Mark 3:1-10

Context

Healing a Withered Hand

3:1 Then¹ Jesus² entered the synagogue³ again, and a man was there who had a withered⁴ hand. 3:2 They watched⁵ Jesus⁶ closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath,⁷ 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.”⁸ 3:4 Then⁹ 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. 3:5 After looking around¹⁰ at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts,¹¹ he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.¹² 3:6 So¹³ the Pharisees¹⁴ went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians,¹⁵ as to how they could assassinate¹⁶ him.

Crowds by the Sea

3:7 Then¹⁷ Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him.¹⁸ And from Judea, 3:8 Jerusalem,¹⁹ Idumea, beyond the Jordan River,²⁰ and around Tyre²¹ and Sidon²² a great multitude came to him when they heard about the things he had done. 3:9 Because of the crowd, he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him so the crowd²³ would not press toward him. 3:10 For he had healed many, so that all who were afflicted with diseases pressed toward him in order to touch him.

[3:1] ¹tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[3:1] ²tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:1] ³sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.

[3:1] ⁴sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.

[3:2] ⁵sn 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.

[3:2] ⁶tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2] ⁷sn 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).

[3:3] ⁸tn Grk “Stand up in the middle.”

[3:4] ⁹tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[3:5] ¹⁰tn The aorist participle περιβλεψάμενος (peribleyameno") has been translated as antecedent (prior) to the action of the main verb. It could also be translated as contemporaneous (“Looking around…he said”).

[3:5] ¹¹tn This term is a collective singular in the Greek text.

[3:5] ¹²sn The passive was restored points to healing by God. Now the question became: Would God exercise his power through Jesus, if what Jesus was doing were wrong? Note also Jesus’ “labor.” He simply spoke and it was so.

[3:6] ¹³tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[3:6] ¹⁴sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[3:6] ¹⁵tn Grk inserts “against him” after “Herodians.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has not been translated.

[3:6] ¹⁶tn Grk “destroy.”

[3:7] ¹⁷tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[3:7] ¹⁸tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[3:8] ¹⁹map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:8] ²⁰tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. The region referred to here is sometimes known as Transjordan (i.e., “across the Jordan”).

[3:8] ²¹map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[3:8] ²²sn These last two locations, Tyre and Sidon, represented an expansion outside of traditional Jewish territory. Jesus’ reputation continued to expand into new regions.

[3:9] ²³tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.