Mark 14: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Two days before Passover, the chief priests look for a quiet way to arrest Jesus and kill him. A woman anoints him with costly perfume in Bethany, Judas agrees to hand him over, and Jesus eats the Passover meal with the twelve, telling them one of them will betray him and giving them bread and the cup. He prays in Gethsemane, is arrested, and his disciples run away. The council condemns him as deserving death, and outside in the courtyard Peter denies knowing him three times before the rooster crows twice.

Claim by Claim

1. 14:1
   • The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away.
   • The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize him by deceit.
   • They sought to put him to death.
2. 14:2
   • They said the arrest should not happen during the feast.
   • They said the reason was that there might otherwise be a riot among the people.
3. 14:3
   • Jesus was in Bethany.
   • He was in the house of Simon the leper.
   • He was reclining at the table.
   • A woman came carrying an alabaster jar of perfumed ointment.
   • The ointment was pure nard and very costly.
   • She broke the jar open.
   • She poured the ointment on his head.
4. 14:4
   • Some of those present were indignant among themselves.
   • They asked why this waste of the ointment had been made.
5. 14:5
   • They said the ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii.
   • They said the money could have been given to the poor.
   • They rebuked the woman harshly.
6. 14:6
   • Jesus said to leave her alone.
   • Jesus asked why they were troubling her.
   • Jesus said she had done a good work on him.
7. 14:7
   • Jesus said they always have the poor with them.
   • Jesus said they can do good to the poor whenever they wish.
   • Jesus said they do not always have him.
8. 14:8
   • Jesus said she did what she could.
   • Jesus said she anointed his body beforehand for burial.
9. 14:9
   • Jesus said truly to them.
   • Jesus said the gospel will be preached throughout the whole world.
   • Jesus said that wherever it is preached, what she did will also be told.
   • Jesus said this telling would be a memorial of her.
10. 14:10
    • Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve.
    • Judas went to the chief priests.
    • Judas went in order to hand Jesus over to them.
11. 14:11
    • The chief priests were glad when they heard it.
    • They promised to give Judas money.
    • Judas sought how he might conveniently hand Jesus over.
12. 14:12
    • It was the first day of Unleavened Bread.
    • It was the day when they sacrificed the Passover lamb.
    • The disciples asked Jesus where he wanted them to go and prepare for him to eat the Passover.
13. 14:13
    • Jesus sent out two of his disciples.
    • Jesus told them to go into the city.
    • Jesus said a man carrying a jar of water would meet them.
    • Jesus told them to follow that man.
14. 14:14
    • Jesus told them to speak to the master of whatever house the man entered.
    • Jesus told them to say that the Teacher asks where his guest room is.
    • The guest room is where Jesus would eat the Passover with his disciples.
15. 14:15
    • Jesus said the householder would show them a large upper room.
    • Jesus said the room would be furnished and ready.
    • Jesus told them to make preparations there.
16. 14:16
    • The disciples went out.
    • They came into the city.
    • They found it as Jesus had told them.
    • They prepared the Passover.
17. 14:17
    • Evening came.
    • Jesus came with the twelve.
18. 14:18
    • They were reclining and eating.
    • Jesus said truly to them.
    • Jesus said one of them would betray him.
    • Jesus said the betrayer was one eating with him.
19. 14:19
    • The disciples began to be grieved.
    • They said to him one by one, 'Is it I?'
    • Another said, 'Is it I?'
20. 14:20
    • Jesus answered that it was one of the twelve.
    • Jesus said it was the one dipping with him into the dish.
21. 14:21
    • Jesus said the Son of Man goes as it is written of him.
    • Jesus pronounced woe on the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
    • Jesus said it would have been good for that man if he had never been born.
22. 14:22
    • They were eating.
    • Jesus took bread.
    • Jesus blessed it.
    • Jesus broke it.
    • Jesus gave it to them.
    • Jesus told them to take and eat.
    • Jesus said the bread is his body.
23. 14:23
    • Jesus took a cup.
    • Jesus gave thanks.
    • Jesus gave the cup to them.
    • They all drank from it.
24. 14:24
    • Jesus said the cup is his blood of the new covenant.
    • Jesus said his blood is poured out for many.
25. 14:25
    • Jesus said truly to them.
    • Jesus said he would drink no more of the fruit of the vine.
    • Jesus said he would drink it new in the kingdom of God on that day.
26. 14:26
    • They sang a hymn.
    • They went out to the Mount of Olives.
27. 14:27
    • Jesus said they would all be made to stumble because of him that night.
    • Jesus said this was because it is written.
    • The writing says God will strike the shepherd.
    • The writing says the sheep will be scattered.
28. 14:28
    • Jesus said he would be raised.
    • Jesus said that after he was raised he would go ahead of them into Galilee.
29. 14:29
    • Peter said that even if all were made to stumble, he would not be.
30. 14:30
    • Jesus said truly to Peter.
    • Jesus said that that very day, that night, before a cock crowed twice, Peter would deny him three times.
31. 14:31
    • Peter spoke all the more vehemently.
    • Peter said that even if he had to die with Jesus, he would not deny him.
    • All the other disciples said the same.
32. 14:32
    • They came to a place named Gethsemane.
    • Jesus told his disciples to sit there while he prayed.
33. 14:33
    • Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him.
    • Jesus began to be greatly distressed.
    • Jesus began to be deeply troubled.
34. 14:34
    • Jesus said his soul was exceedingly sorrowful, to the point of death.
    • Jesus told them to remain there.
    • Jesus told them to keep watch.
35. 14:35
    • Jesus went forward a little.
    • Jesus fell on the ground.
    • Jesus prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
36. 14:36
    • Jesus addressed God as Abba, Father.
    • Jesus said all things are possible to God.
    • Jesus asked God to take this cup from him.
    • Jesus said not what he himself wills, but what God wills.
37. 14:37
    • Jesus came back.
    • Jesus found them sleeping.
    • Jesus addressed Peter as Simon.
    • Jesus asked Peter whether he was sleeping.
    • Jesus asked whether Peter was not strong enough to keep watch for one hour.
38. 14:38
    • Jesus told them to keep watch.
    • Jesus told them to pray.
    • Jesus said this was so that they would not enter into temptation.
    • Jesus said the spirit is willing.
    • Jesus said the flesh is weak.
39. 14:39
    • Jesus went away again.
    • Jesus prayed again.
    • Jesus said the same words.
40. 14:40
    • Jesus came again.
    • Jesus found them sleeping again.
    • Their eyes were weighed down.
    • They did not know what to answer him.
41. 14:41
    • Jesus came a third time.
    • Jesus said to them to sleep on and take their rest, words that can equally be read as a question asking whether they were still sleeping.
    • Jesus said it is enough.
    • Jesus said the hour has come.
    • Jesus said the Son of Man is being handed over into the hands of sinners.
42. 14:42
    • Jesus told them to rise.
    • Jesus told them to go.
    • Jesus said the one betraying him had drawn near.
43. 14:43
    • Jesus was still speaking.
    • Judas, one of the twelve, arrived immediately.
    • A great crowd came with him.
    • The crowd carried swords and clubs.
    • The crowd came from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.
44. 14:44
    • The betrayer had given them a prearranged signal.
    • He said the one he kissed would be the man.
    • He told them to seize that man.
    • He told them to lead him away securely.
45. 14:45
    • Judas came and went straight to Jesus.
    • Judas addressed him as Master.
    • Judas kissed him.
46. 14:46
    • They laid their hands on Jesus.
    • They seized him.
47. 14:47
    • One of the bystanders drew a sword.
    • He struck the servant of the high priest.
    • He cut off the servant's ear.
48. 14:48
    • Jesus answered them.
    • Jesus asked whether they had come out with swords and clubs to arrest him as against a robber.
49. 14:49
    • Jesus said he had been with them daily in the temple teaching.
    • Jesus said they did not seize him then.
    • Jesus said this happened so that the scriptures would be fulfilled.
50. 14:50
    • They all abandoned him.
    • They all fled.
51. 14:51
    • A certain young man was following Jesus.
    • He was wearing a linen cloth over his naked body.
    • The young men laid hold of him.
52. 14:52
    • He left the linen cloth behind.
    • He fled naked.
53. 14:53
    • They led Jesus away to the high priest.
    • All the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes assembled with him.
54. 14:54
    • Peter followed Jesus at a distance.
    • Peter went as far as inside the courtyard of the high priest.
    • Peter sat with the officers.
    • Peter warmed himself at the fire.
55. 14:55
    • The chief priests and the whole council sought testimony against Jesus.
    • They sought it in order to put him to death.
    • They found none.
56. 14:56
    • Many bore false witness against him.
    • Their testimonies did not agree.
57. 14:57
    • Certain men stood up.
    • They bore false witness against him.
58. 14:58
    • They said they had heard him say he would destroy this temple made with hands.
    • They said he claimed that within three days he would build another not made with hands.
59. 14:59
    • Even so their testimony did not agree.
60. 14:60
    • The high priest stood up in the midst.
    • The high priest questioned Jesus.
    • The high priest asked whether Jesus would answer nothing.
    • The high priest asked what it was that these men testified against him.
61. 14:61
    • Jesus kept silent.
    • Jesus answered nothing.
    • The high priest questioned him again.
    • The high priest asked whether he was the Christ, the Son of the Blessed.
62. 14:62
    • Jesus said, 'I am.'
    • Jesus said they would see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power.
    • Jesus said they would see him coming with the clouds of heaven.
63. 14:63
    • The high priest tore his garments.
    • The high priest asked what further need they had of witnesses.
64. 14:64
    • The high priest said they had heard the blasphemy.
    • The high priest asked what they thought.
    • They all condemned him as deserving of death.
65. 14:65
    • Some began to spit on him.
    • They covered his face.
    • They struck him with their fists.
    • They told him to prophesy.
    • The officers struck him with blows of their hands.
66. 14:66
    • Peter was below in the courtyard.
    • One of the high priest's servant girls came.
67. 14:67
    • She saw Peter warming himself.
    • She looked closely at him.
    • She said he also had been with Jesus the Nazarene.
68. 14:68
    • Peter denied it.
    • Peter said he neither knew nor understood what she was saying.
    • Peter went out into the forecourt.
    • The cock crowed.
69. 14:69
    • The servant girl saw him.
    • She began again to say to the bystanders that this man was one of them.
70. 14:70
    • Peter denied it again.
    • After a little while the bystanders said again to Peter that he truly was one of them.
    • They said this was because he was a Galilean.
    • They said his speech agreed with that.
71. 14:71
    • Peter began to curse.
    • Peter began to swear.
    • Peter said he did not know this man of whom they spoke.
72. 14:72
    • Immediately the cock crowed a second time.
    • Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him.
    • That word was that before the cock crowed twice Peter would deny him three times.
    • Peter, in a manner the wording leaves unclear and which may mean that he thought on it or that he broke down, wept.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

14:1

Passover was the yearly festival that remembered Israel's escape from slavery in Egypt. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was the week attached to it, during which no bread made with yeast could be eaten; in ordinary speech the two ran together as one festival. Jerusalem swelled with pilgrims for it, which is why the authorities feared trouble. The "scribes" were the trained experts in the law of Moses, the men who copied, interpreted and taught it.

14:2

The worry is practical rather than moral: a crowd of festival pilgrims, many of them from Galilee and sympathetic to Jesus, could turn into a riot, and a riot would bring the Roman garrison down on everyone.

14:3

Bethany was a village about two miles east of Jerusalem, over the shoulder of the Mount of Olives. "Simon the leper" is how he was known; the word covered a range of skin conditions, and since a person with an active case had to live apart from the community, a man hosting a dinner under that nickname had presumably been healed of it. Guests at a formal meal did not sit on chairs but lay on their left sides on low couches around a low table, feet away from the food, which is what the KJV's "sat at meat" describes. Alabaster is a soft, translucent stone; a flask of it was sealed at the neck, so the only way to use the contents at once was to snap it. Nard, or spikenard, was a perfumed oil pressed from a plant grown in the Himalayas and carried the whole way by trade, which is why it cost what it did.

14:5

A denarius was the standard day's pay for an ordinary laborer, so three hundred of them came to roughly a year's wages. The KJV's "pence" is simply the 1611 translators' nearest English coin, not a small sum.

14:7

The saying picks up the wording of Deuteronomy 15:11, "the poor shall never cease out of the land," which in that passage introduces a command to give openly and often.

14:8

Bodies were washed and treated with perfumed oils and spices before burial, and the perfumes were normally applied after death rather than before it.

14:9

"Gospel" translates a word meaning good news: a public announcement that something has happened.

14:10

"The twelve" was the fixed inner group of disciples Jesus had chosen, so the phrase is not counting heads but marking how close Judas stood. The verb behind the KJV's "betray" means plainly to hand over or deliver up, the same word used later for handing a prisoner to the authorities; the treachery is implied by the situation rather than carried by the word itself.

14:11

"Conveniently" in 1611 English meant at a fitting opportunity, not comfortably or easily. Judas is watching for a moment when Jesus is away from the crowds.

14:12

The days are being counted in the Jewish way, from sunset to sunset. On the afternoon of the fourteenth day of the month, lambs were killed in the temple, and the Passover meal was eaten after dark, which by that reckoning had already become the next day. Mark's phrase folds the slaughter and the festival together the way ordinary speech did.

14:13

Carrying water in a jar was normally women's work, so a man doing it would stand out in a street and served as a workable signal.

14:14

"Goodman of the house" is old English for the master or owner of the household. "The Master" here translates a word meaning teacher, the ordinary title for someone with disciples, not a title of lordship.

14:15

Houses of any size had a room built above the ground floor or on the flat roof, reached by an outside stair. "Furnished" means the dining couches and cushions were already laid out.

14:17

The Jewish day ran from sunset to sunset, so evening is the beginning of Passover day rather than the end of it.

14:18

Eating from a shared table put people under an obligation of loyalty to one another, so "one of you which eateth with me" names the treachery as sharply as possible. The wording echoes Psalm 41:9, about a trusted friend who shared the psalmist's bread.

14:19

The Greek way of asking the question is shaped to expect the answer no, which is why the rendering has "Surely not I?" rather than a flat "Is it I?"

14:20

A common bowl of sauce stood on the table and everyone dipped pieces of bread into it, so this identifies the man as someone eating at close quarters with Jesus rather than singling out one individual by name.

14:21

"Son of man" is the phrase Jesus regularly uses of himself in Mark. In ordinary Hebrew and Aramaic it can simply mean a human being, but it also carries the vision of Daniel 7:13, where "one like the Son of man" comes with the clouds and is given authority; the expression keeps both senses in play. "Woe to that man" is not a curse laid on him but a cry of dismay over what lies ahead of him.

14:22

At a Jewish meal the blessing is spoken over God, not over the food: the head of the table thanks God for bringing bread out of the earth, then breaks the loaf and distributes it. Bread was torn rather than cut.

14:23

Wine was drunk from a shared cup passed around the table; several cups were drunk in the course of the Passover meal.

14:24

The KJV's "testament" is the older English word for covenant, a binding agreement, and does not mean a will. The phrase recalls Exodus 24:8, where Moses throws blood on the people and says, "Behold the blood of the covenant." Some early manuscripts read simply "my blood of the covenant" without "new."

14:25

"The fruit of the vine" is the set phrase from the Jewish blessing spoken over wine, so it means the wine on the table in front of them.

14:26

The hymn would have been the last part of the Hallel, Psalms 113 to 118, sung at the close of the Passover meal. The Mount of Olives is the ridge just east of Jerusalem, across the Kidron valley from the temple.

14:27

"Offended" in the KJV does not mean insulted. The Greek word means to be tripped up, to stumble and fall away, and that is the sense here. The quotation is from Zechariah 13:7.

14:28

The verb translated "go before you" can mean either to travel ahead of them or to lead them as a shepherd leads a flock, and after the shepherd image in the previous verse both senses are probably in play.

14:30

The KJV's "cock" is a rooster. Cockcrow was also a rough way of naming a time of night, the small hours before dawn, so the prediction marks both an event and an hour. "Deny" here means to disown, to publicly say you have nothing to do with someone.

14:32

Gethsemane is an Aramaic name meaning something like oil press, fitting for a plot of ground among olive trees on the Mount of Olives.

14:33

"Sore amazed" and "very heavy" are strong old expressions, not mild ones. The first Greek word describes being stunned or appalled, the second a distress close to anguish; together they are the heaviest such pair Mark uses anywhere.

14:34

The wording echoes the refrain of Psalms 42 and 43, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" "Tarry" means stay, and "watch" means stay awake and alert, the way a guard keeps watch at night.

14:35

"The hour" is an idiom for the appointed moment, the crisis already fixed and now arriving, rather than sixty minutes of time.

14:36

"Abba" is the Aramaic word for father, the word actually on his lips, which Mark keeps and then translates for his Greek readers. It was ordinary family speech, used by grown children as well as small ones. "This cup" draws on a common image in the Hebrew scriptures, where the cup a person is handed stands for the portion allotted to them, often a portion of suffering or judgment.

14:37

Simon was his original name; Jesus had given him the name Peter earlier in Mark. Here he is addressed by the old one.

14:38

"Ready" in 1611 English means willing or eager. "Flesh" here means human beings in their ordinary physical weakness, not sinful appetite. The word behind "temptation" means a test or trial as much as an enticement to do wrong, and both senses fit.

14:40

"Wist" is the old past tense of a verb meaning to know: they did not know what to say to him.

14:41

This verse is hard in the Greek. The opening words can be read as a command, "sleep on now," or as a question, "are you still sleeping?", and translators differ. The phrase rendered "it is enough" translates a single word whose sense here is genuinely disputed; it can mean the account is settled, or the matter is closed, or simply enough of this.

14:43

"Staves" are wooden clubs. The three groups named, chief priests, scribes and elders, were the составные parts of the ruling council in Jerusalem, so this is an official arresting party rather than a mob.

14:44

A kiss on the cheek or hand was the normal respectful greeting from a disciple to his teacher, which is what makes it usable as a signal: nothing about it would look out of place. "Lead him away safely" means under secure guard, so that he cannot be rescued in the dark.

14:45

The KJV's "Master, master" translates the Aramaic title Rabbi, the ordinary form of address for a teacher.

14:47

Mark does not say who drew the sword, and the high priest's "servant" here is a member of his household staff rather than a hired laborer.

14:48

The KJV's "thief" is misleading. The Greek word means a robber or armed bandit, and in this period it was also used for insurgents who fought the Romans, so the complaint is that they have turned out in force as if against a violent outlaw.

14:49

The teaching took place in the temple's outer courts, which were open public ground where teachers gathered listeners; arresting him there would have been done in full view.

14:51

The linen cloth is a single outer wrap thrown over an otherwise unclothed body, the sort of thing a man would grab if he came out at night in a hurry. Mark alone reports this incident and does not name the young man.

14:53

The high priest was the senior priestly official, head of the temple and president of the ruling council, holding office with Roman approval.

14:54

The KJV's "palace" here means the open courtyard that a large house was built around, not a grand building; Peter is outdoors at a fire in the middle of the house. The "servants" are the officers or guards attached to the high priest.

14:55

The "council" is the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish court in Jerusalem, made up of chief priests, elders and scribes under the high priest's presidency.

14:56

Under the law of Deuteronomy 19:15 a charge had to be established by at least two witnesses, and if their accounts did not match, the testimony failed. The problem is not that the witnesses lied but that their lies did not line up.

14:58

"Made with hands" and "made without hands" were stock Jewish expressions contrasting what human beings construct, including idols, with what God brings about. Applied to the temple, the phrase was inflammatory.

14:61

"Held his peace" simply means stayed silent. "Christ" is the Greek for the Hebrew word Messiah, the anointed one, the king expected from David's line. "The Blessed" is a reverent substitute for the name of God, which was avoided in speech, so the question means "are you the Messiah, the Son of God?"

14:62

"Power" is another reverent substitute for the name of God. The answer combines two scriptures, Psalm 110:1 about sitting at God's right hand, and Daniel 7:13 about one like a son of man coming with the clouds. A few manuscripts read "You say that I am" rather than the plain "I am."

14:63

Tearing one's own garments was a formal public gesture of grief or horror, and here it functions almost as a legal act, the presiding judge registering that he has heard something outrageous. The KJV's "rent" is the old past tense of tear.

14:64

Blasphemy meant speech that insulted or usurped God, an offense the law of Leviticus 24:16 punished with death. "Guilty of death" in 1611 English means deserving of death, a verdict rather than an execution.

14:65

Covering the face and then demanding "Prophesy" makes a game of it: the blindfolded man is struck and challenged to name who hit him. "Buffet" means to strike with the fist, and the blows "with the palms of their hands" are open-handed slaps, the standard insult to a person's face.

14:66

The house was built around a courtyard lower than the rooms surrounding it, so the girl comes down to where Peter is. The "maids" are household servant girls, most likely slaves, and their word carried no legal weight, which sharpens the scene.

14:67

Nazareth was a small, obscure town in Galilee. "Jesus of Nazareth" identified which Jesus was meant, much as a surname would.

14:68

The "porch" is the covered passage or gateway leading from the courtyard out to the street, where Peter could stand near the exit. Some early manuscripts do not include "and the cock crew" here.

14:70

Galilean Aramaic had a distinct accent, and Galileans were said to blur certain throat sounds, so a northerner in Jerusalem gave himself away the moment he spoke.

14:71

This is not swearing in the modern sense of foul language. Peter calls down curses on himself and swears an oath, the strongest form of denial available: he is inviting disaster on himself if he is lying.

14:72

The word behind the KJV's "when he thought thereon" is uncertain in Greek. It can mean he thought about it, or he threw himself down, or he burst out, and translators have to choose; the rendering keeps the sense of a man overcome.