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Mark3:13–19

The Twelve Apostles

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Mark 3:13–19 — The Twelve Apostles. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

13

Then Jesus went up on the mountain and called for those He wanted, and they came to Him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai anabainei eis to oros kai proskaleitai hous autos ēthelen kai apēlthon pros auton

Word by word14 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀναβαίνειanabainei[Jesus] went upG305
√ ἀναβαίνω — to go up (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
anabainō: to go up The historic present stands alone in the verse against three aorists, so Mark narrates the ascent as though it were still happening. Ellicott and Cambridge both fill the scene from Luke 6:12, where the whole night is spent in prayer; Mark himself reports only the going up, and Gill and Benson supply the prayer from Luke rather than from Mark. The synthesis here should say plainly that the vigil is Luke's datum, not Mark's word.
εἰςeisonG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
ὄροςorosmountainG3735
√ ὄρος — perhaps akin to G142 (αἴρω)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
oros: mountain The article makes this a particular height. Pulpit: the definite article may point to a well known eminence or to the high table-land as distinguished from the plain. Poole reports Bucer's view, and Cambridge names the Karun Hattin, that this is the hill of the Sermon; both present it as probability, not as text. What the text gives is a height from which men are called and to which no crowd is said to follow.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
προσκαλεῖταιproskaleitaicalled forG4341
√ προσκαλέομαι — to call toward oneself, iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
proskaleomai: to call toward oneself Middle voice: the call terminates on the caller. Before any office is named, any word preached, or any demon cast out, the movement of this verse is toward his own person. Poole draws the inference the grammar supports: the evangelist lets us know that he chose them, and not they him.
οὓςhousthoseG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Masculine Plural
αὐτόςautosHeG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Emphatic αὐτός in the nominative, added after the relative clause: "whom he himself was willing." The pronoun is not needed for sense; it is there for stress.
ἤθελενēthelenwantedG2309
√ θέλω — to determine (as an active option from subjective impulseVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
thelō: to determine, to will Imperfect, a continuing willing rather than a single decision. Benson reads a sovereign will here and warns that much consideration and prayer ought to precede such a choice; Gill honestly resists making this clause a proof of election, because in his reading the call of this verse is wider than the Twelve and the Twelve are chosen out of those who came. Both are in the brief, and the disagreement is worth keeping rather than resolving.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀπῆλθονapēlthonthey cameG565
√ ἀπέρχομαι — to go off (iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
aperchomai: to go off, to depart Coming to Christ is written as going away from something. The same verb reappears in Mark's passion at 14:10, where Judas, named in v. 19 of this very list, goes away to the chief priests: the unit's first movement and its last man use one word in opposite directions.
πρὸςprostoG4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
αὐτόνautonHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
14

He appointed twelve of them, whom He designated as apostles, to accompany Him, to be sent out to preach,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai epoiēsen dōdeka hous kai ōnomasen apostolous hina ōsin met’ autou kai hina apostellē autous kēryssein

Word by word16 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐποίησενepoiēsenHe appointedG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
poieō: to make, to do The plainest verb in the language does the constitutive work here, and Mark repeats it in v. 16. Barnes strips the older English: it means literally "he made." Benson notes the same usage for appointment to office, while Pulpit distinguishes this making from a later consecration, dating actual consecration to John 20:22 and calling them apostles "designate" from this day. Nothing in Mark's verb settles that question either way.
δώδεκαdōdekatwelveG1427
√ δώδεκα — two and ten, iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
dōdeka: twelve The number is stated, never explained, by Mark. Barnes offers two accounts, a competent body of witnesses, and perhaps some reference to the twelve tribes; Cambridge says the number answers to the twelve sons of Jacob and that these Twelve were to be the Twelve Pillars of the Church; Benson adds that on Judas's death one was chosen to fill the number, but that Paul and Barnabas were later added with no regard to twelve. Pulpit's arithmetic of three times four is his own allegory, and should be read as such.
οὓςhous[of them]G3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Masculine Plural
καὶkai[whom]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὠνόμασενōnomasenHe designated asG3687
√ ὀνομάζω — to name, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
onomazō: to name A relatively rare verb, in ten verses. Cambridge devotes a full note to the title: in the Septuagint the noun occurs once, at 1 Kings 14:6, of a messenger with a commission from God, and among later Jews it named those sent from the mother city on foreign business, so that the word would already suggest a highly responsible mission.
ἀποστόλουςapostolousapostlesG652
√ ἀπόστολος — a delegateNounAccusative Masculine Plural
apostolos: a delegate, one sent The noun and the verb ἀποστέλλῃ in the same sentence make the office a function of the sending: an apostle is not a rank but a man under commission. Cambridge notes that the same title is given to Christ himself at Hebrews 3:1, and points to John 17:18, where the sent one sends.
ἵναhinatoG2443
√ ἵνα — compare G3588 (ὁ))Conjunction
First of two parallel ἵνα clauses; the structure is the whole theology of the verse.
ὦσινōsinaccompanyG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Plural
eimi: to be Present subjunctive: the purpose is a continuing state of being with him. Geneva glosses the appointment as being made familiar and well acquainted with him; Benson says they lived with him on one common stock as his family and never departed unless by his express appointment. Mark puts this purpose first, before preaching and before authority, and the order is itself an argument.
μετ’met’. . .G3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
αὐτοῦautouHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἵναhinatoG2443
√ ἵνα — compare G3588 (ὁ))Conjunction
ἀποστέλλῃapostellēbe sent outG649
√ ἀποστέλλω — set apart, iVerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
apostellō: to set apart, to send off Active and singular: he sends. The mission is never the Twelve's initiative in Mark's grammar. Gill and Poole both insist that the actual sending does not happen here but at Mark 6:7, so that this verse states a purpose that waits months for its execution.
αὐτοὺςautousG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
κηρύσσεινkērysseinto preachG2784
√ κηρύσσω — to herald (as a public crier), especially divine truth (the gospel)VerbPresent Infinitive Active
kēryssō: to herald, to proclaim as a public crier Present infinitive, continuous action: the content is not described, only the act of heralding. The word belongs to the crier who carries another's message and adds nothing of his own, which fits the sending grammar of the clause exactly.
15

and to have authority to drive out demons.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai echein exousian ekballein ta daimonia

Word by word6 · parsed
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἔχεινecheinto haveG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Infinitive Active
Present infinitive of ἔχω, still under the ἵνα of v. 14: the having is as much a purpose of the making as the being with him.
ἐξουσίανexousianauthorityG1849
√ ἐξουσία — privilege, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
exousia: privilege, delegated right The word names a warrant, not a capacity, which is why the Twelve can be said to hold it before they ever use it. Gill states the sequence sharply: he chose them with a view of conferring such powers hereafter, and they were not vested with them nor sent out to exercise them for nearly twelve months. Pulpit agrees that the authority is more formally conveyed at Mark 6:7 and that Mark here speaks by anticipation.
ἐκβάλλεινekballeinto drive outG1544
√ ἐκβάλλω — to eject (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Infinitive Active
ekballō: to eject, to throw out The verb of forcible expulsion, in the present infinitive: continuing work. Pulpit draws the theological consequence of its place in the commission, that it recognizes the spiritual world and the special purpose of the manifestation of the Son of God, that he might destroy the works of the devil. The Twelve's mission is thus defined from the start as contested territory, not instruction only.
τὰtaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
δαιμόνιαdaimoniademonsG1140
√ δαιμόνιον — a dæmonic beingNounAccusative Neuter Plural
daimonion: a demonic being Articular plural: the class Mark's narrative has already put on stage, including those that cry out his identity earlier in this chapter. Delegated authority over them is the one power in the list that no human office could confer.
16

These are the twelve He appointed: Simon (whom He named Peter),

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai tous dōdeka epoiēsen kai tō Simōni epethēken onoma Petron

Word by word10 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τοὺςtous[These are] theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
δώδεκαdōdekatwelveG1427
√ δώδεκα — two and ten, iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
ἐποίησενepoiēsenHe appointedG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
poieō: to make The repetition is deliberate and awkward in Greek as in English; Mark states the making, digresses into its threefold purpose, then states it again before the roll is read. The effect is that the list of names is framed on both sides by the same word: these men are what he made.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τῷtōG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
ΣίμωνιSimōniSimonG4613
√ Σίμων — Simon (iNounDative Masculine Singular
ἐπέθηκενepethēken(whom He namedG2007
√ ἐπιτίθημι — to impose (in a friendly or hostile sense)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
epitithēmi: to impose, to lay upon A verb of physical placing, used elsewhere of laying hands on a person. Applied to a name it makes the new identity something set on a man from outside rather than discovered in him. Benson notes that Henry supposed an appointment by imposition of hands and answers that there is no proof of it, so the laying here is of a name only.
ὄνομαonomaG3686
√ ὄνομα — a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority, character)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
onoma: a name, authority, character Strong's own gloss carries the freight: in this idiom a name is a character and a warrant. Mark's list is thus not a register but a record of two namings, one man and one pair, which is the only comment he makes on any of the Twelve except the last.
ΠέτρονPetronPeter)G4074
√ Πέτρος — a (piece of) rock (larger than G3037 (λίθος))NounAccusative Masculine Singular
Petros: a piece of rock The lexicon marks it as a rock larger than λίθος, a stone. Gill reads the name from courage, constancy and firmness of mind, and notes that it was imposed at the first call, not at this appointment nor at the confession. Cambridge observes that Simon stands first in all four New Testament lists; Pulpit observes that Mark, whom the early writers held to be Peter's evangelist, gives the name with no honour attached at all.
17

James son of Zebedee and his brother John (whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai Iakōbon ton tou Zebedaiou kai ton tou Iakōbou adelphon Iōannēn kai autois epethēken onomata Boanērges ho estin Huioi Brontēs

Word by word20 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἸάκωβονIakōbonJamesG2385
√ Ἰάκωβος — Jacobus, the name of three IsraelitesNounAccusative Masculine Singular
τὸνton[son]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
τοῦtouofG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΖεβεδαίουZebedaiouZebedeeG2199
√ Ζεβεδαῖος — Zebedæus, an IsraeliteNounGenitive Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἸακώβουIakōbouhisG2385
√ Ἰάκωβος — Jacobus, the name of three IsraelitesNounGenitive Masculine Singular
ἀδελφὸνadelphonbrotherG80
√ ἀδελφός — a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (much like G1 (Α))NounAccusative Masculine Singular
adelphos: a brother Used here to define John by James; the same noun defines Andrew by Peter in the other lists. Mark's roll is built out of kinship and trade before it is built out of office.
ἸωάννηνIōannēnJohnG2491
√ Ἰωάννης — Joannes (iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτοῖςautois( [whom]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ἐπέθηκενepethēkenvvvG2007
√ ἐπιτίθημι — to impose (in a friendly or hostile sense)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
epitithēmi: to impose, to lay upon The same verb as v. 16, now with a plural dative and a plural object: two men, names laid upon them together. Mark uses this stronger verb only for the two namings, which sets Peter and the sons of Zebedee apart within the list without any word of rank.
ὀνόματαonomataHe namedG3686
√ ὄνομα — a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority, character)NounAccusative Neuter Plural
Plural ὀνόματα against a single recorded form: the grammar promises two names and the text gives one compound, a small unevenness that no commentator in the brief resolves.
ΒοανηργέςBoanērgesBoanergesG993
√ Βοανεργές — sons of commotionNounAccusative Masculine Plural
Boanerges: sons of commotion Strong's gloss is "sons of commotion," wider than thunder, which is why Benson's authority Hammond reaches for earthquake or tempest. The derivation is openly disputed in the brief: Ellicott and Cambridge read fiery zeal, Barnes admits it is not known why the name was given and thinks something fervid in their eloquence more probable, Pulpit adds the suggestion of Beza and Morisen that it described a deep-toned peculiarity of voice. The honest position is that the name is certain and its reason is not.
ὅhoG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Neuter Singular
ἐστινestinmeaningG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ΥἱοὶHuioiSonsG5207
√ υἱός — a "son" (sometimes of animals), used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinshipNounNominative Masculine Plural
huios: a son, used widely of kinship and of character The lexicon's own breadth licenses the figurative reading: Semitic idiom makes "sons of" a way of naming what a man is made of. Ellicott hears the same note again in the thunderings of the Apocalypse; Pulpit hears it in the opening of John's Gospel. Both are readings of resonance, offered as such.
ΒροντῆςBrontēsof ThunderG1027
√ βροντή — thunderNounGenitive Feminine Singular
brontē: thunder Benson's cited authority connects the root with the voice that shakes the earth of Hebrews 12:26 and Haggai 2:7, taking the Hebrew commotion word there to be the same one behind Boanerges and to be rendered thunder here. That whole chain is Hammond's by way of Benson, not the Verifier's: no shared Strong's number can link a Greek name to a Hebrew verb, so it is offered as a reading and not as a computed link.
18

Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai Andrean kai Philippon kai Bartholomaion kai Maththaion kai Thōman kai Iakōbon ton tou Halphaiou kai Thaddaion kai Simōna ton Kananaion

Word by word21 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
Nine occurrences of καί in one verse: the list is heard rather than tabulated.
ἈνδρέανAndreanAndrewG406
√ Ἀνδρέας — manlyNounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ΦίλιππονPhilipponPhilipG5376
√ Φίλιππος — fond of horsesNounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ΒαρθολομαῖονBartholomaionBartholomewG918
√ Βαρθολομαῖος — son of TolmaiNounAccusative Masculine Singular
Bartholomaios: son of Tolmai A patronymic, not a personal name, as Pulpit says explicitly. Cambridge and Pulpit both argue at length that he is probably Nathanael, on four grounds, that John never names Bartholomew, that the Synoptics never name Nathanael, that Philip brought Nathanael, and that Bartholomew follows Philip in each Synoptic list. Cambridge's own word is "probably," and this synthesis keeps it at that.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ΜαθθαῖονMaththaionMatthewG3156
√ Ματθαῖος — Matthæus (iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
Matthaios: Matthew A rare name in the canon, standing in five verses. Mark gives it without the epithet; Pulpit notes that in Matthew 10:3 the word "publican" is added by the writer to himself, and Gill identifies him with Levi, whose call Mark has already narrated at 2:14.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ΘωμᾶνThōmanThomasG2381
√ Θωμᾶς — the twinNounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἸάκωβονIakōbonJamesG2385
√ Ἰάκωβος — Jacobus, the name of three IsraelitesNounAccusative Masculine Singular
τὸνton[son]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἉλφαίουHalphaiouof AlphaeusG256
√ Ἀλφαῖος — Alphæus, an IsraeliteNounGenitive Masculine Singular
Alphaios: Alphaeus In five verses only. One of them is Mark 2:14, where Levi is called the son of Alphaeus, so Mark's own Gospel uses this rare patronymic twice without ever telling the reader whether the same Alphaeus is meant. The brief's commentators do not join them, and neither should we.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ΘαδδαῖονThaddaionThaddaeusG2280
√ Θαδδαῖος — Thaddæus, one of the ApostlesNounAccusative Masculine Singular
Thaddaios: Thaddaeus Poole records that Luke calls him Judas where Matthew calls him Lebbaeus and Mark Thaddaeus, so that he had three names; Pulpit reports Jerome's word trionimus and the etymological affinity of Lebbaeus with heart and Thaddaeus with breast. Geneva's marginal note gives the practical reason for the alternatives: to distinguish him from the other Judas, who is called Iscariot.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ΣίμωναSimōnaSimonG4613
√ Σίμων — Simon (iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
Simon a second time in one list: the name is common, in sixty-nine verses, which is why both Simons carry a qualifier.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ΚαναναῖονKananaionZealotG2581
√ Κανανίτης — zealousNounAccusative Masculine Singular
Kananaios: zealous The rarest lexeme in the unit, standing in just two verses, this one and Matthew 10:4, which is why the Verifier's link to Matthew's list can be called verbal. Ellicott identifies it as the Aramaic for Zelotes; Pulpit gives Jerome's double reference, to Cana and to zeal, and allows that Simon may have been born in Cana of Galilee. Note the tension in our own sources: the brief's lexicon heads the entry Κανανίτης while Mark's text here reads Καναναῖον.
19

and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai Ioudan Iskariōth hos kai paredōken auton

Word by word7 · parsed
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἸούδανIoudanJudasG2455
√ Ἰούδας — Judas (iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
ἸσκαριώθIskariōthIscariotG2469
√ Ἰσκαριώτης — inhabitant of KeriothNounAccusative Masculine Singular
Iskariōtēs: inhabitant of Kerioth If the derivation from Kerioth holds, and Cambridge and Pulpit both give it as most probable, then the only man in the list whose name is a place is a man of Judah, while the birthplaces the brief does attest for the others (Bethsaida for Peter, Andrew, Philip and James, Cana for Bartholomew and possibly for Simon) are all Galilean. The brief gives no origin at all for Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus or Thaddaeus, so this is a partial observation and not a rule; the commentators draw no such inference, and it is offered as reading, not as datum.
ὃςhos[who]G3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
Relative pronoun with καί: "who also," matching οὓς καί of v. 14.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
παρέδωκενparedōkenbetrayedG3860
√ παραδίδωμι — to surrender, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
paradidōmi: to surrender, to deliver up The verb is one of handing over, not of treachery as such; the treachery is in the object. Mark names the act in the aorist while the list is still being read, so that the Twelve are introduced with their end already written into them. Gill states the doctrinal frame the Gospel itself later draws out: our Lord chose this man though he knew he would betray him, in order to fulfil the purposes of God and bring on the work of redemption. Poole refuses to inquire too narrowly into that counsel and draws pastoral lessons instead.
αὐτόνauton[Jesus]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
The bare αὐτόν: the object of the betrayal is named only by a pronoun reaching back to the maker of the Twelve.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The mountain, and a will that goes before the choosing — 3:13

Mark gives the scene in six strokes and no explanation: he goes up (ἀναβαίνει, a historic present set among aorists), into the mountain, and calls toward himself whom he himself was willing. Pulpit presses the article, that it points either to a well known eminence or to the high table-land as against the plain, and reports the tradition of Mount Hattin about five miles west of the lake; Poole passes on Bucer's judgment that this is the hill of the Sermon, and Cambridge names the Karun Hattin and calls the moment an important turning-point in the Gospel history. All of that is probability, and all of it comes from outside Mark. So does the night of prayer: Ellicott is candid that the noticeable fact of the vigil is Luke's (Luke 6:12-13), and Benson, Gill and Cambridge all import it, Benson drawing from it the pastoral rule that much consideration and prayer ought to precede the choice and ordination of ministers. ⚙ What Mark himself supplies is grammar: a middle voice verb of calling toward oneself, an imperfect of willing, and an emphatic αὐτός. Poole reads it as the text permits, that the evangelist lets us know he chose them and not they him; Gill, honestly, refuses to make this clause a proof of election, since in his reading many were called up the hill and the Twelve were then chosen out of them. Both stand in the brief and the disagreement is worth keeping. Pulpit holds both halves at once: his own will was the motive power, but their will consented. The last verb is the quiet one. ἀπῆλθον is "they went away," and Pulpit hears in it the forsaking of former pursuits: coming to Christ is written as departure.

ii. He made twelve: with him, sent, armed — 3:14-3:15

The constitutive verb is the plainest in the language. Barnes strips four centuries of English off it: the word rendered "ordained" does not express our notion of ordination to the ministry, it means literally "he made." Benson gives the same Greek and notes the idiom for appointing to office, then adds that Henry supposed an imposition of hands and that there is no proof of it; Pulpit distinguishes this making from a consecration he dates to John 20:22, so that from this day they are apostles "designate." Then three purposes, in Mark's order. First, ἵνα ὦσιν μετ’ αὐτοῦ, a present subjunctive of sheer being: that they might be with him. Geneva glosses the appointment as being made familiar and well acquainted with him; Benson says they lived with him on one common stock as his family and never departed unless by his express appointment; Cambridge ties the clause to the qualification of Acts 1:21 and observes that the calling and training of the Twelve was a most important part of our Lord's ministerial work. Second, ἵνα ἀποστέλλῃ αὐτοὺς κηρύσσειν, and here the English of every version hides the subject: the verb is active and singular, "that he might be sending them," cognate with the ἀπόστολοι just named. Third, authority to throw out the demons. Gill and Pulpit agree that none of this is executed yet, Gill dating the actual mission nearly twelve months later, Pulpit pointing to Mark 6:7 and saying Mark here speaks by anticipation; Pulpit also draws the sharpest theological point in the brief, that including this power in the commission recognizes the spiritual world and the purpose of the manifestation of the Son of God, that he might destroy the works of the devil. On the number, the brief is careful and so are we: Barnes offers competent witness and says only "perhaps" of the twelve tribes; Cambridge says the number answers to the twelve sons of Jacob and calls the Twelve the Twelve Pillars of the Church; Benson notes that Judas was replaced to keep the number, but that Paul and Barnabas were added later without regard to it. Pulpit's three-times-four allegory of Trinity and creation is his own, and marked as his.

iii. Names laid upon men — 3:16-3:17

Mark restates the making ("and the twelve he made") and then, instead of describing anyone, records two namings. The verb changes: ἐπέθηκεν ὄνομα, he laid a name upon Simon, the same verb used of laying hands on a body, with Simon in the dative as the one laid upon. Strong's gloss on ὄνομα already carries authority and character, so the laying is not labelling. Gill supplies Cephas, a rock or stone, and reads it from courage, constancy, steadiness and firmness of mind, dating the imposition back to John 1:42; Cambridge notes that Simon stands first in all four New Testament lists and calls him the Rock-man; Pulpit makes the counter-observation that Mark avoids as far as possible any recognition of special honour to Peter and gives the surname only so the man can be identified, which is striking if, as Pulpit says all the early Christian writers held, Peter stands behind this Gospel. Then the pair: ὀνόματα, plural, laid on them both, and one compound form recorded, Βοανηργές, transliterated and then glossed Υἱοὶ Βροντῆς. Here the brief is a small archive of disagreement, and we report it rather than smoothing it: Ellicott gives B'ne-regesh and reads fiery zeal, with Luke 9:54, Luke 9:49 and Matthew 20:21 as evidence, and hears the same note in the thunderings of the Apocalypse; Pulpit gives B'ne-ragesh, says the word was not a reproach, and adds the suggestion of Beza and Morisen that it described some deep-toned peculiarity of voice; Benson cites Hammond for benei ragnash, sons of earthquake or commotion, with Hebrews 12:26 and Haggai 2:7; Gill records the Syriac and Persic spellings and a Danite town called sons of lightning; Barnes says flatly that it is not known why the name was given and thinks something fervid in their genius and eloquence more probable; Poole says that about the etymology critics must dispute. ⚙ Strong's own gloss, "sons of commotion," is wider than thunder and favours Benson's line. The certainty is the naming; the reason is not certain, and no synthesis should pretend otherwise.

iv. The roll called, and the last name — 3:18-3:19

Nine times καί, name after name, a roll heard rather than tabulated. Mark gives no epithets: Cambridge and Pulpit fill the gaps from John and from tradition, that Bartholomew is Bar-Tolmai, a patronymic and probably Nathanael; that Matthew is Levi and in his own list adds "the publican" to himself; that Thomas is Didymus, a twin, marked, says Cambridge, by a deep attachment to his Master and a readiness even to die with him; that Thaddaeus is also Lebbaeus and Judas, three names, as Poole notes and Jerome's trionimus says; that Simon is Καναναῖον, which Ellicott identifies as the Aramaic equivalent of Zelotes and Pulpit connects, following Jerome, to both Cana and zeal. Geneva's marginal note gives the reason all these alternatives matter: to make a distinction, because the other Judas is called Iscariot. And so the list ends. Mark writes ὃς καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτόν, "who also handed him over," and the verb is one of transfer and surrender, not of treachery; the treachery is in the object. The καί answers the καί of v. 14: whom he also named apostles, who also handed him over. Gill says the doctrine plainly, that our Lord chose him though he knew he would betray him, in order to fulfil the purposes of God and bring on the work of man's redemption. Poole refuses to inquire too narrowly into the secret counsels of God in suffering a son of perdition into the number of his first ministers, and turns instead to three uses: that those who govern the church must judge by outward appearance and leave the heart to God; that God's people are thereby armed against the scandal of wicked ministers; and that the efficacy of an ordinance does not depend on the state of the minister, since a bell may call others to hear the word though itself receives no benefit by it. Poole is careful to add that this is no warrant for ordaining or keeping scandalous men, since Judas was not one. Pulpit, quoting Bengel, says that there is an election of grace from which men may fall, and admits the rest belongs to unfathomable mystery.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Under Sola Scriptura, and offered to be tested: the order of Mark's three purpose clauses is the argument of this unit. He made twelve in order that they might BE with him, and in order that he might be sending them to herald, and to have authority to throw out demons. Being with him is not preparation for the mission in Mark's grammar; it is the first purpose, stated with the verb of sheer existence in the present subjunctive, a continuing state. Benson and Geneva both read it that way, as family and daily company. ⚙ Our reading adds this: the entire unit is built out of what Christ does to men, and nothing out of what they bring. He goes up, he calls toward himself, he was willing, he made, he named, he laid names upon them, he sends. The only active verbs the Twelve are given in these seven verses are that they went away to him, and that the last of them handed him over. Their names are mostly bare; where Mark comments at all, he records a name imposed from outside, a rock laid on a fisherman, a thunder laid on two hot-tempered brothers, and a place-name attached to a man who would sell him. ⚙ And there is the hard edge: Judas is inside the making. Mark writes his end into the roll in the aorist, as done, while the roll is still being read, and does not explain. Poole is right that we cannot inquire too narrowly here, and Gill is right that the Gospel itself later frames it as the fulfilling of God's purpose. What this synthesis will not do is soften either half. The company that is made to be with him contains the man who will hand him over, and the verb for that handing over is the verb the Gospel will use of what God does with his Son. If the commission holds under that strain, it does not rest on the quality of the men in it. This is a fallible reading and is open to correction.

He made twelve before He sent twelve: the company is the first commission.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

Four rolls of the Twelve, and one word that occurs almost nowhere else verbal / quotation: confirmed

Mark's list is one of four in the New Testament; Cambridge sets them out, Matthew 10:2, Mark 3:16, Luke 6:14 and Acts 1:13, notes that the order of some names varies but that in all four the leaders of the three groups are Peter, Philip and James the son of Alphaeus, and that in all four Judas Iscariot stands last. The Verifier confirms the link to Matthew's roll by shared lexemes, and two of them are rare: Καναναῖον (G2581, standing in only two verses of the canon, this one and Matthew 10:4) and Ματθαῖον (G3156, five verses). Ellicott and Pulpit both use Matthew's list to correct the English of Mark's, reading Cananaean rather than Canaanite; Poole notes that the evangelists agree on the names except that Luke's Judas is Matthew's Lebbaeus and Mark's Thaddaeus. ⚙ These are Greek to Greek links within one Testament, and a two-verse lexeme held in common is a genuinely verbal tie, not a motif.

Matthew 10:2 · Matthew 10:3 · Matthew 10:4 · Luke 6:15

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes with Matthew 10:4, G2581 Κανανίτης / Καναναῖος (in 2 vv, rare) and G4613 Σίμων (in 69 vv); with Matthew 10:3, G3156 Ματθαῖος (in 5 vv, rare), G2385 Ἰάκωβος (in 38 vv), G5376 Φίλιππος (in 35 vv); with Luke 6:15 G4613, G2385, G3156. Greek to Greek, within the New Testament; a shared roll of names, not a quotation of one text by another.

The same men, one short, going up again structural / thematic: confirmed

Acts 1:13 lists the eleven in the upper room, and the Verifier records the shared lexemes: ἀναβαίνω (G305), Σίμων (G4613) and Πέτρος (G4074). Cambridge cites Acts 1:21 for the standing requirement that an apostle be one who had been with the company from the beginning, which is Mark's first purpose clause turned into a rule; Cambridge also observes that Judas stands last in all four lists, and at Acts 1:13 he is simply absent. ⚙ The verbal coincidence of ἀναβαίνω is worth noticing and not worth overstating: Mark's Twelve go up into the mountain to be made, and the Eleven go up into the room to wait. The lexeme is common (seventy-eight verses), so the link recorded here is the shared pattern, with the vocabulary as corroboration rather than proof.

Acts 1:13 · Acts 1:21

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G305 ἀναβαίνω (in 78 vv), G4613 Σίμων (in 69 vv), G4074 Πέτρος (in 150 vv). All common, so no rare-word verbal claim: the link is the same body of men and the same qualification (being with him), with Acts 1:21 cited by Cambridge.

Twelve, because Israel was twelve typological

Mark states the number and never explains it. His commentators reach for Israel: Barnes says "perhaps, also, there was some reference to the fact that twelve was the number of the twelve tribes of Israel"; Cambridge says the number answers to the twelve sons of Jacob and calls these men the Twelve Pillars of the Church; Benson says that if, as is generally supposed, our Lord had reference to the twelve patriarchs and tribes, then the replacing of Judas was a piece of respect paid to that people, and observes that once the gospel was generally rejected Paul and Barnabas were added with no regard to the number twelve. The Old Testament base of the figure is the twelve sons of Jacob (Genesis 35:22-26), the twelve pillars Moses raised at the foot of the mountain (Exodus 24:4), and Elijah's twelve stones built with that number named as the number of the tribes (1 Kings 18:31). ⚙ This is a figural reading, held by the ancients and by the whole bench of commentators in the brief, and it can never be verbal: Greek and Hebrew texts share no Strong's numbers, and Mark quotes nothing. Note too that Barnes hedges with "perhaps" and Benson with "if, as is generally supposed."

Genesis 35:22-26 · Exodus 24:4 · 1 Kings 18:31

basis: Figural, widely held: the number twelve read as the number of the tribes. Cross-Testament (Greek text to Hebrew texts), so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and no verbal tier is available; there is no formal quotation in Mark 3:13-19. Attested in the brief by Barnes (as a probability), Cambridge and Benson.

Up the mountain, and men summoned by name structural / thematic: confirmed

Mark alone among the evangelists puts this scene on a mountain, as Poole notes is peculiar to him. The pattern is old: at Exodus 19:3 Moses goes up to God and is spoken to out of the mountain; at Exodus 24:1 named men are called up while the people stay below, and at Exodus 24:4 twelve pillars are raised for twelve tribes. Cambridge's reconstruction has the same shape, a retirement to the range west of the lake, a night alone, and at dawn a selection out of the disciples who had gathered; Poole, following Bucer, has Christ going up not to preach but to discourse privately with some of his disciples about spiritual mysteries, and coming down to the plain afterward. ⚙ The correspondence is of pattern only, ascent, separation, summons of named men, and it is ours, offered to be tested. No shared vocabulary can be computed across the Testaments, and Mark makes no citation.

Exodus 19:3 · Exodus 24:1

basis: Shared narrative pattern (ascent of the mountain, separation from the multitude, summons of named men) with no quotation claimed. Cross-Testament Greek to Hebrew, so shared Strong's lexemes cannot exist and a verbal tier is unavailable; the Verifier computed no basis for this pair.

Sent to speak another's words: the prophetic commission structural / thematic: confirmed

Mark's second purpose clause is active and singular: ἵνα ἀποστέλλῃ αὐτοὺς κηρύσσειν, that he might be sending them to herald. κηρύσσω (G2784) is the verb of the public crier, who carries a message not his own. That is the standing shape of the prophetic commission: Isaiah 6:8, "whom shall I send," and Jeremiah 1:7, where the prophet is told to go where he is sent and speak what he is commanded. Cambridge supplies the one Septuagint occurrence of ἀπόστολος, at 1 Kings 14:6, where Abijah says "I am a messenger unto thee of heavy tidings," glossing it as one who has a commission from God, and notes that in later Jewish usage the word named those sent out from the mother city on a mission. ⚙ Cambridge's Septuagint datum is the nearest thing to a lexical bridge here, and even it is a translation, not a shared Strong's number; the link is a shared institution of sending, offered as structural.

Isaiah 6:8 · Jeremiah 1:7 · 1 Kings 14:6

basis: Shared pattern of commissioned speech (a sender, a sent man, words not his own), with Cambridge's note that ἀπόστολος occurs once in the Septuagint at 1 Kings 14:6 of a messenger from God. Cross-Testament, so no shared Strong's lexeme and no verbal tier; no quotation is claimed.

Going away: the same verb, the opposite direction structural / thematic: confirmed

In v. 13 the called men ἀπῆλθον πρὸς αὐτόν, went away to him, and Pulpit hears in the verb the forsaking of their former pursuits. The Verifier records that Mark 14:10 shares both ἀπέρχομαι (G565) and δώδεκα (G1427) with this unit: there Judas, "one of the twelve," goes away to the chief priests to hand him over, using the very verb of v. 19, παραδίδωμι. Cambridge, on this verse, sends the reader to Mark 14:10 for the traitor's motives. ⚙ Both lexemes are common (116 and 61 verses), so nothing verbal can be claimed from them; what the pair records is Mark's own composition, a going away to Christ at the head of the list and a going away from him at the end of it, with one of the Twelve doing both.

Mark 14:10

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G565 ἀπέρχομαι (in 116 vv) and G1427 δώδεκα (in 61 vv), both common, so the tie is a real verbal repetition within one book but not a rare-word or quotation link; the recorded basis is the shared motif of departure and the phrase "one of the twelve."

He was willing, and they were willing: θέλω in Mark structural / thematic: confirmed

The imperfect ἤθελεν of v. 13 (G2309, to determine as an active option) says that the choosing rested in Christ's own sustained will, and Mark underlines it with the emphatic αὐτός. The Verifier lists Mark 10:35 as sharing that lexeme along with Ζεβεδαῖος (G2199, a rare name, eleven verses) and Ἰωάννης: there the two sons of Zebedee named in v. 17 come to him with their own wanting, "we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire." Ellicott cites their request to sit at his right and left as evidence of the temper behind the name Boanerges. ⚙ The link is Mark's vocabulary reused, not a citation: one will appoints, and the appointed wills something else.

Mark 10:35

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G2309 θέλω (in 199 vv, very common), G2199 Ζεβεδαῖος (in 11 vv) and G2491 Ἰωάννης (in 132 vv). Same book, same characters; the common verb cannot support a verbal tier, so the recorded basis is the repetition of θέλω across the two scenes.

"Whom he also named apostles": a clause with a contested pedigree flagged: verify source

Two textual questions sit inside these verses and the brief records both. First, Cambridge and Pulpit agree that the words "to heal sicknesses" in v. 15 are omitted in some of the best and oldest authorities, and BSB prints the shorter text; yet Henry, Barnes, Gill and Geneva all comment on the longer reading, so their exposition rests on a text this page does not print. Second, Gill notes that the Arabic version adds "and called them apostles" and judges that it "seems to be taken out of Luke 6:13," while Cambridge attributes the naming itself to Luke 6:13 ("He named them Apostles"), not to Mark. The clause οὓς καὶ ὠνόμασεν ἀποστόλους is printed in the interlinear of this unit and is therefore treated as text here. ⚙ We flag the pair rather than assert a relationship: whether Mark's naming clause and Luke's are independent or one has influenced the transmission of the other is a question about manuscripts, and the brief gives us the dispute but not the witnesses.

Luke 6:13 · Luke 6:14

basis: Provenance contested: Gill reports a version importing "and called them apostles" from Luke 6:13, and Cambridge locates the naming of the apostles at Luke 6:13 rather than in Mark; Cambridge and Pulpit report that "to heal sicknesses" (v. 15) is omitted in some of the best manuscripts. The Verifier computed a basis for Luke 6:14 only (G3687 ὀνομάζω in 10 vv, G4613 Σίμων, G4074 Πέτρος) and none for Luke 6:13; manuscript witnesses are not in the brief, so the claim is not verified here.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The Apostle who makes apostles ancient/widely-held

The sending clause of v. 14 is active and singular, and its noun is the cognate of its verb: he named them ἀποστόλους in order that he himself might be sending them. Cambridge, tracing the title, ends where the New Testament ends it: "In Hebrews 3:1 He Himself is styled 'The Apostle and high priest of our profession,' with which compare John 17:18." ⚙ That is the redemptive-historical order. The one who sends is himself the sent one; the office he creates is a participation in his own, and John 17:18 makes the derivation explicit, as he was sent so he sends. Nothing in the Twelve originates with them, which is why Mark can list eleven men without a single word of description and one man with a betrayal. Cambridge's own citations carry this reading, and it is the ancient and widely held one.

Hebrews 3:1 · John 17:18 · Mark 3:14

"That they might be with him": presence before mission ancient/widely-held

Mark's first purpose is the verb of being: ἵνα ὦσιν μετ’ αὐτοῦ. Geneva glosses the appointment as being made familiar and well acquainted with him; Benson says they were called and appointed merely to be with him, not only to attend his public ministry but to enjoy his private conversation and daily instructions, and that afterwards they lived with him on one common stock as his family; Gill says they were taken into his family and were privy to all his affairs; Cambridge attaches the same condition to the apostolic qualification of Acts 1:21. ⚙ Read redemptively, this clause is the whole gospel in miniature. The gift precedes the task: what these men are given first is the company of the person, and the mission is what that company overflows into. Poole and Gill both insist the sending waits, months in Gill's reckoning, until Mark 6:7; the being with him does not wait. Widely held, and stated in almost these words by four of the commentators in this brief.

Mark 3:14 · Acts 1:21

Israel remade around the Son ancient/widely-held

He makes twelve. Barnes allows the tribal reference as a probability; Cambridge says the number answers to the twelve sons of Jacob and calls the Twelve the Twelve Pillars of the Church, adding from 1 Corinthians 1:27 that the weak things of the world were to confound the things which are mighty; Benson, working the same figure, says that if the reference to the twelve patriarchs and tribes holds then replacing Judas was a respect paid to that people before the grand offer of the gospel to them, and that once it was refused Paul and Barnabas were added without regard to twelve. ⚙ The figure therefore has a direction: twelve is not a permanent architecture but a claim laid on Israel at a particular hour, gathered this time not around a patriarch or a pillar but around a person on a mountain who calls whom he himself wills. Benson's observation about Paul and Barnabas is the honest check on any over-reading of the number.

Genesis 35:22-26 · Exodus 24:4 · 1 Corinthians 1:27

Handed over: the traitor inside the making ancient/widely-held

The list closes with ὃς καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτόν, "who also handed him over," a verb of surrender and delivery rather than of treachery, and an aorist written into the roll before the deed is done. Gill states the frame the Gospel itself later supplies: our Lord chose this man though he knew he would betray him, in order to fulfil the purposes of God, the prophecies of the Old Testament, and to bring on the work of man's redemption. Pulpit says the choice was made because it was his will that he should be betrayed by one who had been his own familiar friend and had eaten bread with him, quotes Bengel that there is an election of grace from which men may fall, and admits the rest is unfathomable. Poole refuses to inquire too narrowly into the secret counsels of God in this and turns to use instead. ⚙ Our own reading adds only this: Mark puts the handing over inside the making, in the same sentence-shape ("who also") as the naming of v. 14, so that the company constituted to be with him is from its first day the company that will deliver him up. The cross is not a later accident that befalls this mission; it is written into the roll at its formation. The providential reading is ancient and widely held; the observation about the repeated ὃς καί / οὓς καί is ours and offered to be tested.

Mark 3:19 · Mark 14:10

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text. Two places in this unit are textually or orthographically unsettled and the brief lets us say so. (1) In v. 15 the older English versions add "to heal sicknesses"; Cambridge says the words "are omitted in some of the best MSS" and Pulpit that they are "omitted in some of the oldest authorities." BSB prints the shorter text, and the interlinear here contains no such words. Henry, Barnes, Gill and Geneva all comment on the longer reading, so their notes on this verse address a text this page does not print, and Henry's excerpt is annotated accordingly. (2) The lexicon in the brief heads two entries in forms that differ from the words actually printed in Mark's text: G2581 as Κανανίτης where v. 18 reads Καναναῖον, and G2469 as Ἰσκαριώτης where v. 19 reads Ἰσκαριώθ. Ellicott notes the same variation from the other side ("Better, Cananite, or, following many MSS., Cananœan"). We have followed the printed text and flagged the mismatch rather than harmonizing it.

Sources. The sourced lexicon glosses in this brief are truncated mid-phrase in several entries (for example G1427 δώδεκα, "two and ten, i"; G649 ἀποστέλλω, "set apart, i"; G1849 ἐξουσία, "privilege, i"). Where a gloss mattered we used only what was legible and said what we were using. JFB appears in this unit only as a cross-reference stub ("The Twelve Apostles Chosen. See on Lu 6:12-19") and so contributes no quotable judgment; it is the one author present in the brief that no verse cites. Cambridge's entry on v. 18 as digitized reads "the Song of Solomon of Tolmai" where the printed text must read "son of Tolmai" (compare Strong's G918, "son of Tolmai"): an automated substitution in our source text, recorded here so no reader trusts it. Two entries in the brief are capped mid-sentence (Cambridge on v. 18, Pulpit on v. 18, Benson on v. 19); we did not draw conclusions from the missing portions.

What is uncertain. Almost everything Mark does not say. The night of prayer is Luke's (Luke 6:12), imported here by Ellicott, Benson, Gill and Cambridge. The identification of the mountain with Hattin, and with the mountain of the Sermon, is tradition and inference (Poole reporting Bucer, Cambridge, Pulpit), not text. The derivation of Boanerges is openly disputed in the brief itself: Ellicott (B'ne-regesh), Pulpit (B'ne-ragesh), Benson quoting Hammond (benei ragnash, sons of earthquake), Gill (Syriac and Persic forms), with Barnes conceding that it is not known why the name was given and Poole saying critics must dispute it. The identification of Bartholomew with Nathanael is "probably" in Cambridge's own word. Gill's interval of "near twelve months" between appointment and mission, and Cambridge's "interval of a few months (?)" before the house of v. 19, are harmonizing chronologies, and Cambridge marks his with a question mark. Pulpit's reading of twelve as three times four, the Trinity multiplied by the created order, is his own allegory and is labelled as his. ⚙ Everything in this unit marked with the gear is our fallible synthesis: in particular the observation that ἀπέρχομαι links v. 13 to Mark 14:10 in opposite directions, the observation that ὃς καί in v. 19 answers οὓς καί in v. 14, and the note that Judas alone among the Twelve bears a name derived from a place in Judah. Each is offered to be tested and corrected.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)