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Mark 2

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Jesus Heals a Paralytic 1–12

1
And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. ​
2
And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. ​
3
And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4
And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. ​
5
When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. ​
6
But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, ​
7
Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? ​
8
And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9
Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) ​
11
I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12
And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. ​

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats with Sinners 13–17

13
And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.
14
And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. ​
15
And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. ​
16
And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
17
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. ​

The Question of Fasting 18–22

18
And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? ​
19
And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ​
20
But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. ​
21
No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. ​
22
And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles. ​

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath 23–28

23
And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. ​
24
And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
25
And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? ​
26
How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? ​
27
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: ​
28
Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Mark 2

Verse 1

he entered into Capernaum — The town where Jesus had already gone into 'the house of Simon and Andrew' after the synagogue (Mark 1:29); 'the house' (oikos) here is probably that one, though the verse does not name it. Matthew calls Capernaum 'his own city' (Matt 9:1).

Verse 2

no room to receive them — Choreo, to have space for; the house could not hold them, 'no, not so much as about the door'. Their gathering follows the spreading of his fame (Mark 1:45). What he gave the crowd was speech: 'he preached the word' (logos, the message).

Verse 4

they uncovered the roof — Apostegazo, to unroof, occurs only here in the KJV's tagged text; 'broken it up' is exorusso, to dig out. Luke says they 'let him down through the tiling' (Luke 5:19). The law already assumed people used the housetop (Deut 22:8, a battlement 'for thy roof').

Verse 5

Son, thy sins be forgiven thee — 'Saw their faith' points to the faith shown by the bearers in vv.3–4. Teknon is 'child'; aphiemi is to send away, here a passive: the sins are sent away. Forgiveness is given before healing, which raises the question of v.7 and the test of v.9.

Verse 6

certain of the scribes sitting there — Grammateus is a writer, one learned in the written law. They say nothing aloud: they are 'reasoning in their hearts' (dialogizomai, to reckon through), and Jesus answers the thought in v.8. Luke adds that Pharisees were present (Luke 5:21).

Verse 7

who can forgive sins but God only? — Their premise is Scripture's own: the LORD says, 'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake' (Isa 43:25; cf. Ps 130:4). 'Blasphemies' (blasphemia) is the charge if Jesus is only a man; the healing in vv.11–12 answers it.

Verse 10

the Son of man hath power on earth — Exousia is authority, the right to act. 'Son of man' recalls Dan 7:13–14, where 'there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom'. The words in parentheses show Jesus turning from the scribes to the paralytic to give the command of v.11.

Verse 12

We never saw it on this fashion — The man's rising and carrying 'the bed' in view of 'them all' is the proof asked for in v.9. 'Amazed' is existemi, to stand out of oneself. 'Glorified God' recurs in the parallels: 'We have seen strange things to day' (Luke 5:26).

Verse 14

Levi the son of Alphaeus — The 'receipt of custom' (telonion) was a tax-gatherer's booth. Matthew's Gospel tells the same call of 'a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom' (Matt 9:9), and Luke names him Levi (Luke 5:27). The command is two words, 'Follow me', and he 'arose and followed'.

Verse 15

publicans and sinners — Telones is a tax-farmer, hamartolos a sinner; 'sat at meat' (katakeimai) is to recline at table. Luke says Levi 'made him a great feast in his own house' (Luke 5:29), so 'his house' is Levi's. The guests are present because 'they followed him'.

Verse 17

I came not to call the righteous — Kaleo, to call, as to a feast or a summons; 'repentance' is metanoia, a change of mind. Matthew adds, 'go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice' (Matt 9:13, from Hos 6:6). Paul takes it as 'a faithful saying' (1 Tim 1:15).

Verse 18

used to fast — Nesteuo, to abstain from food as a religious act. The Pharisee in Christ's parable says, 'I fast twice in the week' (Luke 18:12). Matthew records the question as put by John's disciples: 'Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?' (Matt 9:14).

Verse 19

children of the bridechamber — Nymphon is the bridal room; its 'children' are the wedding guests. The bridegroom was a figure already in Scripture: 'as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee' (Isa 62:5). John the Baptist had called himself the bridegroom's friend (John 3:29).

Verse 20

the bridegroom shall be taken away — Apairo, to lift off, to remove: the first hint in Mark of Christ's death. 'Those days' follow it. On the last night he tells the disciples, 'Yet a little while I am with you' (John 13:33), and fasting becomes fitting in the days of his absence.

Verse 21

a piece of new cloth — Agnaphos is cloth not yet fulled, unshrunk; sewn on an old garment it shrinks and 'taketh away from the old', so 'the rent' (schisma) grows. The picture answers the question about fasting: what Christ brings is not a patch for the old forms. Verse 22 gives a second figure.

Verse 22

new wine into old bottles — Askos is a bag of skin, not a glass bottle (cf. Josh 9:4, 'wine bottles, old, and rent'). Fermenting new wine 'doth burst' (rhegnumi) a worn skin, and both are lost. The conclusion, 'new wine must be put into new bottles', is repeated in Luke 5:38.

Verse 23

pluck the ears of corn — Tillo, to pull off. The law allowed it: 'thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle' (Deut 23:25). The complaint in v.24 is not theft but the sabbath: 'in it thou shalt not do any work' (Exod 20:10). Matthew adds that they 'were an hungred' (Matt 12:1).

Verse 25

Have ye never read — Jesus answers the Pharisees from Scripture, 1 Sam 21: David, 'was an hungred' (peinao) with his men and was given bread, since 'there was no bread there but the shewbread' (1 Sam 21:6). The question sends the Pharisees back to a passage in the law they read.

Verse 26

in the days of Abiathar the high priest — 1 Sam 21:1 names Ahimelech the priest at Nob; his son Abiathar escaped to David (1 Sam 22:20) and served him, and 2 Sam 8:17 pairs the two names. The phrase gives the era. The 'shewbread' (artos prothesis) was for Aaron and his sons (Lev 24:9).

Verse 27

The sabbath was made for man — This verse is found only in Mark. The day was given at creation, when God 'sanctified' the seventh day (Gen 2:3), and its rest is for the labourer, 'that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed' (Exod 23:12).

Verse 28

Lord also of the sabbath — Kurios, master. 'Therefore' (hoste) draws the conclusion from v.27. 'Son of man' is the title of v.10, where he claimed authority to forgive; here the same authority covers the day itself. Matthew and Luke repeat the saying (Matt 12:8; Luke 6:5), and he says, 'My Father worketh hitherto, and I work' (John 5:17).