Mark 9 Footnotes

9:2 Mark and Matthew presented the transfiguration as occurring six days after Jesus spoke of the coming kingdom. But Luke said it happened “about eight days” later (Lk 9:28). The Greek of Mark and Matthew, compared to Luke, indicates that Jesus set out six or seven days after the saying and ascended the mountain on or around the eighth day. The six-day language may be another of the many parallels between the transfiguration and Moses on Mount Sinai preparing to receive the law. Alternatively, Luke’s expression “about eight days” may merely signify “about a week later.”

9:50 The Dead Sea provided rock salt to much of Palestine, but it was often of inferior quality, being mixed with other minerals, particularly gypsum. When the salt leeched out of the mixture, the result was a weak product. (The Greek historian Pliny [Nat. Hist. 3, 31, 34] attests to this feature of Dead Sea salt.) Or Jesus’s saying might have been hyperbolic, showing the uselessness and lack of positive witness among his followers if they were not totally committed to him.