Mark 11

When they came near Jerusalem, to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead.

1And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,

NoteBethphage and Bethany were villages on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, a ridge lying about a mile east of Jerusalem and separated from the city by the Kidron Valley. Pilgrims coming up from Jericho arrived by this road, and from the crest of the ridge the temple was in full view below.

2He said to them, "Go into the village in front of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it to me."

2And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

NoteThe word translated "colt" means a young donkey. That it had never been ridden is not a note on its age: an animal that had never been put to ordinary work was the kind considered fit to be set apart for a sacred purpose.

3"If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord needs it, and he will send it back here right away.'"

3And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

NoteThe King James "and straightway he will send him hither" is as ambiguous as the Greek behind it. It can mean the owner will let the animal go at once, or that Jesus will send it back promptly. Translators divide on which is meant.

4They went and found the young donkey tied outside a doorway, out on the open street, and they untied it.

4And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

NoteThe King James "in a place where two ways met" renders a word for the open street running between or around the houses. The point is that the animal was tied up outside in a public place, not inside a private courtyard.

5Some people standing there said to them, "What are you doing, untying that donkey?"

5And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?

6They answered just as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.

6And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.

7They brought the young donkey to Jesus and threw their coats over its back, and he sat on it.

7And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

Note"Garments" are the heavy outer cloaks worn over the rest of a person's clothes, which also served as a blanket at night. Thrown over the animal's back they made a rough saddle.

8Many people spread their coats on the road, and others spread leafy branches they had cut.

8And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.

Note"Strawed" is an old form of "strewed," meaning scattered or spread out; it has nothing to do with straw. Spreading cloaks and branches in the road was a gesture of honor offered to a king: when Jehu was proclaimed king in 2 Kings 9:13, his officers spread their garments under him.

9The people walking ahead of him and the people following behind him shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!"

9And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:

Note"Hosanna" is Hebrew for "save now" or "please save." It comes from Psalm 118:25, one of a group of psalms sung at the great pilgrim festivals, and by this period it had hardened into a shout of welcome and acclaim rather than a literal plea. The words that follow, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord," are the next line of that same psalm, the greeting called out to pilgrims as they arrived at the temple.

10"Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!"

10Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

NoteDavid was Israel's greatest king, and calling him "our father" claims him as the ancestor of the nation and of its hoped-for ruler. "In the highest" means "in the highest heaven," that is, let the cry be taken up where God is.

11Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple area. He looked around at everything, and since it was already late in the day, he went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples.

11And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

NoteThe temple was not one building but a walled complex covering many acres, most of it open courtyards where people gathered, taught, traded and prayed. "Eventide" is simply evening. "The twelve" is Mark's regular shorthand for the twelve disciples Jesus had chosen.

12The next day, after they left Bethany, Jesus was hungry.

12And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

13From far off he saw a fig tree that had leaves on it, so he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he got there, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.

13And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

NoteFig trees in that region put out leaves in spring at roughly the same time as small early figs, which are edible though not sweet, so a tree in full leaf with nothing at all on it was making a promise it could not keep. The main fig crop came months later, which is what "the time of figs was not yet" refers to. "If haply" means "in case" or "on the chance that."

14Then Jesus said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." His disciples heard him say it.

14And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

Note"Answered" in the King James often means no more than "spoke up" or "responded," even when no question has been asked.

15They came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the temple area and began to drive out the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.

15And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

NoteMoney changers were in the temple because the temple tax and the purchase of offerings had to be paid in an approved coinage, so pilgrims arriving with ordinary Greek and Roman money had to exchange it, for a fee. Doves were the offering the law prescribed for those who could not afford a lamb, so the dove sellers were serving the poorest worshipers.

16He would not allow anyone to carry goods through the temple area.

16And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

Note"Vessel" in 1611 English meant any container or piece of equipment, not just a cup or a dish. What is being stopped is people carrying goods across the temple courts, whether as merchandise or simply as a shortcut through the enclosure.

17He taught them, saying, "Isn't it written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a hideout for robbers."

17And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

NoteTwo quotations are stitched together. "My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer" is Isaiah 56:7, where "of all nations" means "for all nations," non-Jews included. "A den of thieves" is Jeremiah 7:11; the Greek word means a robber or bandit, a man of violence rather than a pickpocket, and a den is the hideout he retreats to, not the place where he does his robbing.

18The teachers of the law and the chief priests heard this and looked for a way to kill him. They were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

18And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

Note"Scribes" were the professional experts in the written law, who copied it, taught it and ruled on how it applied. "Chief priests" were the senior priestly families who ran the temple, including the serving high priest and men who had held the office before. "Doctrine" here means teaching, not a set of formal beliefs.

19When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

19And when even was come, he went out of the city.

20In the morning, as they walked by, they saw that the fig tree had dried up all the way down to its roots.

20And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

21Peter remembered what had happened and said to him, "Teacher, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered."

21And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

Note"Master" in the King James is a title for a teacher, not an owner. The word behind it is "Rabbi."

22Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God."

22And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

23"I tell you the truth: if anyone says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him."

23For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

NoteMoving a mountain was a common figure of speech for accomplishing the impossible. "This mountain" is spoken on the road over the Mount of Olives, within sight of it.

24"So I tell you, whatever you ask for when you pray, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

25"And when you stand praying, if you are holding something against anyone, forgive them. Then your Father in heaven will also forgive you the wrongs you have done."

25And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

NoteStanding was the ordinary posture for prayer, so "when ye stand praying" means simply "whenever you pray." "Ought" is an old spelling of "aught," meaning anything at all. "Trespasses" means offenses or wrongs committed, nothing to do with walking on someone's land.

26"But if you do not forgive, then your Father in heaven will not forgive the wrongs you have done."

26But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

ManuscriptsMost modern translations leave this verse out. It is in the Greek text the King James translators worked from, but not in the older manuscripts found since, so scholars generally take it as a copyist’s addition rather than part of the original.

NoteThis verse is absent from the oldest surviving Greek manuscripts of Mark and is widely thought to have been copied in by a later scribe from Matthew 6:15. Most modern translations omit it from the text or print it in a footnote, which is why some Bibles jump from verse 25 to verse 27.

27They came again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came up to him.

27And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,

NoteChief priests, scribes and elders together make up the three constituent groups of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council in Jerusalem. "Elders" were the lay heads of leading families. Their arriving together marks this as an official delegation rather than a casual question.

28They said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you the right to do them?"

28And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

29Jesus answered them, "I will ask you one question. Answer me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things."

29And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

30"The baptism John did, was it from heaven, or did it come from people? Answer me."

30The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.

NoteJohn the Baptist had drawn crowds to the Jordan river shortly before and had since been executed by Herod Antipas. "From heaven" is a reverent way of saying "from God"; devout Jews commonly avoided speaking the name directly. The question is therefore whether John acted on God's authorization or on his own.

31They talked it over among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?'"

31And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?

32"But if we say, 'From people'…" They were afraid of the crowd, because everyone believed that John really was a prophet.

32But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.

NoteThe sentence breaks off unfinished in the Greek as well. Mark lets them leave the dangerous half of the thought unspoken and then explains why: they did not dare say it out loud.

33So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." And Jesus said to them, "Then I won't tell you by what authority I do these things."

33And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.