Mark 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.

Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.

They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.

Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. Would he heal the man’s hand on the Sabbath? If he did, they planned to condemn him.

The Pharisees had their eyes on Jesus to see if he would heal him, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath infraction.

And they were watching him to see if he would make him well on the Sabbath day, so that they might have something against him.

They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him.

So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.

They watched ¹  Jesus ²  closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, ³  so that they could accuse 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).