Mark 3:12

But ¹  he sternly ordered them not to make him known. ² 

But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.

But Jesus strictly warned them not to say who he was.

But Jesus would have none of it. He shut them up, forbidding them to identify him in public.

And he gave them special orders not to say who he was.

But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.

But ¹  he sternly ordered them not to make him known. ² 

¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

² sn Jesus did not permit the demons to make him known because the time for such disclosure was not yet at hand, and such a revelation would have certainly been misunderstood by the people. In all likelihood, if the people had understood him early on to be the Son of God, or Messiah, they would have reduced his mission to one of political deliverance from Roman oppression (cf. John 6:15). Jesus wanted to avoid, as much as possible, any premature misunderstanding about who he was and what he was doing. However, at the end of his ministry, he did not deny such a title when the high priest asked him (14:61-62).