Mark 8:31-38
31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
v31 διδασκειν (διδασκω) pres. inf. "[and he began] to teach" - the infinitive is complementary here, completing the sense of the verb "he began". This is used to break from the proceeding episode and introduce a new one.
του ανθρωπου (ος) gen. "[Son] of man" –this is Jesus' favored messianic title drawn from Daniel 7:13-14.
παθειν (πασχω) aor. act. inf. "suffer [many things]" - this infinitive, along with "to be rejected" and "to be killed" serve as the subject of the verb " necessary." Note Jesus' shift to "Son of Man" as the suffering one. The notion of a suffering messiah is not an easy thing for the disciples to wrap their heads around. In the face of such identity issues, Jesus moves to his often used self-identification Son of Man as it is a glorious image rather than a suffering image and therefore more (maybe?) palatable to the crowds.
αποδοκιμασθηναι (αποδοκιμαζω) aor. pas. inf. "rejected" note that Mark lists the three groups involved in Jesus' humiliation, but the Pharisees, are not mentioned!
αποκτανθηναι (αποκτεινω) aor. pas. inf. "he must be to be killed" - infinitive, as above. In a reading back of tradition, the word crucifixion would be used, but Mark is preserving the original sense of the words held in the oral tradition.
meta "after [three days]" - "after" causes a timing difficulty so in Matthew and Luke it is th trith, dat., "on the third day." The difficulty underlines its originality, although it was normal practice to count part of a day as a day. The number three, of course, is dictated by Old Testament precedence, eg. Jonah in the big fish.
αναστηναι (ανιστημι) aor. pas. inf. "rise" - to rise. infinitive, as above can be transitive or intransitive but since the Son of Man is the subject, it is intransitive so "rise" not ‘risen’.
v32 ελαλει (λαλεω) imperf. "he was speaking” the durative sense "he kept on telling them".
παρρησια (α) dat. "plainly" - frankly, openly – without guile!
τον λεγον (ος) "about this word/matter/thing/issue.
προσλαβομενος (προσλαμβανω) aor. part. "took [him] aside" - Why take Jesus aside? Is Peter embarrassed with what he is about to say or about what Jesus has just said?
επιτιμαν (επιταμαω) inf. "to rebuke" – more accurately to sternly warn infinitive is complementary, the word is used of the casting out a demon, so it is very strong. Our modern idiom would be that Peter tries to set Jesus straight.
v33 επιστραφεις (επιστρεφω) aor. pas. part. "when [Jesus] turned [and looked at his disciples]" although Peter may have meant it as a private word, it obviously has a public affect, so Jesus observing that the other disciples have most likely overheard Peter's words decides a public response is necessary.
επετιμησεν (επιτιμαω) aor. "he rebuked" - a public dressing down.
οπισω + gen. "[get] behind [me]" - used here adverbially. Jesus is telling Peter to get back with the disciples and accept his authority rather than tell him what he should, or should not do or say.
σατανα (ας) "Satan" - aligning Peter with Satan is harsh, but not meant as aalthough it is most likely that the temptation which has come through Peter's words that is “Satanic”. Peter has unwittingly promoted the temptation that the kingdom can come by means other than the suffering Jesus faces.
ου φρονεις (φρονεω) "you do not have in mind" - lit. "you are not thinking the things of God, rather the things of human beings."
v34 Jesus' call for commitment, v34-38. Although Mark may have been the first writer to craft the synoptic tradition, these sayings are evidence of an early amalgamation in the oral tradition of the apostolic church.
προσκαλεσαμενος (προσκαλεω) aor. mid. part. "then he called [the crowd] it is important to note Jesus calls the crowd to him while the disciples tag along. The point is that Jesus now addresses the crowd as well as the disciples. The implication is Jesus is calling people to discipleship and the focus is on Jesus and his suffering, not the suffering of a disciple.
ακολουθειν (ακολουθεω) pres. inf. "[would] come" -[willed] to follow – this is an derivation fo the word ακουω, which means “to hear” so the etiology of disciple is “to hear and to respond”
απαρνησασθω (απαρνεομαι) aor. imp. he must deny actually to renounce. The word is commonly taken to mean self-denial in varying degrees of selflessness, but it may just mean the shame of accepting a messiah facing death.
αρατω (αιρω) aor. imp. "take up" - it is hard not to see the cross in this image, although, at this point of time, the image would conjure up a cross-bearing criminal shamed in the presence of neighbors and friends. Jesus has not said how he is to be "killed" and so rather than reflecting Jesus' suffering this image may simply illustrate the shame involved in accepting a humiliated messiah.
v35 θελη (θελω) subj. "wishes/wills/wants. a person who wants to protect their security and their standing now have misplaced priorities.
σωσαι (σωζω) inf. "to save/rescue/heal/preserve”. Mark has "wants to save", Lk. "seeks to preserve", Matt. "finds". Mark emphasizes decision for unbelievers in radical terms: "to cling to the things of life…”.
ψυξην (η) "life" – actually “whole being” the Greek sense "soul" is not intended, either here or v36 & 37. The Hebrew sense of the word meaning the whole self seems more than likely. It is pushing too far to suggest that a person who saves the mortal body at the cost of denying their faith forfeits eternal life. If this were the case only John, out of the twelve, is saved!
απολεσει (απολλυμι) fut. ind. act. "will lose/ruin/destroy”
v36 Two proverbs are used to support the statement made in v35: "There is no one who would choose to keep all the wealth of the world at the expense of his or her own life, and (v 37) there is nothing, no matter how valuable, that one can offer in exchange for one's own life".
ωφελει (ωφελεω) pres. "good is it for" - does it profit, benefit κερδησαι (κερδαινω) aor. inf. "to gain [the whole world]" - this infinitive, along with "to forfeit" stands as the subject of "to gain”
ζημωθηναι (ζημιοω) inf. "forfeit"
την ψυχην (η) "life" -, as above, the entire self.
v37 δοι (διδωμι) aor. subj. "give" ανταλλαγμα (α ατος) "in exchange"
v38 Note how Mark has used the received tradition of this saying differently from Matthew, (10:32). Mark drops the words that apply to disciples and left the saying in a form that applies to everyone "whoever". The saying warns believers and unbelievers alike that they should not allow the shame of association with Jesus to get in ths way of their acceptance of him.
επαισχυνθη (επαισχυνομαι) aor. pas. subj. "is ashamed"
εμους adj. "my [words]" - [the words] of me. "Words" is absent in some texts, but not all so “my words” is most likely the original intent.
τη μοιχαλιδι adj. "adulterous [and sinful generation]" - taking the religious meaning "faithless/godless/disloyal"
οταν + subj. "whenever [he comes]" an indefinite temporal clause; ‘when he returns’, is incorrect. It is erroneous to assume that all references to his coming are to his coming back at the end of the age. The Daniel image is of his coming to the Ancient of Days to receive the Kingdom (7:13). This coming is to reveal του παρος (ηρ ρος) gen. "[his] Father's [glory]" and is less definite, perhaps a proleptic resurrection account or a reference to His ascension or the coming of the Holy Spirit, or?? Anything is possible.
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