Mark 11:15–33

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English

Cleansing the Temple

^11:15Then²² they came to Jerusalem.²³ Jesus²⁴ entered the temple area²⁵ and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts.²⁶ He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, ^11:16and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise²⁷ through the temple courts.²⁸^11:17Then he began to teach²⁹ them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’?³⁰ But you have turned it into a den³¹ of robbers!”³²^11:18The chief priests and the experts in the law³³ heard it and they considered how they could assassinate³⁴ him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed by his teaching. ^11:19When evening came, Jesus and his disciples³⁵ went out of the city.

The Withered Fig Tree

^11:20In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ^11:21Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.” ^11:22Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. ^11:23I tell you the truth,³⁶ if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ^11:24For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ^11:25Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will³⁷ also forgive you your sins.”³⁸

The Authority of Jesus

^11:27They came again to Jerusalem.³⁹ While Jesus⁴⁰ was walking in the temple courts,⁴¹ the chief priests, the experts in the law,⁴² and the elders came up to him ^11:28and said, “By what authority⁴³ are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?” ^11:29Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: ^11:30John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from people?⁴⁴ Answer me.” ^11:31They discussed with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ^11:32But if we say, ‘From people—’ ” (they feared the crowd, for they all considered John to be truly a prophet). ^11:33So⁴⁵ they answered Jesus,⁴⁶ “We don’t know.”⁴⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you⁴⁸ by what authority⁴⁹ I am doing these things.”

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Footnotes

22 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
23 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
24 Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 Grk “the temple.” The merchants (those who were selling) would have been located in the Court of the Gentiles.
26 Grk “the temple.” Matthew (21:12–27), Mark (here, 11:15–19), and Luke (19:45–46) record this incident of the temple cleansing at the end of Jesus’ ministry. John (2:13–16) records a cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. See the note on the word temple courts in for a discussion of the relationship of these accounts to one another.
27 Or “things.” The Greek word σκεῦος (skeuos) can refer to merchandise, property, goods, a vessel, or even generally “things” (but in the sense of some implement or tool). The idea here is almost certainly restricted to merchandise, rather than the more general “things,” although some suggest from the parallel with Berakhot 9.5 that Jesus was not even allowing sandals, staffs, or coin-purses to be carried through the court. The difficulty with this interpretation, however, is that it is fundamentally an appeal to Jewish oral tradition (something Jesus rarely sided with) as well as being indiscriminate toward all the worshipers.
28 Grk “the temple.”
29 The imperfect ἐδίδασκεν (edidasken) is here taken ingressively.
30 A quotation from Isa 56:7.
31 Or “a hideout” (see L&N 1.57).
32 A quotation from Jer 7:11. The meaning of Jesus’ statement about making the temple courts a den of robbers probably operates here at two levels. Not only were the religious leaders robbing the people financially, but because of this they had also robbed them spiritually by stealing from them the opportunity to come to know God genuinely. It is possible that these merchants had recently been moved to this location for convenience.
33 Or “The chief priests and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in .
34 Grk “how they could destroy him.”
35 Grk “they”; the referents (Jesus and his disciples) have been specified in the translation for clarity. Without such clarification there is room for considerable confusion here, since there are two prior sets of plural referents in the context, “the chief priests and experts in the law” and “the whole crowd” (both in v. 18).
36 Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
37 Although the Greek subjunctive mood, formally required in a subordinate clause introduced by ἵνα (hina), is traditionally translated by an English subjunctive (e.g., “may,” so , , , ), changes in the use of the subjunctive in English now result in most readers understanding such a statement as indicating permission (“may” = “has permission to”) or as indicating uncertainty (“may” = “might” or “may or may not”). Thus a number of more recent translations render such instances by an English future tense (“will,” so , , , 1995 update). That approach has been followed here.
38 A number of significant of various texttypes (א B L W Δ Ψ 565 700 892 sa) do not include 11:26 “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your sins.” The verse is included in most later (A [C D] Θ [f1, 13 33] 𝔐 lat) and is not likely to be original. It is probably an assimilation to Matt 6:15. The present translation follows in omitting the verse number, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.
39 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
40 Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
41 Grk “the temple.”
42 Or “the chief priests, the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in .
43 On this phrase, see ποῖος 2.a.γ.
44 The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anthrōpōn) is probably used here (and in v. 32) in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. , , “of human origin”; , “from human beings”; , “merely human”). The question is whether John’s ministry was of divine or human origin.
45 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
46 Grk “answering, they said to Jesus.” The participle ἀποκριθέντες (apokrithentes) is redundant, but the syntax of the phrase has been modified to conform to English style.
47 Very few questions could have so completely revealed the wicked intentions of the religious leaders. Jesus’ question revealed the motivation of the religious leaders and exposed them for what they really were—hypocrites. They indicted themselves when they cited only two options and chose neither of them (“We do not know”). The point of Mark 11:27–33 is that no matter what Jesus said in response to their question they were not going to believe it and would in the end use it against him.
48 Neither will I tell you. Though Jesus gave no answer, the analogy he used to their own question makes his view clear. His authority came from heaven.
49 On this phrase, see ποῖος 2.a.γ. This is exactly the same phrase as in v. 28.