independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
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The withered hand — the Sabbath test 3:1–6
vv. 1–2 — the trap set: the man and the watchers
1
Καὶ εἰσῆλθεν πάλιν εἰς τὴν συναγωγήν,independent — πάλιν — back to the synagogue of 1:21; the fifth conflict scene opens
καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπος ἐξηραμμένην ἔχων τὴν χεῖρα.independent — perfect ἐξηραμμένην — a settled condition; the attributive participle kept in the line
2
καὶ παρετήρουν αὐτὸνindependent — iterative imperfect — hostile surveillance; the subject withheld until v. 6
εἰ τοῖς σάββασιν θεραπεύσει αὐτόν,content — indirect question — the trap laid on the day itself
ἵνα κατηγορήσωσιν αὐτοῦ.purpose — the aim — κατηγορέω, a formal legal charge
vv. 3–4 — the man called forward, the dilemma posed
3
καὶ λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ τὴν ξηρὰν χεῖρα ἔχοντι·independent — historic present λέγει — Jesus does not evade the trap but stages it
Ἔγειρε εἰς τὸ μέσον.content — εἰς τὸ μέσον — the healing made public, before every witness
4
καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς·independent — historic present — the dilemma-question turned on the watchers
Ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν ἀγαθὸν ποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι,content — the Sabbath reframed — to withhold the good is itself κακοποιῆσαι
ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι;content — elliptical second pair — ἔξεστιν carried over; ἀποκτεῖναι is what they will plot (v. 6)
οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων.independent — durative imperfect — the sullen silence that concedes the argument
vv. 5–6 — anger and grief, the healing, the plot
5
καὶ περιβλεψάμενος αὐτοὺς μετ’ ὀργῆς,participial — preposed circumstantial — leans on λέγει; μετ’ ὀργῆς, Jesus' anger preserved only by Mark
συλλυπούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν,participial — second preposed participle — grief alongside the anger; πώρωσις, the petrified heart
λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ·independent — historic present — the verb strikes after the participial buildup
Ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρα.content — the bare command is the cure — no Sabbath 'work' performed
καὶ ἐξέτεινεν,independent — the man's act of obedient faith
καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ.independent — divine passive — God restores; the double-augmented ἀπεκατεστάθη
6
καὶ ἐξελθόντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοιparticipial — preposed circumstantial — leans on ἐδίδουν; the watchers of v. 2 named at last
εὐθὺς μετὰ τῶν Ἡρῳδιανῶν συμβούλιον ἐδίδουν κατ’ αὐτοῦindependent — iterative imperfect — strange bedfellows; the chapter's one εὐθύς
ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν.purpose — ὅπως-purpose — the Sabbath of saving life ends in a plot to kill; the cross's shadow at ch. 3
The crowds by the sea 3:7–12
vv. 7–9 — the withdrawal and the gathering of all Israel
7
Καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἀνεχώρησεν πρὸς τὴν θάλασσαν·independent — ἀναχωρέω — tactical retreat from the death-plot to the shore
καὶ πολὺ πλῆθος ἀπὸ τῆς Γαλιλαίας ἠκολούθησεν,independent — the summary statement — the crowd-catalogue begins at home
καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίαςphrase modifier — the catalogue turns south
8
καὶ ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύμων καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰδουμαίαςphrase modifier — the holy city and old Edom beyond it
καὶ πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου καὶ περὶ Τύρον καὶ Σιδῶνα,phrase modifier — Transjordan and the Gentile-fringe Phoenician coast — the circle closes round the land
πλῆθος πολύ,phrase modifier — resumptive apposition — the subject regathered after the catalogue
ἀκούοντες ὅσα ἐποίειparticipial — preposed causal participle — leans on ἦλθον; masc. plural with the collective (ad sensum)
ἦλθον πρὸς αὐτόν.independent — the converging movement — report of deeds, not preaching, draws them
9
καὶ εἶπεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦindependent — the precaution — the frame for the boat-instruction
ἵνα πλοιάριον προσκαρτερῇ αὐτῷ διὰ τὸν ὄχλον,content — ἵνα of content, not purpose — the command's substance; the boat foreshadows 4:1
ἵνα μὴ θλίβωσιν αὐτόν·purpose — θλίβω — the throng's pressure a physical danger
vv. 10–12 — healings, falling spirits, the silencing
10
πολλοὺς γὰρ ἐθεράπευσεν,cause — narrator's γάρ — grounds the precaution
ὥστε ἐπιπίπτειν αὐτῷpurpose — ὥστε + infinitive — actual result (typed pur; no result key)
ἵνα αὐτοῦ ἅψωνταιpurpose — healing sought by mere touch (cf. 5:28) — faith at the edge of superstition
ὅσοι εἶχον μάστιγας.relative — delayed subject of the infinitive — μάστιγες, 'scourges': illness felt as blows
11
καὶ τὰ πνεύματα τὰ ἀκάθαρτα,independent — fronted subject, suspended over the temporal clause
ὅταν αὐτὸν ἐθεώρουν,conditional — temporal ὅταν (typed cnd; no temporal key) — with the imperfect, repeated occasions; leans on προσέπιπτον
προσέπιπτον αὐτῷindependent — iterative imperfect — forced prostration before his presence
καὶ ἔκραζονindependent — iterative imperfect — the recurring shriek
λέγοντα ὅτιparticipial — pleonastic speech-participle (neuter plural with τὰ πνεύματα) with recitative ὅτι
Σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ.content — the demonic confession — true (cf. 1:11), unwelcome on these lips (cf. 1:24)
12
καὶ πολλὰ ἐπετίμα αὐτοῖςindependent — iterative imperfect + adverbial πολλά — the repeated muzzle (cf. 1:25, 34)
ἵνα μὴ αὐτὸν φανερὸν ποιήσωσιν.content — ἵνα of content — the messianic secret: no disclosure apart from the cross
The Twelve appointed 3:13–19
vv. 13–15 — the mountain: the Twelve made, for presence and mission
13
Καὶ ἀναβαίνει εἰς τὸ ὄροςindependent — historic present — the mountain of election, with Sinai overtones
καὶ προσκαλεῖται οὓς ἤθελεν αὐτός,independent — historic present; emphatic αὐτός — sovereign initiative; the headless relative kept in the line
καὶ ἀπῆλθον πρὸς αὐτόν.independent — the response — they leave the crowd for the mountain
14
καὶ ἐποίησεν δώδεκα,independent — ποιέω of appointment (Hebraic) — and a creative making: Israel's tribes reconstituted
οὓς καὶ ἀποστόλους ὠνόμασεν,relative — read by the earliest witnesses (ℵ B), absent from the Byzantine tradition — printed
ἵνα ὦσιν μετ’ αὐτοῦpurpose — the first purpose — companionship before commission
καὶ ἵνα ἀποστέλλῃ αὐτοὺς κηρύσσεινpurpose — the second purpose — ἀποστέλλω, cognate of ἀπόστολος; mission grows from presence
15
καὶ ἔχειν ἐξουσίαν ἐκβάλλειν τὰ δαιμόνια·purpose — infinitive coordinate with κηρύσσειν — Jesus' own ἐξουσία (1:22, 27) delegated
vv. 16–19 — the roster: three renamed, eight listed, one marked
16
καὶ ἐποίησεν τοὺς δώδεκα,independent — resumptive repetition of v. 14 (bracketed in some editions) — printed; the roster hangs on δώδεκα
καὶ ἐπέθηκεν ὄνομα τῷ Σίμωνι Πέτρον,independent — parenthetic naming-clause woven into the list — Peter's roster entry; the rock renamed
17
καὶ Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίουphrase modifier — the roster column — accusatives in apposition to τοὺς δώδεκα
καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν ἀδελφὸν τοῦ Ἰακώβου,phrase modifier — the Zebedee pair — with Peter, the inner three
καὶ ἐπέθηκεν αὐτοῖς ὀνόματα Βοανηργές,independent — second parenthetic naming-clause — the shared Aramaic nickname
ὅ ἐστιν Υἱοὶ Βροντῆς,relative — Mark's translation formula, glossing Aramaic for Greek readers (cf. Luke 9:54 for the temper)
18
καὶ Ἀνδρέαν καὶ Φίλιππον καὶ Βαρθολομαῖονphrase modifier — the column resumes — Andrew displaced from his brother by the inner three
καὶ Μαθθαῖον καὶ Θωμᾶν καὶ Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ἁλφαίουphrase modifier — the second James distinguished by his father
καὶ Θαδδαῖον καὶ Σίμωνα τὸν Καναναῖονphrase modifier — Καναναῖος — Aramaic 'zealot,' not 'of Cana'; the second Simon
19
καὶ Ἰούδαν Ἰσκαριώθ,phrase modifier — Ἰσκαριώθ — Mark's indeclinable form against the Matthean/Lukan Ἰσκαριώτης
ὃς καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτόν.relative — παραδίδωμι — the Passion's verb, proleptic; the roster closes under treachery's shadow
“He is out of his mind” — the Beelzebul controversy 3:20–30
vv. 20–21 — the frame opens: the family sets out
20
Καὶ ἔρχεται εἰς οἶκον·independent — historic present — the first panel of the sandwich (vv. 20–21 / 22–30 / 31–35) opens
καὶ συνέρχεται πάλιν ὁ ὄχλος,independent — historic present; πάλιν — the press of 3:9 reconvenes
ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι αὐτοὺς μηδὲ ἄρτον φαγεῖν.purpose — ὥστε + infinitive — actual result (typed pur; no result key): not even a meal possible
21
καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ παρ’ αὐτοῦparticipial — preposed — leans on ἐξῆλθον; οἱ παρ’ αὐτοῦ, family or associates? — the crux; v. 31 argues family
ἐξῆλθονindependent — from home toward him — the journey v. 31 completes
κρατῆσαι αὐτόν,purpose — purpose infinitive — κρατέω, the arrest-verb of 14:1, here on his family's lips
ἔλεγον γὰρ ὅτιcause — recitative ὅτι; the sayers ambiguous — the family's own verdict, or impersonal 'people were saying'; left open
ἐξέστη.content — ἐξίστημι — 'beside himself'; the shocking charge the chapter's close overturns
v. 22 — the charge from Jerusalem
22
καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς οἱ ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύμων καταβάντες ἔλεγον ὅτιindependent — the inner panel — an official delegation; iterative imperfect, recitative ὅτι
Βεελζεβοὺλ ἔχει,content — first charge — possession by the demon-prince; the family said mad, the scribes say demonic
καὶ ὅτι ἐν τῷ ἄρχοντι τῶν δαιμονίων ἐκβάλλει τὰ δαιμόνια.content — second charge — collusion: the exorcisms undeniable, so maligned at the source
vv. 23–27 — the reply in parables: kingdom, house, Satan, the strong man
23
καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος αὐτοὺςparticipial — preposed circumstantial — leans on ἔλεγεν; the accusers called near to be answered
ἐν παραβολαῖς ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς·independent — durative imperfect — παραβολαί here proverb-like analogies, before ch. 4's parables proper
Πῶς δύναται Σατανᾶς Σατανᾶν ἐκβάλλειν;content — the opening rhetorical question — the reductio in one line
24
καὶ ἐὰν βασιλεία ἐφ’ ἑαυτὴν μερισθῇ,conditional — protasis inside quoted speech — leans forward on οὐ δύναται below
οὐ δύναται σταθῆναι ἡ βασιλεία ἐκείνη·content — apodosis — the first analogy: civil war destroys a realm
25
καὶ ἐὰν οἰκία ἐφ’ ἑαυτὴν μερισθῇ,conditional — second protasis — the same logic on the domestic scale
οὐ δυνήσεται ἡ οἰκία ἐκείνη σταθῆναι.content — apodosis — future of certain collapse; οἰκία foreshadows the strong man's house
26
καὶ εἰ ὁ Σατανᾶς ἀνέστη ἐφ’ ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἐμερίσθη,conditional — third protasis — εἰ + indicative, the charge assumed for argument's sake
οὐ δύναται στῆναιcontent — the application — the accusation would mean Satan's self-destruction
ἀλλὰ τέλος ἔχει.content — τέλος ἔχει — 'he is finished'; the premise refutes itself
27
ἀλλ’ οὐ δύναται οὐδεὶς εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ ἰσχυροῦ εἰσελθὼν τὰ σκεύη αὐτοῦ διαρπάσαιcontent — the counter-parable — ὁ ἰσχυρός is Satan, and the intruder ὁ ἰσχυρότερος of 1:7; εἰσελθών kept in the line
ἐὰν μὴ πρῶτον τὸν ἰσχυρὸν δήσῃ,conditional — backward ἐὰν μή — takes its anchor; the binding already accomplished (1:12–13)
καὶ τότε τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ διαρπάσει.content — the plundering under way — the exorcisms as spoils of a victory already won
vv. 28–30 — the Amen-saying: all forgiven, one exception, the narrator's ground
28
Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖνcontent — the solemn Amen-formula — Mark's first; the pronouncement of authority
ὅτι πάντα ἀφεθήσεται τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων,content — divine passive — the mercy swept wide before the exception falls
τὰ ἁμαρτήματα καὶ αἱ βλασφημίαιphrase modifier — apposition unpacking πάντα — even blasphemies forgivable in principle
ὅσα ἐὰν βλασφημήσωσιν·relative — generalizing ὅσα ἐάν — however much, however often
29
ὃς δ’ ἂν βλασφημήσῃ εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον,relative — conditional relative — forward-leaning like a protasis on οὐκ ἔχει; the single exception
οὐκ ἔχει ἄφεσιν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα,content — εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα — no forgiveness ever; the saying's scope is the famous pastoral crux
ἀλλὰ ἔνοχός ἐστιν αἰωνίου ἁμαρτήματος.content — ἁμαρτήματος printed; the Byzantine tradition reads κρίσεως ('judgment')
30
ὅτι ἔλεγον·cause — the narrator's ground — Mark steps outside the speech to fix what the blasphemy is
Πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον ἔχει.content — v. 22 restated against τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον — calling the Spirit's work unclean is the eternal sin
The true family 3:31–35
31
Καὶ ἔρχεται ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦindependent — historic present ἔρχεται (singular with compound subject) — the frame of vv. 20–21 resumes
καὶ ἔξω στήκοντεςparticipial — preposed — leans on ἀπέστειλαν; ἔξω, the thematic 'outside,' physical and symbolic
ἀπέστειλαν πρὸς αὐτὸνindependent — a message in rather than an entry — the distance kept
καλοῦντες αὐτόν.participial — following participle — the summons relayed inward
32
καὶ ἐκάθητο περὶ αὐτὸν ὄχλος,independent — durative imperfect — sitting around the teacher, the disciple's posture
καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ·independent — historic present — the message relayed
Ἰδοὺ ἡ μήτηρ σου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου ἔξω ζητοῦσίν σε.content — 'and your sisters' added by some witnesses — shorter text printed; ζητεῖν, in Mark the wrong pursuit
33
καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτοῖςparticipial — pleonastic Semitic participle — leans on λέγει
λέγει·independent — historic present — the counter-question
Τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί μου;content — kinship reopened — the question the gesture and saying will answer
34
καὶ περιβλεψάμενος τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν κύκλῳ καθημένουςparticipial — περιβλεψάμενος again (v. 5) — the same sweep of the eyes, anger become embrace; leans on λέγει
λέγει·independent — historic present — the declaration
Ἴδε ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί μου.content — verbless exclamation — the gesture enacts the answer: the seated circle is the family
35
ὃς γὰρ ἂν ποιήσῃ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ,relative — conditional relative — forward-leaning like a protasis on ἐστίν below
οὗτος ἀδελφός μου καὶ ἀδελφὴ καὶ μήτηρ ἐστίν.content — the triad closes the chapter — 'sister' added, the women included; kinship by doing, not blood
Analysis. Mark 3 keeps the flush-left drumbeat of chapter 1 — καί-coordinate purple main clauses, one event per line, quickened by historic presents (λέγει twice over the withered hand, ἀναβαίνει and προσκαλεῖται on the mountain, ἔρχεται and συνέρχεται at the house, ἔρχεται, λέγουσιν and λέγει in the family scene) — and against that column the two Markan indents recur. First, the preposed circumstantial participles leaning anchor-less on the verb below: περιβλεψάμενος μετ’ ὀργῆς stacked with συλλυπούμενος before λέγει strikes in v. 5 (Mark alone preserves the anger), ἐξελθόντες before the plot, προσκαλεσάμενος before the parables, ἀποκριθείς and the second περιβλεψάμενος — the same sweeping gaze as v. 5, now in warmth — before the true-family sayings. Second, speech hanging blue (cnt) beneath its verb of saying: the staged Sabbath commands and the dilemma-question with its elliptical second half, the demons' Σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ under λέγοντα, the scribes' two charges under ἔλεγον, and the long parable-reply of vv. 23–29, where the divided-kingdom, divided-house and divided-Satan protases lean forward one step deeper than their apodoses — the visible stack of the reductio — before the strong-man saying (its ἐὰν μή the chapter's one backward conditional, anchored under δύναται) and the Ἀμὴν-saying with its forward-leaning ὃς δ’ ἂν exception and Mark's own ὅτι ἔλεγον, the narrator stepping outside the speech to fix what the blasphemy is. The appointing of the Twelve reads as a column of verbless mod lines hanging on δώδεκα, the two parenthetic naming-clauses (Peter; Boanerges, glossed 'Sons of Thunder') woven in as finites, Judas closing the roster with ὃς καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτόν. The cruxes are named rather than hidden: in v. 21, οἱ παρ’ αὐτοῦ — his family (as v. 31's arrival suggests) or only his associates? — and ἐξέστη — the family's own verdict, or what 'people were saying' with ἔλεγον read impersonally? The layout attaches the γάρ-clause to their setting out and leaves the sayers open in the tag. The blasphemy saying's scope is the standing pastoral crux: with Mark's v. 30 the layout ties the eternal sin to the concrete act of calling the Spirit's liberating work unclean — not to the anxious conscience that fears having committed it — and the tag notes the Byzantine κρίσεως against ἁμαρτήματος. Other text-notes carried in the tags: οὓς καὶ ἀποστόλους ὠνόμασεν (v. 14) read with the earliest witnesses; the resumptive καὶ ἐποίησεν τοὺς δώδεκα (v. 16) printed; 'and your sisters' (v. 32) not printed.