Matthew 9:2-8

9:2 Just then ¹  some people ²  brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. ³  When Jesus saw their ⁴  faith, he said to the paralytic, “Have courage, son! Your sins are forgiven.” ⁵  9:3 Then ⁶  some of the experts in the law ⁷  said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” ⁸  9:4 When Jesus saw their reaction he said, “Why do you respond with evil in your hearts? 9:5 Which is easier, ⁹  to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 9:6 But so that you may know ¹⁰  that the Son of Man ¹¹  has authority on earth to forgive sins” – then he said to the paralytic ¹²  – “Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” ¹³  9:7 And he stood up and went home. ¹⁴  9:8 When ¹⁵  the crowd saw this, they were afraid ¹⁶  and honored God who had given such authority to men. ¹⁷ 

Mark 2:3-12

2:3 Some people ¹⁸  came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. ¹⁹  2:4 When they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof ²⁰  above Jesus. ²¹  Then, ²²  after tearing it out, they lowered the stretcher the paralytic was lying on. 2:5 When Jesus saw their ²³  faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ²⁴  2:6 Now some of the experts in the law ²⁵  were sitting there, turning these things over in their minds: ²⁶  2:7 “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! ²⁷  Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 2:8 Now ²⁸  immediately, when Jesus realized in his spirit that they were contemplating such thoughts, ²⁹  he said to them, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? ³⁰  2:9 Which is easier, ³¹  to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk’? 2:10 But so that you may know ³²  that the Son of Man ³³  has authority on earth to forgive sins,” – he said to the paralytic ³⁴  – 2:11 “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” ³⁵  2:12 And immediately the man ³⁶  stood up, took his stretcher, and went out in front of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

John 5:5-6

5:5 Now a man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. ³⁷  5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there and when he realized ³⁸  that the man ³⁹  had been disabled a long time already, he said to him, “Do you want to become well?”

Acts 9:33

9:33 He found there a man named Aeneas who had been confined to a mattress for eight years because ⁴⁰  he was paralyzed.

[9:2]  ¹ tn Grk “And behold, they were bringing.” Here καὶ ἰδού (kai idou) has been translated as “just then” to indicate the somewhat sudden appearance of the people carrying the paralytic. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1), especially in conjunction with the suddenness of the stretcher bearers’ appearance.

[9:2]  ² tn Grk “they”; the referent (some unnamed people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:2]  ³ tn Traditionally, “on a bed,” but this could be confusing to the modern reader who might envision a large piece of furniture. In various contexts, κλίνη (klinh) may be translated “bed, couch, cot, stretcher, or bier” (in the case of a corpse). See L&N 6.106.

[9:2]  ⁴ sn The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.

[9:2]  ⁵ sn The passive voice here is a divine passive (ExSyn 437). It is clear that God does the forgiving.

[9:3]  ⁶ tn Grk “And behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1). Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the narrative.

[9:3]  ⁷ tn Or “some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[9:3]  ⁸ sn Blaspheming meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.

[9:5]  ⁹ sn Which is easier is a reflective kind of question. On the one hand to declare sins are forgiven is easier, since one does not need to see it, unlike telling a paralyzed person to walk. On the other hand, it is harder, because for it to be true one must possess the authority to forgive the sin.

[9:6]  ¹⁰ sn Now Jesus put the two actions together. The walking of the man would be proof (so that you may know) that his sins were forgiven and that God had worked through Jesus (i.e., the Son of Man).

[9:6]  ¹¹ sn The term Son of Man, which is a title in Greek, comes from a pictorial description in Dan 7:13 of one “like a son of man” (i.e., a human being). It is Jesus’ favorite way to refer to himself. Jesus did not reveal the background of the term here, which mixes human and divine imagery as the man in Daniel rides a cloud, something only God does. He just used it. It also could be an idiom in Aramaic meaning either “some person” or “me.” So there is a little ambiguity in its use here, since its origin is not clear at this point. However, the action makes it clear that Jesus used it to refer to himself here.

[9:6]  ¹² sn Jesus did not finish his sentence with words but with action, that is, healing the paralytic with an accompanying pronouncement to him directly.

[9:6]  ¹³ tn Grk “to your house.”

[9:7]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “to his house.”

[9:8]  ¹⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:8]  ¹⁶ tc Most witnesses (C L Θ 0233 ˹³ Ï) have ἐθαύμασαν (eqaumasan; “marveled, were amazed”) instead of ἐφοβήθησαν (efobhqhsan) here, effectively turning the fearful reaction into one of veneration. But the harder reading is well supported by א B D W 0281 ˹ 33 892 1424 al lat co and thus is surely authentic.

[9:8]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “people.” The plural of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") usually indicates people in general, but the singular is used in the expression “Son of Man.” There is thus an ironic allusion to Jesus’ statement in v. 6: His self-designation as “Son of Man” is meant to be unique, but the crowd regards it simply as meaning “human, person.” To maintain this connection for the English reader the plural ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated here as “men” rather than as the more generic “people.”

[2:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “they”; the referent (some unnamed people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:3]  ¹⁹ tn The redundancy in this verse is characteristic of the author’s rougher style.

[2:4]  ²⁰ sn A house in 1st century Palestine would have had a flat roof with stairs or a ladder going up. This access was often from the outside of the house.

[2:4]  ²¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:4]  ²² tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[2:5]  ²³ sn The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.

[2:5]  ²⁴ sn The passive voice here is a divine passive (ExSyn 437). It is clear that God does the forgiving.

[2:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[2:6]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Reasoning within their hearts.”

[2:7]  ²⁷ sn Blaspheming meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.

[2:8]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the shift from the thoughts of the experts in the law to Jesus’ response.

[2:8]  ²⁹ tn Grk “they were thus reasoning within themselves.”

[2:8]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts?”

[2:9]  ³¹ sn Which is easier is a reflective kind of question. On the one hand to declare sins are forgiven is easier, since one does not need to see it, unlike telling a paralyzed person to walk. On the other hand, it is harder, because for it to be true one must possess the authority to forgive the sin.

[2:10]  ³² sn Now Jesus put the two actions together. The walking of the man would be proof (so that you may know) that his sins were forgiven and that God had worked through Jesus (i.e., the Son of Man).

[2:10]  ³³ sn The term Son of Man, which is a title in Greek, comes from a pictorial description in Dan 7:13 of one “like a son of man” (i.e., a human being). It is Jesus’ favorite way to refer to himself. Jesus did not reveal the background of the term here, which mixes human and divine imagery as the man in Daniel rides a cloud, something only God does. He just used it. It also could be an idiom in Aramaic meaning either “some person” or “me.” So there is a little ambiguity in its use here, since its origin is not clear at this point. However, the action makes it clear that Jesus used it to refer to himself here.

[2:10]  ³⁴ sn Jesus did not finish his sentence with words but with action, that is, healing the paralytic with an accompanying pronouncement to him directly.

[2:11]  ³⁵ tn Grk “to your house.”

[2:12]  ³⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man who was healed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:5]  ³⁷ tn Grk “who had had thirty-eight years in his disability.”

[5:6]  ³⁸ tn Or “knew.”

[5:6]  ³⁹ tn Grk “he.” The referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:33]  ⁴⁰ tn Since the participle κατακείμενον (katakeimenon), an adjectival participle modifying Αἰνέαν (Ainean), has been translated into English as a relative clause (“who had been confined to a mattress”), it would be awkward to follow with a second relative clause (Grk “who was paralyzed”). Furthermore, the relative pronoun here has virtually a causal force, giving the reason for confinement to the mattress, so it is best translated “because.”