SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 3:5

3:5a

Jesus looked around at them with anger: The phrase Jesus looked around at them probably indicates that Jesus looked at all of the people in every part of the room. The phrase in anger describes how Jesus felt as he looked at them. He was angry because they did not pity the man with the crippled hand.

In some languages it may be natural to change the order of phrases in 3:5a. For example, the Good News Bible says:

Jesus was angry as he looked around at them

3:5b

and sorrow: There are two ways to interpret the meaning of the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sorrow:

(1) It means that Jesus was grieved or very sad. For example:

grieved at their hardness of heart (Revised Standard Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation, NET Bible, New Century Version, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, God’s Word, Revised English Bible)

(2) It means that Jesus felt sorry for them because they were actually hurting themselves by their stubbornness. For example:

he felt sorry for them because they were so stubborn (Contemporary English Version)

(Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It is followed by the majority of English versions and fits the context well.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

was very upset
-or-
felt great sorrow

hardness of heart: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hardness of heart is an idiom (New Living Translation: “hard hearts”). It means that the people were “stubborn” or “obstinate.” It refers to their unwillingness to change what they thought and believed. It does not refer literally to the heart as an organ in a person’s body. The Contemporary English Version has another way to translate this:

because they were so stubborn (Contemporary English Version)

In some languages, there may be a different idiom to refer to stubbornness. For example, the God’s Word says:

their minds were closed (God’s Word)

3:5c

Stretch out your hand: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Stretch out means “to extend” or “reach out.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

Hold out your hand. (God’s Word)
-or-
Reach out your hand. (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)

The same word is translated as reach in 1:41.

hand: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hand can include part of the arm as well. See how you translated this in 3:1b.

General Comment on 3:5c

In some languages, it will be more natural to translate 3:5c as indirect speech. For example:

Jesus told the man to stretch out his hand/arm.

3:5e

it was restored: The word restored here means “healed.” The pronoun it refers to man’s hand which was made strong and well.

© 2008 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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