Mark 3

Jesus went into the synagogue again. The synagogue was the local Jewish meeting place for worship and teaching. A man with a shriveled, useless hand was there.

1And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.

NoteA synagogue was the local Jewish assembly building, where the community gathered on the Sabbath to read and discuss scripture. It was not the temple; there was only one temple, in Jerusalem, while synagogues stood in every town. "Withered" here means shrunken and wasted, a hand paralyzed and shrunk from disuse rather than merely injured.

2Some people watched Jesus closely to see whether he would heal the man on the Sabbath, the weekly day of rest when work was not allowed. They wanted a reason to bring charges against him.

2And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.

NoteThe Sabbath ran from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset and was the weekly day on which all work stopped. Teachers of the law debated at length which activities counted as work; most held that healing was permitted only when a life was in immediate danger, and this man's hand was not an emergency. "Accuse" is a legal word: they wanted grounds for a formal charge, not just something to complain about.

3Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up here in front of everyone."

3And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.

4Then he asked the others, "Is it allowed on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?" But they said nothing.

4And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

Note"Held their peace" is old English for kept silent. It has nothing to do with peace in the modern sense.

5Jesus looked around at them with anger, and he was deeply sad because their hearts were so hard. He said to the man, "Hold out your hand." The man held it out, and his hand was made completely well, like the other one.

5And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

Note"Hardness of their hearts" is a Hebrew and Greek idiom for stubborn unwillingness to be moved or persuaded. In ancient usage the heart was the seat of thought and will, not just feeling, so a hard heart means a closed mind rather than a cold personality.

6Then the Pharisees left and right away began making plans with the Herodians about how they could kill Jesus.

6And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

NoteThe Pharisees were a strict religious movement devoted to keeping the law of Moses, including detailed rules for the Sabbath. The Herodians were supporters of the family of Herod, the client rulers installed by Rome. The two groups had little in common and normally had no reason to cooperate, which is part of what makes the alliance striking.

7So Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea. A large crowd from Galilee followed him, and people came from Judea too,

7But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,

Note"The sea" is the Sea of Galilee, a freshwater lake about thirteen miles long, not an ocean. Galilee was the northern region where Jesus lived; Judea was the southern region around Jerusalem, roughly eighty miles away.

8and from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from the land east of the Jordan River, and from the area around the cities of Tyre and Sidon. This large crowd came to him because they had heard about the great things he was doing.

8And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.

NoteIdumea lay south of Judea, the territory of the Edomites, whose people had been absorbed into Judaism a century or so earlier. "Beyond Jordan" means the east bank of the Jordan River. Tyre and Sidon were wealthy Phoenician port cities on the Mediterranean coast to the northwest, outside Jewish territory. Listing these places together signals that people were traveling from every direction, some of them a hundred miles or more.

9He told his disciples to keep a small boat ready for him, so the crowd would not crush him.

9And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.

Note"Ship" in 1611 English covered any vessel, including a small open fishing boat of the kind used on this lake. "Throng" as a verb means to press in on someone bodily; the danger was being crushed, not merely surrounded.

10He had healed so many people that everyone with a disease was pushing forward to touch him.

10For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.

Note"Plagues" translates a Greek word meaning whips or lashes, used figuratively for diseases and afflictions of any kind. It does not mean epidemic, and these were not all the same illness.

11Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down in front of him and shouted, "You are the Son of God!"

11And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.

Note"Unclean" is a ritual term rather than a description of dirt. In Jewish usage a thing or person was clean or unclean depending on whether it could come into contact with worship, so an unclean spirit is one belonging to the realm set against the holy.

12But he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone who he was.

12And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.

Note"Straitly" means strictly or tightly; it is unrelated to "straight." The phrase "straitly charged" means gave a severe order.

13Then Jesus went up on the mountain and called the men he wanted, and they came to him.

13And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.

14He chose twelve of them to be with him, and to be sent out by him to preach,

14And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,

Note"Ordained" in 1611 English simply means appointed or designated. It carries none of the later church sense of ordaining clergy. "Preach" means to announce or proclaim publicly, the work of a herald, rather than to deliver a sermon.

15and to have power to heal sicknesses and to drive out demons.

15And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:

NoteThe King James Version uses "devils" where the Greek has "demons," a word for lesser hostile spirits. It is a different word from the one used for the devil or Satan, who appears in this chapter as a single figure.

16Simon, whom he gave the name Peter;

16And Simon he surnamed Peter;

Note"Surnamed" here does not mean gave a family name. It means added a second name alongside the first, a common practice. The new name Peter comes from the Greek word for rock or stone.

17James the son of Zebedee, and James's brother John, whom he gave the name Boanerges, which means "sons of thunder";

17And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:

Note"Boanerges" is Mark's attempt to spell an Aramaic phrase in Greek letters. Aramaic was the everyday language of Galilee. Mark translates it for his Greek readers, as he does elsewhere with Aramaic words, which suggests his audience did not know the language.

18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite;

18And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,

Note"Simon the Canaanite" is misleading in English. The word behind it is not the place name Canaan but the Aramaic qan'ana, meaning zealous or enthusiast, which is why other translations read "Simon the Zealot." Some of these men are known by more than one name in the different lists of the twelve: Bartholomew means "son of Talmai," and Thaddaeus appears elsewhere as Judas son of James.

19and Judas Iscariot, the one who later handed Jesus over to his enemies. Then they went into a house.

19And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.

Note"Iscariot" is most often explained as "man of Kerioth," a town in southern Judea, which would make Judas the only member of the group not from Galilee. Other explanations have been proposed and the name remains uncertain. The King James "betrayed" translates a verb that means to hand over or deliver up, the ordinary word for turning someone in to the authorities.

20The crowd gathered again, so that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat a meal.

20And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

Note"Eat bread" is a Hebrew idiom meaning to have a meal, since bread was the staple of every meal. It does not mean that bread specifically was unavailable.

21When his own family heard about it, they went out to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

21And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.

Note"His friends" renders a Greek phrase meaning "those belonging to him," which normally indicates family and is understood that way here, given that his mother and brothers arrive later in the chapter. "Lay hold on him" means to seize him physically and take him away. "Beside himself" is old English for out of his mind.

22And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub," and, "He drives out demons by the power of the ruler of the demons." Scribes were experts in the Jewish law.

22And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.

NoteScribes were the professional experts in the written law, trained to copy, interpret and teach it. That these had "come down from Jerusalem" matters: Jerusalem was the religious center, so this was official scrutiny arriving from headquarters, and one travels "down" from Jerusalem in Hebrew idiom because the city sits high in the hills. "Beelzebub" is a name for the chief of the hostile spirits; the older form Beelzebul may mean "lord of the house," which would explain why the reply that follows turns on houses and kingdoms.

23So Jesus called them over and spoke to them using comparisons: "How can Satan drive out Satan?

23And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?

NoteA parable in this sense is not necessarily a story. The Greek word covers any comparison, riddle or figure of speech used to make a point, which is what the short sayings about kingdoms and houses are.

24If a kingdom is split into sides fighting each other, that kingdom cannot last.

24And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25And if a household is split into sides fighting each other, that household cannot last.

25And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

26So if Satan turns against himself and is split, he cannot last. He is finished.

26And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.

27No one can go into a strong man's house and carry off his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob the house.

27No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

Note"Spoil" here means to plunder or carry off loot, an old use of the word. It does not mean to ruin or to spoil in the modern sense. "Goods" means possessions or property.

28I tell you the truth: people will be forgiven all their sins, and every insult against God they speak, no matter what they say.

28Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:

Note"Verily" means truly, and translates the Hebrew word amen, used at the start of a sentence to stress that what follows is reliable. "Sons of men" is a Hebrew idiom for human beings in general, women included. To blaspheme is to speak abusively or insultingly, especially against God or sacred things.

29But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit is never forgiven. That person is guilty and faces punishment that lasts forever."

29But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

Note"Holy Ghost" is not a specter. In 1611 English "ghost" simply meant spirit, and later translations read "Holy Spirit" because the word has narrowed since. The end of the verse is genuinely uncertain in the manuscripts: some read "guilty of an eternal sin," others "subject to eternal judgment" or "condemnation," which is the reading the King James follows with "in danger of eternal damnation." "In danger of" in 1611 English means liable to or legally answerable for, not merely at risk.

30He said this because they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit in him."

30Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

31Then his brothers and his mother arrived. They stood outside and sent someone in to call him.

31There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

Note"Without" in 1611 English means outside, the opposite of within. "Brethren" is simply the older plural of brothers. The Greek word means blood siblings in ordinary usage, though readers have long disagreed over whether these men were sons of Mary, children of Joseph from an earlier marriage, or close relatives, and the word alone does not settle it.

32A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you."

32And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.

33He answered them, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?"

33And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

34He looked around at the people sitting in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

34And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

35Anyone who does what God wants is my brother, my sister, and my mother."

35For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.