How to read these pages
The layout of this commentary
This commentary is not written on a verse by verse structure. Simply looking up what is said on Chapter 3:6, for example, may miss much of what is said about that verse. Although I highlight key points of each section of text, I then tend to have a summary text on each section. It will pay to read the commentary on an entire section.
The layout of the gospel text
This commentary uses the NRSV text of Mark taken from oremus.org
- Inside the square brackets, I have included the textual notes that come with the NRSV as Oremus renders it. But note that also I follow the convention of using square brackets to indicate places where I have added words into a quotation for clarity where I am quoting authors other than NRSV.
- Inside the round brackets, I add Greek words or phrases immediately following the NRSV translation if relevant to the commentary.
- I very occasionally strikeout English words which have been included for clarity by NRSV, which I think do not assist our understanding and could be better translated.
- I have removed the paragraph headings which come with the NRSV, as they are not in the original text, and often interrupt the flow of the narrative. You will see that I have then added my own organisational structure in the commentary.
- Where I quote the gospel Greek text in the body of this commentary, I am using the SBL Greek text which is readily available online, and generally transliterate this to the English alphabet. I have taken the same approach with Greek quoted from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament commonly in use in Jesus' time.
(Dec 2023)
