Mark 3:1-4

Healing a Withered Hand

3:1 Then Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 3:2 They watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him. 3:3 So he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up among all these people.” 3:4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?” But they were silent.


tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.

sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.

sn The term translated watched…closely is emotive, since it carries negative connotations. It means they were watching him out of the corner of their eye or spying on him.

tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).

tn Grk “Stand up in the middle.”

tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.