Mark 3:1-2

Healing a Withered Hand

3:1 Then ¹  Jesus ²  entered the synagogue ³  again, and a man was there who had a withered ⁴  hand. 3:2 They watched ⁵  Jesus ⁶  closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, ⁷  so that they could accuse him.

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

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

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

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

[3:2]  ⁵ 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.

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

[3:2]  ⁷ 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).