Mark 3:1
in Mark 3Once again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there who had his hand withered.
KJV
And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
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This verse in Mark 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAnd he entered again into the synagogue,.... Perhaps in Capernaum, where he had before cast out the unclean spirit; but not on the same day, nor on that day he had had the debate with the Pharisees, about his disciples plucking the ears of corn on the sabbath day; but on another sabbath, perhaps the next; see Luk 6:6. And there was a man there which had a withered hand; who came there either for a cure, knowing Christ to be in the synagogue, or for the sake of worship; See Gill on Mat 12:10.
This site's exposition
a man with a withered hand was there
on Mark 3:1-2
The watchers came to build a case, In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. The Sabbath dispute of 2:23-28 continues here, with healing now the ground in question.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Apostolic ConstitutionsConstitutions of the Holy Apostles Book 5 · Written before 380.
proposed
He who raises wheat out of the ground with many stalks from one grain, He that makes the tree that is cut down send forth fresh branches, He that made Aaron's dry rod put forth buds, will raise us up in glory; He that raised Him up that had the palsy whole, and healed him that had the withered hand, He that supplied a defective part to him that was born blind from clay and spittle, will raise us up; He that satisfied five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes, and caused a remainder of twelve baskets, and out of water made wine, and sent a piece of money out of a fish's mouth by me Peter to those that demanded tribute, will raise the dead.
The Medieval Church3 voices
And he entered again into the synagogue, etc. The man who had a withered hand indicates the human race withered in the fertility of good works, but cured by the Lord's compassion. His right hand, which had withered in the first parent when plucking the …
(ubi sup.) But mystically, the man with a withered hand shows the human race, dried up as to its fruitfulness in good works, but now cured by the mercy of the Lord; the hand of man, which in our first parent had been dried up when he plucked the fruit of the forbidden tree, through the grace of the Redeemer, Who stretched His guiltless hands on the tree of the cross, has been restored to health by the juices of good works. Well too was it in the synagogue that the hand was withered; for where the gift of knowledge is greater, there also the danger of inexcusable guilt is greater.
After confounding the Jews, who had blamed His disciples, for pulling the ears of corn on the sabbath day, by the example of David, the Lord now further bringing them to the truth, works a miracle on the sabbath; showing that, if it is a pious deed to work miracles on the sabbath for the health of men, it is not wrong to do on the sabbath things necessary for the body: he says therefore, And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath-day; that they might accuse him.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is sad that this great truth should be denied by any of the children of men, who may have the benefit of it, when a confession of it has so often been extorted from devils, who are excluded from having benefit by it.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
These verses show us our Lord again working a miracle. He heals a man in the synagogue, "who had a withered hand." Always about His Father's business — always doing good — doing it in the sight of enemies as well as of friends — such was the daily tenor of our Lord's earthly ministry. And He "left us an example that we should follow His steps." (1 Peter 2:21.) Blessed indeed are those Christians who strive, however feebly, to imitate their Master! Let us observe in these verses, how our Lord Jesus Christ was watched by His enemies .
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
These verses show us our Lord again working a miracle. He heals a man in the synagogue, "who had a withered hand." Always about His Father's business — always doing good — doing it in the sight of enemies as well as of friends — such was the daily tenor of our Lord's earthly ministry. And He "left us an example that we should follow His steps." (1 Peter 2:21.) Blessed indeed are those Christians who strive, however feebly, to imitate their Master! Let us observe in these verses, how our Lord Jesus Christ was watched by His enemies . We read that "they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse Him." What a melancholy proof we have here of the wickedness of human nature! It was the Sabbath day, when these things happened. It was in the synagogue, where men were assembled to hear the word and worship God. Yet even on the day of God, and at the time of worshiping God, these wretched formalists were plotting mischief against our Lord. The very men who pretended to such strictness and, sanctity in little things, were full of malicious and angry thoughts in the midst of the congregation. (Prov. 5:14.) Christ's people must not expect to fare better than their Master. They are always watched by an ill-natured and spiteful world. Their conduct is scanned with a keen and jealous eye. Their ways are noted and diligently observed. They are marked men. They can do nothing without the world's noticing it. Their dress, their expenditure, their employment of time, their conduct in all the relations of life, are all rigidly and closely marked. Their adversaries wait for their halting, and if at any time they fall into an error, the ungodly rejoice. It is good for all Christians to keep this before their minds. Wherever we go, and whatever we do, let us remember that, like our Master, we are "watched."
A man there which had a withered hand - See this explained on Mat 12:10 (note), etc., and on Luk 6:6, Luk 6:10 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
See this explained in Mat 12:9-13. Mar 3:4 Or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? - It seems to have been a maxim with the Jews that not to do good when we have an opportunity is to do evil; not to save life is to kill or to be guilty of murder. If a man has an opportunity of saving a man’s life when he is in danger, and does not do it, he is evidently guilty of his death.
How the passage was read
On Mark 3:1-6On Mark 3:1-6
A healing that fits no category of work
The tradition held, and holds, that danger to life overrides the Sabbath: “uncertainty concerning a life-threatening situation overrides Shabbat” (Mishnah Yoma 8:6, the principle called pikuach nefesh, “saving a life”). The watchers in the synagogue are not monsters; they stand on a real distinction. A withered hand is chronic, not mortal: on their categories it can wait until sundown. Jesus refuses the wait: “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?”
Notice the halakhic edge the scene itself sharpens: Jesus heals by a word. He performs no act that any category of forbidden labor can name; no kneading, no carrying, no burden. His accusers watch a man stretch out his own hand and are left with nothing to charge but the goodness of the deed and the authority of the doer. That the Pharisees then take counsel “with the Herodians,” the party of Herod Antipas they otherwise had little in common with, shows how far the offense reached beyond law.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Yoma 8:6 (danger to life overrides the Sabbath)
The words behind it
14 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| εἰσῆλθεν | eiselthen | He entered | G1525 → | 194 times |
| πάλιν | palin | again | G3825 → | 139 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| συναγωγήν, | sunagogen | synagogue, | G4864 → | 56 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἦν | en | there was | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ἐκεῖ | ekei | there | G1563 → | 105 times |
| ἄνθρωπος | anthropos | a man | G444 → | 549 times |
| ἐξηραμμένην | exerammenen | withered | G3583 → | 15 times |
| ἔχων | echon | having | G2192 → | 707 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| χεῖρα, | cheira | hand, | G5495 → | 175 times |
ΚαὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
εἰσῆλθενHe entered
eiselthenG1525 →194 times
πάλινagain
palinG3825 →139 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
συναγωγήν,synagogue,
sunagogenG4864 →56 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἦνthere was
enG1510 →2333 times
ἐκεῖthere
ekeiG1563 →105 times
ἄνθρωποςa man
anthroposG444 →549 times
ἐξηραμμένηνwithered
exerammenenG3583 →15 times
ἔχωνhaving
echonG2192 →707 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
χεῖρα,hand,
cheiraG5495 →175 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Mark 1:21Then Jesus and His companions went to Capernaum, and right away Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach.
it leads to
- Mark 6:2
When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these ideas?” they asked. “What is this wisdom He has been…
- Mark 1:39
So He went throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
- Matthew 4:23
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
- Acts 13:14–52
And from Perga, they traveled inland to Pisidian Antioch, where they entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and sat down.
- Mark 6:2
Through
John 5:3On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.
it leads to
- Mark 3:1–4
Once again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there.
- Luke 7:22
So He replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and…
- Matthew 15:30
Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them.
- Zechariah 11:17
Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
- Mark 3:1–4
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Apostolic Constitutions, Constitutions of the Holy Apostles Book 5; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.