Mark 12
1 Then he began speaking to them in parables: “Someone planted a vineyard, built a fence around it, dug out a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to farmers and left the country. 2 In due time, he sent an enslaved worker to the farmers to takea the crop of the vineyard from the farmers. 3 They tookb him, thrashedc him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again, he sent another enslaved worker to them, and they beat that one over the head and humiliated him. 5 Then, he sent another, and they killed that one. The same with many others, some they thrashed while they killed others. 6 He still had one beloved son, and in the end, he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will treat my son with respect.’ 7 However, those farmers said to each other, ‘This is the heir! Come on, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!” 8 After taking him, they killed him and tossed him out of the vineyard. 9 Therefore, what will the masterd of the vineyard do? He will come and kille the farmers and lease the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this scripture?
The stone the builders rejected,
That’s the one that became the foundation stone.f
11 It’s from the LORD that this happened,
And it is wonderful in our eyes.g
12 They tried to seize him because they realized he spoke the parable about them, but they were afraid of the crowd, so they let him go and left.
13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to catch him in what he said. 14 When they arrived, they said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are trustworthy and you don’t care about anyone’s approval of you since you don’t pay attention to people’s positions,h but you truly teach the path of God. Is it allowed to pay a census tribute to Caesari or not? Should we pay, or should we not pay?”
15 However, he saw through their pretense and said to them, “Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it.” 16 So they brought it, and he said to them, “Whose image is it and whose inscription?”
“Caesar,” they told him.
17 So Jesus told them, “Pay the things of Caesar to Caesar and the things of God to God,” and they were stumped by him.
18 Sadducees (who say there is no reawakening) came to him and questioned him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote to us ‘If someone’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife but not a child, then his brother must take on the wife and raise up seedj for his brother.’k 20 There were seven brothers, and the first one took a wife and died without leaving a seed. 21 Then the second one took her and died without leaving behind a seed, and the third did the same. 22 None of the seven left a seed. After all that, the woman died too. 23 At the reawakening, when they reawaken, whose wife will she be since all seven had her as a wife?”
24 Jesus said to them, “Isn’t this why you are misled, that you don’t understand the scriptures or God’s power? 25 You see, when they reawaken from among the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage; instead, they are like divine messengers.l 26 However, about the dead being raised, haven’t you read in Moses’ scroll about the bush and how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?m 27 God is not for the dead but for the living.
28 One of the Bible scholars had come over and listened to their discussion, and after seeing that Jesusn responded to them beautifully,o he asked him, “Which directionp is most important?”q
29 “The most important,”r Jesus answered, “is ‘Listen, Israel, the LORD—our God—the LORD is one. 30 Love the LORD your God with your entire heart, with your entire being,s with your entire mind,t and with your entire strength.’u 31 A second is equivalent: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’v No other direction is more important than these.”
32 The Bible scholar said to him, “Teacher, you spoke the truth beautifullyw that ‘he is one, and there is none other than him.’x 33 Also, loving him with the entire heart, with the entire understanding,y and with the entire strength, and loving the neighbor as oneselfz is far more importantaa than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had responded thoughtfully, he said to him, “You are not far from God’s reign.” No one else was brave enough to question him.
35 When Jesus continued what he was saying as he was teaching in the sacred grounds, he said, “How is it that the Bible scholars say that the meshiahbb is David’s son?cc 36 David himself, by means of the Sacred Life-breath, said, ‘The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I put those who are hostile to you under your feet.”’dd 37 David himself calls him ‘lord,’ so how could he be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with amusement.
38 During his teaching, he said, “Watch out for the Bible scholars who want to walk around in fancy robes, to receive elaborate greetings of respect in the marketplace, 39 the seats reserved for important attendees in synagogues, and seats reserved for important people at the table during dinners. 40 They are the ones who devour widows’ propertyee and pretentiously offer lengthy prayers. These people will receive a decision in excess.”
41 Then, sitting down in front of the donation box, he began to watch how the crowd deposited coins into the donation box. Many wealthy people deposited many coins. 42 When one poor widow came, she deposited two lepta,ff which is equivalent to a quadrans.gg
43 Jesushh called his students over and said to them, “Honestly, I’m telling you, this poor widow deposited more into the offering box than all the others who deposited 44 because they all deposited from their excess,ii but she deposited everything she had from her poverty, the entirety of what she had to live on.”
FOOTNOTES:
a Or ‘claim’ or ‘collect’
b The word lambano here is the same word translated as ‘claim’ in the previous verse.
c The primary meaning of the word here is ‘flay’ or ‘skin.’ It can be used, as is the case here, of a flogging or severe whipping or beating that would have left skin ragged and torn.
d Or ‘lord’
e Or ‘destroy’ or ‘obliterate’
f Literally, ‘head-stone’ which was a term used for a variety of objects that have different names in English: Capstone, keystone, and cornerstone. Ironically, it is not used for what is called a headstone in English. Based on quotations of this psalm in other parts of the Christian scriptures, it seems clear a foundation stone was in view.
g Quotation of Psalm 118
h Or ‘roles.’ Literally, ‘you don’t look at a person’s face.’ Prosopon, ‘face,’ was about personal appearance, and it was also used to refer to the masks Greek actors used to show different emotions and represent different characters. The basic idea of this sentence seems to be that Jesus teaches the same message regardless of who might be listening, regardless of what high-status people he might displease.
i The issue here is a reference to Exodus 30:12-13. A census tax had a prescribed amount to give as a gift to God, a half-shekel. If they willingly participate in and pay the tax for a census to Caesar, they are honoring Caesar in God’s place. The penalty is listed in Exodus 30 as a plague. A story about David violating this direction is recorded in 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21. The trap is to see if Jesus will endorse disregarding Torah or endorse disregarding Caesar’s orders, angering people regardless of which answer he gave.
j This is both a metaphor for descendants and a euphemism for making semen come from his body. The verb ‘raise up’ is the same as is translated ‘raise’ or ‘stand up’ or ‘reawaken’ or ‘resurrect’ but with an additional previx that means ‘out of.’ Very literally the verb means ‘raise out of,’ making the whole sentence literally something like, ‘raise seed out of himself for his brother.’
k Quotation of Deuteronomy 25:5
l Traditionally, ‘angels.’ The word angelos means ‘messenger,’ possibly used for spirit beings, but also used for human agents of God (or other people) and sometimes even for natural phenomena. It conveys the meaning of someone authorized to speak—or act—on behalf of another. If the reader wants to read these messengers (acting on God’s behalf) as celestial beings, great. If as humans, great. Of note, the text referred to prophets in verse 1, which seems likely to indicate that human prophets are the messengers in view; however, spirit-being messengers could also be in view. The word angelos, even for spirit-beings, is a job title, not a ‘species’ classification. The work of Michael S. Heiser is a great source of information on this topic.
m Quotation of Exodus 3:6
n Literally, ‘he’
o Or ‘admirably’ or ‘well’ or ‘respectably’ or several other options. Traditionally, ‘well’ or in this verse, ‘rightly.’
p Traditionally, ‘commandment’
q Literally, ‘first of all’
r Literally, ‘the first of all’
s Traditionally, ‘soul’
t Or ‘way of thinking’
u Quotation of Deuteronomy 6:4-5, though with a variation from 6:5.
v Quotation of Leviticus 19:18
w Or ‘admirably’ or ‘well’ or ‘respectably’ or several other options. Traditionally, ‘well’ or in this verse, ‘rightly.’
x Quotation of Deuteronomy 4:35
y This is a different word than Jesus used. Jesus used dianoia in verse 30. This person uses sunesis here. Whereas the word Jesus used means something like ‘way of thinking,’ this word has to do with connecting ideas to come to understand something.
z Reference to Leviticus 19:18
aa Literally, ‘exceeds’
bb Traditionally, ‘Christ.’ Both the words ‘Christ’ and ‘Messiah’ are not actual translations and serve to take the letters of the Greek word christos and the Hebrew word meshiah and transform them into English words without translating them. Both christos and meshiah mean ‘anointed,’ that is, ‘something or someone that has oil or ointment applied to it.’ In this context, it was referring to someone who was indicated to be chosen by God for a particular calling, most notably a royal calling, but it was also used for priests and prophets.
cc Probably a reference to 2 Samuel 7:12-17
dd Quotation of Psalm 110:1
ee This word most literally means ‘house’ or ‘household’ but can mean the belongings, assets, and resources one has for themself.
ff ‘Lepta’ is the plural of ‘lepton’ which literally means ‘thin.’ It was the name for whatever coin was smallest and least valuable in circulation in any area of the Greek speaking world. The coins referred to here were worth about six minutes of labor. To put that in perspective, if we calculate today’s wages in the United States at $15 per hour, then each lepton would be worth about $1.50.
gg A quadrans was a Roman coin. This information is included to help Roman readers (for whom Mark was presumably primarily written) understand the value of the lepta being discussed. Two Palestinian lepta carried the same value as one Roman quadrans.
hh Literally, ‘he’
ii Or ‘surplus’ or ‘overflow.’ The phrase could be translated as ‘from what was extra for them.’