the hand (literally or figuratively (power) · noun — accusative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 12:9-14 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:
Luke 6:6-11 And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withere…
Mark 1:21 And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.
1 Kings 13:4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth…
John 5:3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Mark 3:1-12
Here, as before, we have our Lord Jesus busy at work in the synagogue first, and then by the sea side; to teach us that his presence should not be confined either to the one or to the other, but, wherever any are gathered together in his name, whether in the synagogue or any where else, there is he in the midst of them. In every place where he records his name, he will meet his people, and bless them; it is his will that men pray every where. Now here we have some account of what he did.
I. When he entered again into the synagogue, he improved the opportunity he had there, of doing good, and having, no doubt, preached a sermon there, he wrought a miracle for the confirmation of it, or at lea…
A man there which had a withered hand - See this explained on Mat 12:10 (note), etc., and on Luk 6:6, Luk 6:10 (note).
John Gill on Mark 3:1
And he entered again into the synagogue,.... Perhaps in Capernaum, where he had before cast out the unclean spirit; but not on the same day, nor on that day he had had the debate with the Pharisees, about his disciples plucking the ears of corn on the sabbath day; but on another sabbath, perhaps the next; see Luke 6:6.
And there was a man there which had a withered hand; who came there either for a cure, knowing Christ to be in the synagogue, or for the sake of worship; See Gill on Matthew 12:10.
John Calvin on Mark 3:1-5
Mark 3:1-5
Matthew 12:9-13
Mark 3:1-5
Luke 6:6-10
9. And having departed thence, he came into their synagogue: 10. And, lo, there was a man having a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbaths? that they might accuse him. 11. But he said to them, What man shall there be among you who shall have one sleep, and if it fall on the Sabbath into a ditch, will not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12. How much more then is a man better than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbaths. 13. Then he saith to the man, Stretch out thy hand. And he stretched it out, and it was restored to soundness like the other.
1. And he entered again into the syn…
The Church Fathers
(ubi sup.) But mystically, the man with a withered hand shows the human race, dried up as to its fruitfulness in good works, but now cured by the mercy of the Lord; the hand of man, which in our first parent had been dried up when he plucked the fruit of the forbidden tree, through the grace of the Redeemer, Who stretched His guiltless hands on the tree of the cross, has been restored to health by the juices of good works. Well too was it in the synagogue that the hand was withered; for where the gift of knowledge is greater, there also the danger of inexcusable guilt is greater.
He who raises wheat out of the ground with many stalks from one grain, He that makes the tree that is cut down send forth fresh branches, He that made Aaron's dry rod put forth buds, will raise us up in glory; He that raised Him up that had the palsy whole, and healed him that had the withered hand, He that supplied a defective part to him that was born blind from clay and spittle, will raise us up; He that satisfied five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes, and caused a remainder of twelve baskets, and out of water made wine, and sent a piece of money out of a fish's mouth by me Peter to those that demanded tribute, will raise the dead.
And he entered again into the synagogue, etc. The man who had a withered hand indicates the human race withered in the fertility of good works, but cured by the Lord's compassion. His right hand, which had withered in the first parent when plucking the forbidden tree's fruit, was restored to the health of good works' juices by the Redeemer's grace when He stretched out innocent hands on the tree of the cross. And fittingly, the hand was withered in the synagogue, because where the gift of knowledge is greater, there the danger of inexcusable guilt is more severe. And they watched him whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might accuse him. Because the Master had excused the breaking of the Sabbath which they blamed in the disciples by a likely example, now they want to accuse the very Master by watching, so that if He heals on the Sabbath, they may charge Him with transgression; if He does not heal, they may accuse Him of cruelty or impotence. And he said to the man with the withered hand: Stand forth. And he says to them: Is it lawful on the Sabbaths to do good or to do harm? The Lord, predicting the calumny the Jews with faithless minds had prepared for Him, reproaches them because they violated the precepts of the law by a wrongful interpretation, thinking even from good works to rest on the Sabbath, while the law commands abstention from evil, saying: You shall not do any servile work on it, that is sin. For everyone who commits sin is a servant of sin. By this precept, He also foreshadows the form of the future age in the present: where those who have done good through the six ages of this world, will have rest in the seventh age, not from good works, but only from evil. For even if secular works rest, nevertheless the act of good work in the praise of God is not idle. To save a life or to kill? This is, to heal a man, or not? It is the same as He had said before, To do good or to do harm? Not that the supremely good God can be the author of evil or perdition for us, but that Scripture customarily speaks of not saving as killing. Just as He is said to have hardened Pharaoh's heart, not that He made a soft heart hard, but that He did not mercifully soften it, hardened by preceding merits. And when we pray, Lead us not into temptation (Matt. VI), by immediately adding, But deliver us from evil, we plainly are taught that to lead into temptation…
Dictionary and topics
Pharisees — Separatists (Heb. persahin, from parash, “to separate”). They were probably the successors of the Assideans (i.e., the “pious”), a party that originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in revolt…
Capernaum · Miracles of Jesus performed at — Miracles of Jesus performed at
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
This account concludes the collection of controversy stories (2:1–3:6). As in the preceding story, Jesus is in conflict with the Pharisees over the Sabbath; as with the first story, the controversy involves a healing (2:1-12).
3:1-2 The scene again involves a synagogue, probably in Capernaum (1:21, 29). The presence of a crippled man on the Sabbath (3:1-2) created a situation that Jesus’ enemies wished to exploit if he healed the man’s hand, so they watched him closely.
