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Mark 1:40-45

Cleansing a Leper

1:40 Now¹ a leper² came to him and fell to his knees, asking for help. “If³ you are willing, you can make me clean,” he said. 1:41 Moved with compassion,⁴ Jesus⁵ stretched out his hand and touched⁶ him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” 1:42 The leprosy left him at once, and he was clean. 1:43 Immediately Jesus⁷ sent the man⁸ away with a very strong warning. 1:44 He told him,⁹ “See that you do not say anything to anyone,¹⁰ but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded¹¹ for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”¹² 1:45 But as the man¹³ went out he began to announce it publicly and spread the story widely, so that Jesus¹⁴ was no longer able to enter any town openly but stayed outside in remote places. Still¹⁵ they kept coming¹⁶ to him from everywhere.

¹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

²sn The ancient term for leprosy covers a wider array of conditions than what we call leprosy today. A leper was totally ostracized from society until he was declared cured (Lev 13:45-46).

³tn This is a third class condition. The report portrays the leper making no presumptions about whether Jesus will heal him or not.

⁴tc The reading found in almost the entire NT ms tradition is σπλαγχνισθείς (splancnisqei", “moved with compassion”). Codex Bezae (D), {1358}, and a few Latin mss (a ff² r^1*) here read ὀργισθείς (ojrgisqei", “moved with anger”). It is more difficult to account for a change from “moved with compassion” to “moved with anger” than it is for a copyist to soften “moved with anger” to “moved with compassion,” making the decision quite difficult. B. M. Metzger (TCGNT 65) suggests that “moved with anger” could have been prompted by 1:43, “Jesus sent the man away with a very strong warning.” It also could have been prompted by the man’s seeming doubt about Jesus’ desire to heal him (v. 40). As well, it is difficult to explain why scribes would be prone to soften the text here but not in Mark 3:5 or 10:14 (where Jesus is also said to be angry or indignant). Thus, in light of diverse mss supporting “moved with compassion,” and at least a plausible explanation for ὀργισθείς as arising from the other reading, it is perhaps best to adopt σπλαγχνισθείς as the original reading. Nevertheless, a decision in this case is not easy. For the best arguments for ὀργισθείς, however, see M. A. Proctor, “The ‘Western’ Text of Mark 1:41: A Case for the Angry Jesus” (Ph.D. diss., Baylor University, 1999).

⁵tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶sn Touched. This touch would have rendered Jesus ceremonially unclean (Lev 14:46; also Mishnah, m. Nega’im 3.1; 11.1; 12.1; 13.6-12).

⁷tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸tn Grk “him”; the referent (the man who was healed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹tn Grk “And after warning him, he immediately sent him away and told him.”

¹⁰sn The silence ordered by Jesus was probably meant to last only until the cleansing took place with the priests and sought to prevent Jesus’ healings from becoming the central focus of the people’s reaction to him. See also 1:34; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26, 30; and 9:9 for other cases where Jesus asks for silence concerning him and his ministry.

¹¹sn On the phrase bring the offering that Moses commanded see Lev 14:1-32.

¹²tn Or “as an indictment against them”; or “as proof to the people.” This phrase could be taken as referring to a positive witness to the priests, a negative testimony against them, or as a testimony to the community that the man had indeed been cured. In any case, the testimony shows that Jesus is healing and ministering to those in need.

¹³tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man who was healed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵tn Grk “and”; καί (kai) often has a mildly contrastive force, as here.

¹⁶tn The imperfect verb has been translated iteratively.

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