properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
them
αὐτοῖς·autois
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
Is it lawful
ἔξεστινexestin
G1832
so also neuter present participle of the same (with or… · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
to do good
ἀγαθοποιέωagathopoiéō
G15
to be a well-doer (as a favor or a duty)
on the sabbath days
σάββασινsabbasin
G4521
the Sabbath (i.e. Shabbath) · noun — dative plural neuter
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
to do evil
κακοποιῆσαι,kakopoiēsai
G2554
to be a bad-doer · verb — aorist active infinitive
to save
σῶσαιsōsai
G4982
to save · verb — aorist active infinitive
life
ψυχὴνpsuchēn
G5590
breath · noun — accusative singular feminine
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
to kill
ἀποκτεῖναι;apokteinai
G615
to kill outright · verb — aorist active infinitive
But
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
peace
ἐσιώπων.esiōpōn
G4623
properly · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
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
Luke 6:9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy…
Matthew 12:10-12 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they mi…
Luke 14:1-5 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.
Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Mark 2:27-28 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Luke 13:13-17 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
Mark 9:34 But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.
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…
To do good - or - evil? to save life, or to kill? - It was a maxim with the Jews, as it should be with all men, that he who neglected to preserve life when it was in his power, was to be reputed a murderer. Every principle of sound justice requires that he should be considered in this light. But, if this be the case, how many murderers are there against whom there is no law but the law of God!
To kill - but instead of αποκτειναι, several MSS. and versions have απολεσαι to destroy. Wetstein and Griesbach quote Theophylact for this reading; but it is not in my copy. Paris edit. 1635.
John Gill on Mark 3:4
And he saith unto them,.... Either to the whole multitude, to all the assembly in the synagogue; and so the Persic version renders it, "again he said to the multitude"; or rather, to the Scribes and Pharisees, who were watching him, and had put a question to him, which he answers by another:
is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil, to save life, or to kill? The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions read, or "to destroy", as in Luke 6:9, To do evil, kill, or destroy, are not lawful at any time; and to do good, and to save life, must be right at all times: our Lord has a particular view to the Scribes and Pharisees, and the question is put home to their own con…
Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, "Come here." Then he challenged the Pharisees as to whether it would be lawful to do good on the sabbath. Note the tender compassion of the Lord when he deliberately brought the man with the withered hand right into their presence. He hoped that the mere sight of the misfortune might soften them, that they might become a little less spiteful by seeing the affliction, and perhaps out of sorrow mend their own ways. But they remained callous and unfeeling. They preferred to do harm to the name of Christ than to see this poor man made whole. They betrayed their wickedness not only by their hostility to Christ, but also by their doing so with such contentiousness that they treated with disdain his mercies to others.
(de Con. Evan. ii. 35) But some one may wonder how Matthew could have said, that they themselves asked the Lord, if it was lawful to heal on the sabbath-day; when Mark rather relates that they were asked by our Lord, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath-day, or to do evil? Therefore we must understand that they first asked the Lord, if it was lawful to heal on the sabbath-day, then that understanding their thoughts, and that they were seeking an opportunity to accuse Him, He placed in the middle him whom He was about to cure, and put those questions, which Mark and Luke relate. We must then suppose, that when they were silent, He propounded the parable of the sheep, and concluded, that it was lawful to do good on the sabbath-day. It goes on: But they were silent.
(ubi sup.) And anticipating the calumny of the Jews, which they had prepared for Him, He accused them of violating the precepts of the law, by a wrong interpretation. Wherefore there follows: And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath-day, or to do evil? And this He asks, because they thought that on the sabbath they were to rest even from good works, whilst the law commands to abstain from bad, saying, Ye shall do no servile work therein; (Levit. 23:7) that is, sin: for Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. (John 8:34) What He first says, to do good on the sabbath-day or to do evil, is the same as what He afterwards adds, to save a life or to lose it; that is, to cure a man or not. Not that God, Who is in the highest degree good, can be the author of perdition to us, but that His not saving is in the language of Scripture to destroy. But if it be asked, wherefore the Lord, being about to cure the body, asked about the saving of the soul, let him understand either that in the common way of Scripture the soul is put for the man; as it is said, All the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob; (Exodus 1:5) or because he did those miracles for the saving of a soul, or because the healing itself of the hand signified the saving of the soul.
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).
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…
Jesus challenged his enemies’ view that doing good deeds was forbidden on the Sabbath (cp. Luke 13:10-17). • To destroy . . . life may refer to an incident in which the Maccabees decided to fight if attacked on the Sabbath (1 Maccabees 2:32-41). These great Jewish heroes were willing to kill on the Sabbath, yet the Pharisees would not allow good deeds on the Sabbath. Jesus’ question shamed them into silence but did not change their hearts (Mark 3:5).
