Mark 3:2-4

3:2 They watched ¹  Jesus ²  closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, ³  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.” ⁴  3:4 Then ⁵  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.

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¹ 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.

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

³ 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).

⁴ tn Grk “Stand up in the middle.”

sn Most likely synagogues were arranged with benches along the walls and open space in the center for seating on the floor.

⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.