Mark 13:32-37
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Necessity for Watchfulness
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.(A) 33 Beware, keep alert,[a] for you do not know when the time will come.(B) 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.(C) 35 Therefore, keep awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight or at cockcrow or at dawn,(D) 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
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- 13.33 Other ancient authorities add and pray
Mark 13:32-37
New English Translation
Be Ready!
32 “But as for that day or hour no one knows it—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son[a]—except the Father. 33 Watch out! Stay alert![b] For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves[c] in charge, assigning[d] to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. 35 Stay alert, then, because you do not know when the owner of the house will return—whether during evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or at dawn— 36 or else he might find you asleep when he returns suddenly. 37 What I say to you I say to everyone: Stay alert!”
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- Mark 13:32 sn The phrase nor the Son has caused a great deal of theological debate because on the surface it appears to conflict with the concept of Jesus’ deity. The straightforward meaning of the text is that the Son does not know the time of his return. If Jesus were divine, though, wouldn’t he know this information? There are other passages which similarly indicate that Jesus did not know certain things. For example, Luke 2:52 indicates that Jesus grew in wisdom; this has to mean that Jesus did not know everything all the time but learned as he grew. So Mark 13:32 is not alone in implying that Jesus did not know certain things. The best option for understanding Mark 13:32 and similar passages is to hold the two concepts in tension: The Son in his earthly life and ministry had limited knowledge of certain things, yet he was still deity.
- Mark 13:33 tc The vast majority of witnesses (א A C L W Θ Ψ ƒ1,13 M lat sy co) have καὶ προσεύχεσθε after ἀγρυπνεῖτε (agrupneite kai proseuchesthe, “stay alert and pray”). This may be a motivated reading, influenced by the similar command in Mark 14:38 where προσεύχεσθε is solidly attested, and more generally from the parallel in Luke 21:36 (though δέομαι [deomai, “ask”] is used there). As B. M. Metzger notes, it is a predictable variant that scribes would have been likely to produce independently of each other (TCGNT 95). The words are not found in B D a c d k. Although the external evidence for the shorter reading is slender, it probably better accounts for the longer reading than vice versa.
- Mark 13:34 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 10:44.
- Mark 13:34 tn Grk “giving.”
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