Mark 2

A few days later, Jesus came back into the town of Capernaum. Word spread that he was at home.

1And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.

NoteCapernaum was a fishing town on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, and Mark treats it as Jesus' base. The King James "in the house" and the rendering "at home" translate a Greek phrase that can mean either; the house is probably Simon Peter's, where Jesus stayed in Mark 1:29.

2Right away so many people crowded together that there was no room left for them, not even outside the doorway. And he spoke God's message to them.

2And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

Note"Preached" in 1611 English carried the sense of a herald making a public announcement. The King James "the word" means the message being announced, not a single spoken word.

3Then some men came to him, bringing a man who was paralyzed. Four men carried him.

3And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.

Note"Sick of the palsy" is the King James term for paralysis. Palsy was the ordinary English word for paralysis and loss of muscle control.

4They could not get near Jesus because of the crowd, so they opened up the roof above where he was. After they had dug through it, they lowered down the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.

4And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

NoteRoofs in this region were flat: beams laid across the walls, covered with branches and packed clay, and reached by an outside stair. Such a roof could be dug open and patched afterward. The King James "for the press" means "because of the crowd"; press was a common word for a throng. The "bed" is a light sleeping mat that one person could carry rolled up.

5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

5When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

Note"Thy sins be forgiven thee" is not a wish in 1611 English but a flat statement: your sins are forgiven. The older "be" could serve where modern English says "are."

6But some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves,

6But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,

NoteScribes were the professional experts in the written law of Moses, trained to copy it, teach it and give rulings from it. The King James "reasoning in their hearts" reflects a Hebrew way of speaking in which the heart is the seat of thought and decision, not only of feeling.

7"Why does this man talk this way? He is insulting God. Who can forgive sins except God alone?"

7Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

NoteBlasphemy meant speech that insulted God or claimed for a person something that belonged to God alone. Under the law of Moses it carried the death penalty (Leviticus 24:16), so the word in their mouths is a legal accusation, not just an expression of distaste.

8Jesus knew at once, deep within himself, that they were thinking this. He said to them, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?

8And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

9Which is easier: to say to the paralyzed man, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, pick up your mat, and walk'?

9Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

10But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." Then he said to the paralyzed man,

10But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

Note"Son of man" is a phrase Jesus uses of himself throughout the Gospels. In Hebrew and Aramaic it can mean simply "a human being," and it is also the phrase used in Daniel 7:13 of a figure who is given authority by God; the wording keeps both senses available and translators do not resolve it. The King James "power" here means authority, the right to act, not physical force. Note also that the sentence breaks off: Mark interrupts "But that ye may know..." with narration, and it is never finished as a sentence.

11"I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home."

11I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

12The man got up at once, picked up his mat, and walked out in front of them all. They were all astonished, and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."

12And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

Note"We never saw it on this fashion" is 1611 English for "we have never seen anything like this." Fashion then meant manner or kind.

13Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them.

13And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.

NoteThe "sea" is the Sea of Galilee, a freshwater lake about thirteen miles long. "Resorted unto him" in the King James simply means "came to him," with none of the modern suggestion of a last resort.

14As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. Jesus said to him, "Follow me." Levi got up and followed him.

14And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

NoteThe King James "receipt of custom" is a tax booth: a post where duties were collected on goods moving along the road or across the lake. Capernaum lay near a border, so the collector there worked for Herod Antipas. Such positions were farmed out; the holder paid for the right to collect and lived on whatever he took above his quota, which is why the job carried a reputation for extortion. Matthew's Gospel gives this same man the name Matthew.

15Later Jesus was eating a meal at Levi's house. Many tax collectors and sinners were eating there with Jesus and his disciples, because there were many of them who followed him.

15And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.

Note"Publicans" is the King James word for tax collectors. They were widely despised both as men working for a foreign-backed regime and as men assumed to overcharge. "Sinners" here functions almost as a social label for people whose trade or way of life placed them outside the strict observance the Pharisees kept. "Sat at meat" means reclined at a meal: at a formal dinner people lay on one side around a low table rather than sitting on chairs. "In his house" is ambiguous in the Greek and could mean Levi's house or Jesus' own.

16When the teachers of the law and the Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and sinners, they said to his disciples, "Why does he eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"

16And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

NoteThe Pharisees were a lay movement committed to precise observance of the law of Moses, including detailed rules about food and ritual purity. Sharing a table was a public sign of acceptance, so who ate with whom carried real weight. The King James "scribes and Pharisees" renders a phrase better read as "the scribes of the Pharisees," meaning legal experts belonging to that party.

17Jesus heard it and said to them, "Healthy people do not need a doctor. Sick people do. I did not come to call those who are already right with God. I came to call sinners to turn from their sins."

17When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Note"Whole" in 1611 English means healthy or in sound health, not complete. "The righteous" means those reckoned to be keeping the law. "Repentance" translates a Greek word for a change of mind that turns a person in a new direction, rather than an emotion of regret.

18Now John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples were fasting. Some people came and said to Jesus, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but your disciples do not?"

18And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

NoteFasting meant going without food for a set period as a religious practice. The law of Moses required only one fast day a year, the Day of Atonement; beyond that, devout groups fasted voluntarily, and some Pharisees kept two fast days a week.

19Jesus said to them, "Can the bridegroom's own wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

19And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

Note"Children of the bridechamber" is a Hebrew-style phrase for the bridegroom's wedding party, the friends who attended him through the celebration. A wedding ran roughly a week, and those taking part were released from fasting obligations for its duration.

20But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them. Then, in those days, they will fast.

20But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

21No one sews a piece of new, unshrunk cloth onto an old coat. If he does, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and the tear gets worse.

21No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.

Note"New cloth" here means cloth that has not yet been shrunk. Sewn as a patch onto a worn garment, it shrinks at the first washing and pulls away, leaving a bigger hole than before. The King James "rent" is a noun meaning a tear.

22And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine bursts the skins, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. New wine must be poured into new wineskins.

22And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.

NoteThe King James "bottles" means wineskins: containers made from whole animal hides sewn shut, the ordinary way of storing and carrying wine. Wine that is still fermenting gives off gas and stretches its container. A fresh skin can stretch; one already stretched and gone brittle with age splits open.

23One Sabbath day Jesus was walking through the grain fields. As they went along, his disciples began to pick the heads of grain.

23And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.

Note"Corn" in the King James means grain of any kind, normally wheat or barley. The American sense of maize did not exist in English in 1611. The Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, on which the law of Moses forbade work. The law expressly permitted a passerby to pluck grain by hand from another person's field (Deuteronomy 23:25), so the complaint that follows is not about theft.

24The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not allowed on the Sabbath?"

24And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

NoteThe objection is that plucking and rubbing out grain counted as harvesting and threshing, two of the kinds of work that teachers of the law listed as forbidden on the Sabbath.

25He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, both he and the men with him?

25And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?

Note"An hungred" is 1611 English for "hungry." The incident Jesus cites is told in 1 Samuel 21:1-6.

26He went into the house of God, back when Abiathar was high priest, and he ate the bread that had been set out before God. Only the priests were allowed to eat it. He also gave some to the men with him."

26How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

Note"Shewbread" (pronounced showbread) is the King James word for the twelve loaves set out each week on a table in the sanctuary before God and replaced every Sabbath; the loaves taken away were then eaten by the priests (Leviticus 24:5-9). The "house of God" here is the sanctuary at Nob, long before the temple in Jerusalem was built. One detail has puzzled readers since antiquity: 1 Samuel names the priest as Ahimelech, Abiathar's father, and Abiathar became high priest only later. The Greek phrase can also be read more loosely as "in the time of" or even "in the passage about" Abiathar, and some early manuscripts of Mark leave the phrase out altogether.

27Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for the good of people. People were not made for the Sabbath.

27And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

Note"Man" in the King James here means humankind, people in general, not males specifically.

28So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

28Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.