Section 3:13–19

Jesus chose twelve apostles

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus chose twelve special men
-or-
Jesus appointed the apostles
-or-
Jesus named twelve men to be his apostles

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 10:1–4 and Luke 6:12–16.

Paragraph 3:13–15

3:13a

The story in 3:13–15 began sometime after the story in 3:7–12 ended. The Greek text does not indicate how much time passed between these two stories.

Then: In some languages, it is natural to begin a story with a time word or phrase. If your language is like that, use an expression here that is not too specific. For example:

Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain (New Living Translation)
-or-
Later he went up on to the hill-side. (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

In other languages, a time word or phrase is not necessary. Introduce this story in a natural way in your language.

Jesus went up on the mountain: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus went up on the mountain indicates that he walked up the slope of a mountain. This does not necessarily indicate that he went all the way to the top of the mountain. He went to a place where he could be away from most of the other people.

the mountain: This refers to one of the hills around Lake Galilee.

3:13b

and called for: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as called for here means “summoned” or “asked (them) to join him.” (The parallel passage in Luke 6:12–13 indicates that Jesus went up the mountain, prayed throughout the night, and only the next morning did he call the disciples.) It is possible that Jesus sent someone to call his disciples.

those He wanted: The phrase those He wanted means “those people Jesus wanted to come to him.” Scholars differ as to whom the phrase those He wanted refers:

(1) Jesus called a larger group to come up the mountain, and then out of them he chose the twelve disciples.

(2) Jesus called just the twelve disciples to come up the mountain.

If you must be specific, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The majority of scholars favor this interpretation.

3:13c

and they came to Him: The disciples came to where Jesus was on the mountain. The parallel passage in Luke 6:12–13 says that Jesus prayed throughout the night, and he called the disciples the following morning. Neither Mark nor Luke say where the disciples came from, so you should not be specific about the details.

3:14a-d

He appointed twelve of them, whom He designated as apostles, to accompany Him, to be sent out to preach: In some languages it may be natural to start a new sentence after accompany Him. For example:

14aJesus appointed them 14bto be apostles 14cin order that they might be with him. 14dHe also wanted to send them out to preach…

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