Markus 2:3-12

2:3 Some people ¹  came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. ²  2:4 When they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof ³  above Jesus. ⁴  Then, ⁵  after tearing it out, they lowered the stretcher the paralytic was lying on. 2:5 When Jesus saw their ⁶  faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁷  2:6 Now some of the experts in the law ⁸  were sitting there, turning these things over in their minds: ⁹  2:7 “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! ¹⁰  Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 2:8 Now ¹¹  immediately, when Jesus realized in his spirit that they were contemplating such thoughts, ¹²  he said to them, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? ¹³  2:9 Which is easier, ¹⁴  to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk’? 2:10 But so that you may know ¹⁵  that the Son of Man ¹⁶  has authority on earth to forgive sins,” – he said to the paralytic ¹⁷  – 2:11 “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” ¹⁸  2:12 And immediately the man ¹⁹  stood up, took his stretcher, and went out in front of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Markus 9:14-29

The Disciples’ Failure to Heal

9:14 When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and experts in the law ²⁰  arguing with them. 9:15 When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran ²¹  at once and greeted him. 9:16 He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 9:17 A member of the crowd said to him, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that makes him mute. 9:18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to cast it out, but ²²  they were not able to do so.” ²³  9:19 He answered them, ²⁴  “You ²⁵  unbelieving ²⁶  generation! How much longer ²⁷  must I be with you? How much longer must I endure ²⁸  you? ²⁹  Bring him to me.” 9:20 So they brought the boy ³⁰  to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He ³¹  fell on the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 9:21 Jesus ³²  asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 9:22 It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 9:23 Then Jesus said to him, “‘If you are able?’ ³³  All things are possible for the one who believes.” 9:24 Immediately the father of the boy cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

9:25 Now when Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked ³⁴  the unclean spirit, ³⁵  saying to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 9:26 It shrieked, threw him into terrible convulsions, and came out. The boy ³⁶  looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He is dead!” 9:27 But Jesus gently took his hand and raised him to his feet, and he stood up.

9:28 Then, ³⁷  after he went into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” 9:29 He told them, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” ³⁸ 

[2:3]  ¹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (some unnamed people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:3]  ² tn The redundancy in this verse is characteristic of the author’s rougher style.

[2:4]  ³ sn A house in 1st century Palestine would have had a flat roof with stairs or a ladder going up. This access was often from the outside of the house.

[2:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:4]  ⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[2:5]  ⁶ sn The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.

[2:5]  ⁷ sn The passive voice here is a divine passive (ExSyn 437). It is clear that God does the forgiving.

[2:6]  ⁸ tn Or “some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[2:6]  ⁹ tn Grk “Reasoning within their hearts.”

[2:7]  ¹⁰ sn Blaspheming meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.

[2:8]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the shift from the thoughts of the experts in the law to Jesus’ response.

[2:8]  ¹² tn Grk “they were thus reasoning within themselves.”

[2:8]  ¹³ tn Grk “Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts?”

[2:9]  ¹⁴ sn Which is easier is a reflective kind of question. On the one hand to declare sins are forgiven is easier, since one does not need to see it, unlike telling a paralyzed person to walk. On the other hand, it is harder, because for it to be true one must possess the authority to forgive the sin.

[2:10]  ¹⁵ sn Now Jesus put the two actions together. The walking of the man would be proof (so that you may know) that his sins were forgiven and that God had worked through Jesus (i.e., the Son of Man).

[2:10]  ¹⁶ sn The term Son of Man, which is a title in Greek, comes from a pictorial description in Dan 7:13 of one “like a son of man” (i.e., a human being). It is Jesus’ favorite way to refer to himself. Jesus did not reveal the background of the term here, which mixes human and divine imagery as the man in Daniel rides a cloud, something only God does. He just used it. It also could be an idiom in Aramaic meaning either “some person” or “me.” So there is a little ambiguity in its use here, since its origin is not clear at this point. However, the action makes it clear that Jesus used it to refer to himself here.

[2:10]  ¹⁷ sn Jesus did not finish his sentence with words but with action, that is, healing the paralytic with an accompanying pronouncement to him directly.

[2:11]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “to your house.”

[2:12]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man who was healed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:14]  ²⁰ tn Or “and scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[9:15]  ²¹ tn Grk The participle προστρέχοντες (prostrecontes) has been translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.

[9:18]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[9:18]  ²³ tn The words “to do so” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied for clarity and stylistic reasons.

[9:19]  ²⁴ tn Grk “And answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the phrasing of the sentence was modified slightly to make it clearer in English.

[9:19]  ²⁵ tn Grk “O.” The marker of direct address, ὦ (w), is functionally equivalent to a vocative and is represented in the translation by “you.”

[9:19]  ²⁶ tn Or “faithless.”

[9:19]  sn The rebuke for lack of faith has OT roots: Num 14:27; Deut 32:5, 30; Isa 59:8.

[9:19]  ²⁷ tn Grk “how long.”

[9:19]  ²⁸ tn Or “put up with.” See Num 11:12; Isa 46:4.

[9:19]  ²⁹ sn The pronouns you…you are plural, indicating that Jesus is speaking to a group rather than an individual.

[9:20]  ³⁰ tn Grk “him.”

[9:20]  ³¹ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[9:21]  ³² tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:23]  ³³ tc Most mss (A C³ Ψ 33 Ï) have τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι (to ei dunasai pisteusai, “if you are able to believe”), instead of τὸ εἰ δύνῃ (to ei dunh, “if you are able”; supported by א B C* L N* Δ Ë¹ 579 892 pc). Others have εἰ δύνῃ (or δυνάσαι) πιστεῦσαι (“if you are able to believe”; so D K Θ Ë¹³ 28 565 al), while still others have τοῦτο εἰ δύνῃ (touto ei dunh, “if you can [do] this”; so [Ì⁴⁵] W). The reading that best explains the rise of the others is τὸ εἰ δύνῃ. The neuter article indicates that the Lord is now quoting the boy’s father who, in v. 22, says εἴ τι δύνῃ (ei ti dunh, “if you are able to do anything”). The article is thus used anaphorically (see ExSyn 238). However, scribes could easily have overlooked this idiom and would consequently read τὸ εἰ δύνῃ as the protasis of a conditional clause of the Lord’s statement. As such, it would almost demand the infinitive πιστεῦσαι, producing the reading τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι (“if you are able to believe, all things are possible…”). But the article here seems to be meaningless, prompting other scribes to modify the text still further. Some dropped the nonsensical article, while others turned it into the demonstrative τοῦτο and dropped the infinitive. It is clear that scribes had difficulty with the original wording here, and made adjustments in various directions. What might not be so clear is the exact genealogy of the descent of all the readings. However, τὸ εἰ δύνῃ is both a hard saying, best explains the rise of the other readings, and is supported by the best witnesses. It thus rightly deserves to be considered authentic.

[9:25]  ³⁴ tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).

[9:25]  ³⁵ sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.

[9:26]  ³⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the boy) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[9:28]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:29]  ³⁸ tc Most witnesses, even early and excellent ones (Ì^45vid א² A C D L W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat co), have “and fasting” (καὶ νηστείᾳ, kai nhsteia) after “prayer” here. But this seems to be a motivated reading, due to the early church’s emphasis on fasting (TCGNT 85; cf., e.g., 2 Clem. 16:4; Pol. Phil 7:2; Did. 1:3; 7:4). That the most important witnesses (א* B), as well as a few others (0274 2427 k), lack καὶ νηστείᾳ, when a good reason for the omission is difficult to find, argues strongly for the shorter reading.