Text:

With considerable mss. support Textus Receptus, Vogels, Soden and Kilpatrick have eutheōs ‘immediately’ after ho puretos ‘the fever,’ a reading rejected by the majority of modern editions of the Greek text.

Exegesis:

proselthōn ēgeiren autēn kratēsas tēs cheiros ‘approaching he raised her by (means of) seizing (her by) her hand,’ i.e. “he came near, grasped her hand and raised her.”

proserchomai (6.35; 10.2; 12.28; 14.35, 45) ‘approach,’ ‘come to,’ ‘draw near’: the precise application here is a matter of discussion, the majority taking it to mean ‘approaching the patient’ (cf. Swete); Lagrange, however, takes it to mean ‘entering the room.’

egeirō ‘rise,’ ‘raise’ appears in Mark 19 times: (1) without an object, ‘rise,’ ‘arise’ from a recumbent or sitting position, 3.3; 10.49; from sleep, 4.27 (cf. diegertheis in 4.39); 14.42; from illness, 2.9, 11, 12; from death, 5.41 (cf. Exegesis of 5.39); 6.14, 16; 12.26; 14.28; 16.6, 14; figuratively ‘rise up,’ ‘appear,’ 13.8, 22; (2) with an object, ‘raise,’ ‘arouse,’ ‘lift up’ from sleep, 4.38; from illness, 1.31; 9.27.

krateō ‘grasp,’ ‘seize,’ ‘lay hold (of)’: the verb is used in three ways in Mark: (1) ‘seize,’ ‘grasp’ with the genitive (as here): 1.31; 5.41; 9.27; (2) ‘take hold of,’ ‘dominate,’ ‘subdue,’ ‘arrest’ with the accusative: 3.21; 6.17; 12.12; 14.1, 44, 46, 49, 51; and (3) ‘hold on (to),’ ‘retain,’ ‘observe’ with the accusative: 7.3, 4, 8; 9.10.

diēkonei (cf. v. 13) ‘she served’: the subject is penthera ‘mother-in-law.’

Translation:

Came is probably best taken in the sense of ‘came to where she was.’

Lifted her up must be carefully translated, for some languages make quite fine distinctions, e.g. ‘raise from a reclining position to a sitting one,’ ‘raise from a sitting position to a standing one,’ and ‘lift entirely off the ground.’ (In more than one translation examined this last meaning has been employed, much to the amazement of the readers.) Obviously the first meaning is here most appropriate.

A fever may leave us, but in other languages a patient may ‘leave the fever’ (Shipibo-Conibo) or ‘become cool’ (Huichol), or ‘the heat may be driven out’ (Southern Bobo Madaré).

She served them may be rendered as ‘she gave them food to eat,’ ‘she took care of their needs,’ or ‘she worked for them’ (Kpelle).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .