Section 12:22–32
Jesus showed that he did not use Satan’s power
In this section, Jesus healed a man whom demons had been controlling. The Pharisees said that he did it by the power of Satan. Doing something by the power of Satan is sorcery. Sorcery was punishable by death in the Jewish law. Jesus explained to them why it could not be true that he cast out demons by the power of Satan. He also warned them that they must not look at something he had done by the Holy Spirit’s power and say that Satan gave him the power to do it. This is blaspheming the Holy Spirit (12:31).
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The Pharisees accuse Jesus of working with Satan
-or-
Jesus’ power is greater than Satan’s power
-or-
The power of Jesus comes from the Holy Spirit, not from Satan
There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 3:22–30 and Luke 11:14–23.
Paragraph 12:22–24
12:22a–b
This new section and paragraph begin with the miracle of Jesus healing a man. Before you translate this verse, consider the most natural way to begin this new section. Here are some possibilities:
• The man is not a major character in this story. He is only present in one verse. What is important is the conversation that resulted from Jesus healing the man. So in some languages, it may be important to change the order of the clauses in 12:22a–b to show what is important. For example:
b
⌊One day⌋ Jesus healed a man who could not see or speak. aThis man had been brought to Jesus because he was demon-oppressed. b⌊When Jesus healed him,⌋ he was able to both speak and see.
• In some languages, it may be natural to introduce this man using several sentences. For example:
aThere was a certain man who was demon-oppressed. He was blind and mute. ⌊One day⌋ people brought him to Jesus, band Jesus healed him.
12:22a
Then: This word indicates that this section took place sometime after the events in the previous section. But it does not mean that this section took place immediately after the previous section.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
After that
-or-
One day
a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as demon-possessed man indicates that a demon controlled the man in some way. In this case, the demon caused the man to be blind and mute.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon in him (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
a man whom a demon controlled and caused to be blind and mute
-or-
There was a man who was demon possessed. He was not able to see or talk.
blind: The word blind means “not able to see.”
mute: The word mute means “not able to talk.” For example:
could not talk (Good News Translation)
was brought to Jesus: This clause is passive.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
• Use a passive verb. For example:
was brought to Jesus (New Living Translation (2004))
• Use an active verb. For example:
some people brought to Jesus (Good News Translation)
-or-
they came to Jesus with…
12:22b
and He healed the man: This clause indicates that Jesus miraculously caused the demon to leave the man. The demon had caused the man to be blind and mute, so when the demon left, the man became able to see and talk.
If people in your area will think that Jesus healed the man but did not cast out the demon, you may want to:
• Explain it in the text. For example:
Jesus healed him ⌊by casting out the demon⌋
• Explain it in a footnote. For example:
Jesus healed the man by causing the demon to leave the man so the demon no longer controlled him.
In some languages, it may be necessary to explain that Jesus performed a miracle when he cast out the demon and healed him. For example:
Jesus ⌊did a miracle and⌋ healed him
© 2023 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.