Mark 3:13–14

Appointing the Twelve Apostles

3:13 Now27 Jesus went up the mountain28 and called for those he wanted, and they came to him. 3:14 He29 appointed twelve (whom he named apostles30),31 so that they would be with him and he could send them to preach

27	tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
28	tn Or “up a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὅρος, eis to horos). sn The expression up the mountain here may be idiomatic or generic, much like the English “he went to the hospital” (cf. 15:29), or even intentionally reminiscent of Exod 24:12 (LXX), since the genre of the Sermon on the Mount seems to be that of a new Moses giving a new law.
29	tn Grk “And he.”
30	sn The term apostles is rare in the gospels, found only here and Mark 6:30, Matt 10:2, and six more times in Luke (6:13; 9:10; 11:49; 17:5; 22:14; 24:10).
31	tc The phrase “whom he named apostles” is lacking in the majority of mss (A C2 [D] L f1 33 𝔐 latt sy). Several primary Alexandrian and Caesarean witnesses (א B [C* W] Θ f13 28 pc co) include the phrase, so the external evidence is strongly in favor of this reading, especially since Alexandrian witnesses tend to witness to the shorter reading. It is possible that the Alexandrian witnesses have inserted these words to bring the text in line with Luke 6:13 (TCGNT 69), but against this is the internal evidence of Mark’s style: Mark tends toward gratuitous redundancy. Thus the inclusion of this phrase is supported by both internal and external evidence and should be regarded as more likely original than the omission.