Mark 3:2-6

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. 3:5 After looking around 6  at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, 7  he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 8  3:6 So 9  the Pharisees 10  went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians, 11  as to how they could assassinate 12  him.

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.

6 tn The aorist participle περιβλεψάμενος (peribleyameno") has been translated as antecedent (prior) to the action of the main verb. It could also be translated as contemporaneous (“Looking around…he said”).

7 tn This term is a collective singular in the Greek text.

8 sn The passive was restored points to healing by God. Now the question became: Would God exercise his power through Jesus, if what Jesus was doing were wrong? Note also Jesus’ “labor.” He simply spoke and it was so.

9 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

10 sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

11 tn Grk inserts “against him” after “Herodians.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has not been translated.

sn The Herodians are mentioned in the NT only once in Matt (22:16 = Mark 12:13) and twice in Mark (3:6; 12:13; some mss also read “Herodians” instead of “Herod” in Mark 8:15). It is generally assumed that as a group the Herodians were Jewish supporters of the Herodian dynasty (or of Herod Antipas in particular). In every instance they are linked with the Pharisees. This probably reflects agreement regarding political objectives (nationalism as opposed to submission to the yoke of Roman oppression) rather than philosophy or religious beliefs.

12 tn Grk “destroy.”