Discovery BoxMark 3:1-4 
Context3:1 Then 1 Jesus 2 entered the synagogue 3 again, and a man was there who had a withered 4 hand. 3:2 They watched 5 Jesus 6 closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, 7 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.” 8 3:4 Then 9 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.
1 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.
4 sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.
5 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.
6 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 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).
8 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.
9 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
