Mark 8
The full text of Mark 8 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Greek. Free to read.
1 In those days, when a large crowd had again gathered with nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said,
2 "I have compassion on this crowd, because they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.
3 If I send them home hungry, they'll collapse on the way—and some of them have come from a distance.
4 His disciples answered him, "Out here in this desolate place, where could anyone find enough bread to feed them?"
5 He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven."
6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, broke them, and kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people, and they set them before the crowd.
7 They also had a few small fish; and after blessing them, he told the disciples to serve these as well.
8 They ate and were satisfied, and they picked up seven baskets of leftover pieces.
9 There were about four thousand people, and he sent them away.
10 Immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 The Pharisees came out and began to debate with him, asking him for a sign from heaven to test him.
12 He sighed deeply within himself and said, "Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will ever be given to this generation."
13 Then he left them, got back into the boat, and crossed to the other side.
14 They had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
15 He charged them, "Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod."
16 They were discussing with one another that they had no bread.
17 Knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, "Why are you reasoning that you have no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Is your heart hardened?
18 You have eyes—do you not see? You have ears—do you not hear? Do you not remember?
19 "When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?" They told him, "Twelve."
20 "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?"
"Seven," they said.
21 And he said to them, "Do you still not understand?"
22 They came to Bethsaida, and people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him.
23 He took the blind man by the hand and brought him outside the village. He spit on the man's eyes, placed his hands on him, and asked, "Do you see anything?"
24 He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees—walking."
25 Then Jesus laid his hands on the man's eyes again. He looked intently, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
26 Then he sent him home, saying, "Don't even go into the village."
27 Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say that I am?"
28 They told him, "John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."
29 He asked them, "But who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah."
30 And he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, be killed, and after three days rise.
32 He was speaking the message plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But Jesus turned, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan! Your mind is not on the concerns of God, but on the concerns of people."
34 Calling the crowd to him along with his disciples, he said, "If anyone wants to come after me, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.
35 Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for the sake of me and the gospel will save it.
36 For what good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their life?
37 For what can anyone give in exchange for their life?
38 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of them when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Translation notes (28)
- Mark 8:3a The Greek word nesteis literally means 'fasting,' but it is rendered 'hungry' here for sense, as the people have not eaten, not that they are observing a fast.
- Mark 8:10a Some manuscripts read Magadan or Magdala; Matt 15:39 has Magadan. Location uncertain.
- Mark 8:11a This can also be translated 'began to dispute with him.' The Greek verb syzēteō covers a range from formal debate to argument; the adversarial tone here comes chiefly from the closing phrase 'to test him.'
- Mark 8:12a Greek literally: 'if a sign will be given' — a Semitic oath formula (cf. Ps 95:11 LXX, quoted in Heb 3:11; 4:3) where 'if' functions as an emphatic negative, with an implicit self-imprecation.
- Mark 8:12b A few ancient witnesses (including manuscript W) omit the Greek word ei, which smooths the Semitic idiom into a simple negative statement.
- Mark 8:15a A few ancient witnesses (P45, W, Θ, f1, f13) read 'of the Herodians' instead of 'of Herod.' The critical Greek text prints 'Herod.'
- Mark 8:15b 'Yeast' (zymē) is a metaphor for a small influence that spreads through the whole; the surrounding context (Pharisees and Herod) gives it a negative meaning here.
- Mark 8:17a This can also be translated 'Are your hearts calloused?' The Greek verb pōroō carries the image of a callus or hardened stone.
- Mark 8:17b The Greek word for 'heart' is singular, while 'your' is plural, which is a Hebraic collective—a singular noun used to refer to a group. This echoes Mark 6:52.
- Mark 8:23a The Greek word ommata is a rarer word for 'eyes' than ophthalmoi; Mark uses ophthalmoi two verses later (8:25). This variation is likely stylistic and has no clean English equivalent.
- Mark 8:24a The Greek literally says, "I see the people, that as trees I see them walking." The word 'walking' describes the people, not the trees. Mark uses two Greek verbs for seeing, blepō and horō, in one sentence, an unusual doubling that may emphasize the man's still-partial sight.
- Mark 8:26a Some later manuscripts add the phrase, "nor tell anyone in the village." However, the shorter reading is supported by the earliest manuscripts, such as Sinaiticus and Vaticanus.
- Mark 8:29a The Greek word ho Christos means "the Anointed One." It is translated as "Messiah" here (and consistently when it is used as a title) to highlight Peter's confession, rather than reading it as the proper name "Christ."
- Mark 8:31a Greek: 'after three days' (μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας); Matt 16:21 and Luke 9:22 read 'on the third day.'
- Mark 8:31b The title "Son of Man" echoes Daniel 7:13. This is the first of Mark's three predictions of Jesus' suffering and death, which also appear in Mark 9:31 and 10:33–34.
- Mark 8:31c 'Be rejected' (ἀποδοκιμασθῆναι) carries the sense of being examined and disqualified; the same verb appears at Mark 12:10 (citing Ps 118:22).
- Mark 8:32a This can also be translated as "openly." The Greek word parrēsia can mean either frank or plain speech, or public visibility; here, after a private conversation with the disciples in verses 27–30, the sense is likely candor.
- Mark 8:32b Or 'took hold of him.' Greek προσλαβόμενος means 'taking to himself'; spatial separation is implied by context (cf. Matt 16:22) but not stated.
- Mark 8:33a Greek φρονεῖς: to set one's mind on, be intent on, side with — more than mere thinking. Cf. Phil 3:19; Col 3:2.
- Mark 8:33b The phrase "Get behind me" (opisō mou in Greek) echoes Jesus' call to follow "after" him in the next verse, Mark 8:34.
- Mark 8:34a The Greek text uses two different verbs: erchomai opisō, meaning "come after" (referring to the initial call), and akoloutheō, meaning "follow" (referring to ongoing discipleship). The English translation "come after... follow" preserves this distinction.
- Mark 8:35a The Greek word psychē can mean "life," "soul," or "self." Mark uses this same word four times in verses 35–37 with deliberate ambiguity.
- Mark 8:35b Some manuscripts (D, several Old Latin) omit 'and the gospel,' reading only 'for the sake of me' — possibly harmonized to Matt 16:25.
- Mark 8:36a The Greek word psychē means "life" or "soul/self." Mark uses this same word four times in verse 35 to refer to one's life, and the translation preserves this consistent word choice.
- Mark 8:37a The Greek word psychē can mean "life" or "soul," referring to the whole self. It is translated consistently as "life" across Mark 8:35–37 to preserve the Greek text's consistent use of a single word.
- Mark 8:37b The critical Greek text (NA28) reads doi, while some manuscripts (A, C, D, W, f1, f13, and later Byzantine manuscripts 𝔐) read dōsei. These are different grammatical forms of the same verb and do not alter the meaning.
- Mark 8:38a The word "adulterous" echoes the Old Testament prophets' image of unfaithfulness to God's covenant (as seen in Hosea 1–3, Jeremiah 3, and Ezekiel 16), rather than referring to literal sexual sin.
- Mark 8:38b This can also be translated as "disowns me." The Greek word epaischynomai, in an honor-shame context, carries the force of publicly refusing to be associated with someone.
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