitely won’t be one stone left upon another stone here which won’t be torn down.”
  3. And while He’s sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew were questioning Him in private,
  4. “Tell us, when will these things be?  And what’s the sign when all these things are about to be fulfilled?”
  5. And Jesus began to tell them: “Watch out, lest someone misleads you.”
  6. “Many will come in My name saying “I am the Anointed“, and they will mislead many.
  7. “And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be shaken.  It must happen, but it’s not yet the end.
  8. “For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be earthquakes in various places.  There will be famines.  These are the beginning of birth pains.
  9. “But you, watch out for yourselves; they will hand you over to the Sanhedrins and to synagogues, you will be flogged, and you will stand before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.
  10. “And it’s necessary for the good news to be proclaimed to all nations first.
  11. “And when they lead you away, handing you over, don’t be anxious beforehand about what you might say.  But whatever is given to you in that hour, say that.  For you aren’t the men speaking, but the Holy Spirit is.
  12. “And brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against their parents and will put them to death.
  13. “And you will be hated by all men because of My name.  But the man who endured to the end, that man will be saved.
  14. “And when you see the Abomination of Desolation,fnquotation/allusion to Daniel 9:27, Daniel 11:31, and Daniel 12:11 [the one which was spoken of by the prophet Daniel], *standing where it shouldn’t be – let the man reading this understand – then let the men in Judea flee into the mountains.
  15. “Yet the man on the roof must not come down, nor go in to take anything from his house.
  16. “and the man in the field must not turn back to the things behind him to take his cloak.
  17. “But woe to the women having a child in their womb, and to the women nursing in those days.
  18. “And pray that it won’t happen in winter,
  19. “for in those days there will be a tribulation of such a kind that something like it hasn’t happened from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and it definitely won’t happen again.
  20. “And if the Lord didn’t cut those days short, no flesh would be saved.  But for the sake of the elect whom He selected, He cut the days short.
  21. “And then if someone tells you: ‘Look, the Anointed is here’ or ‘Look He is there’, don’t believe him.
  22. “For false anointed ones and false prophets will arise, and they will give signs and wonders in order to mislead the elect, if possible.
  23. “But you, watch out; I have forewarned you of all these things.”
  24. “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon won’t give its light.fnquotation/allusion to Isaiah 13:10
  25. “And the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.fnquotation/allusion to Isaiah 34:4
  26. “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with much power and glory.fnquotation/allusion to Isaiah 7:13-14
  27. “And then He will send the angels, and He will gather His elect from the four winds;fnquotation/allusion to Zechariah 2:6 and Deuteronomy 30:4 from earth’s end as far as heaven’s end.
  28. “And learn from the parable of the fig tree: When its branch at last becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.
  29. “In this way also, you know that He is near at the doors when you see these things happening.
  30. “Amen I tell you that this generation definitely won’t pass away until all these things happen.
  31. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words [definitely] won’t pass away.
  32. “But concerning that day or hour, no one *knows except the Father, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son.
  33. “Watch out, be vigilant; for you don’t *know when the time is.
  34. “It’s like a man traveling to another country who left his house and gave his slaves authority for each to do his work, and he commanded the doorkeeper that he should keep watch.
  35. “So keep watch, for you don’t *know when the master of the house is coming: whether at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn,
  36. “lest having come unexpectedly, He might find you sleeping.
  37. “And what I tell you, I tell all men: keep watch.”

 

Next: Mark chapter 14

Previous: Mark chapter 12

Up: The Book of Mark

Up: BOS Bible Index

 

Note: If you think a word, phrase, or passage could be better translated - or is wrong - then Please Say Something. This is an open source Bible that's accountable to all Christians. See this link for details.

Legal Use: Please feel free to quote the BOS Bible, but follow the guidelines on the Legal Use page when doing so. They are easy and mostly common sense.