Mark

1:29-39

The journey begins, 1:1-5:43

2. Jesus the Son of God, Messiah, 1:14-45

iii] A day in the journey - Jesus bring release

Mark's "day in the life of Jesus" moves from the synagogue to the home of Simon and Andrew where Simon's mother-in-law is sick. Jesus heals here, and then after tea, crowds gather and the healings continue. In the morning, Jesus sets off on his preaching mission, announcing that "this is why I have come."

Mark's task in 1:21-34 is to show the reader a day in the life of the Lord; he wants to show us "what happens on the human scene when the Lord is present / All that Jesus does on this day is salvific and redemptive: he teaches, casts out demons, heals", Boring. In the particular passage before us Mark continues to establish Jesus' authority and popularity. When it comes to the healing of Peter's mother-in-law, it turns out to be a rather insignificant miracle. A front miracle like this evidences a personal reminiscence, probably from Peter himself. The miracle, humble as it is, expands into healings for the "whole town", but of itself it "asserts Jesus solidarity and engagement with the common people and common needs", Edwards. The movement of the passage then extends to the whole of Galilee with the preaching of Jesus given precedence over his miracles. "Jesus began the section (a day in the life of Jesus) by teaching and exorcising in the synagogue of Capernaum and he concludes it by preaching and exorcizing in the synagogues of all Galilee", Guelich.

The healing of Peter's mother-in-law, v29-31.

euquV "as soon" - immediately. Mark regularly uses this word to protray the dynamic activity of Jesus' ministry.

exelqonteV (exercomai) aor. part. "as they left [the synagogue]" - coming out [from the synagogue]. The participle is adverbial, probably temporal, "when they came out."

meta + gen. "with [James and John]" - Here expressing association / accompaniment; "with". The Greek has "they went into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John." The "they" would surely have included James and John, so what is Mark driving at? Marcus offers two possibilities: i] Referencing Zahn who suggests that the story is sourced from Peter who would have said "and leaving the synagogue we went into my house with James and John"; ii] In the pre-Markan tradition James and John are converted after this event and would not have been present, but Mark has brought their conversion forward and so includes them in this episode.

thn oikian (a) "the house [of Simon and Andrew]" - The genitive "of Simon and Andrew" is adjectival, possessive. Excavations of the first Christian church, close to the Jewish synagogue, in Capernaum, is based on a private home. The early church initially worshiped in private homes and it has been suggested that the excavated home is that of Peter and Andrew.

SimwnoV (wn onoV) "Simon's [mother-in-law]" - [the mother-in-law] of Simon. The genitive is adjectival, relational.

katekeito (katakeimai) imperf. "was in bed" - was lying down, aside. The imperfect is durative; she was laid up. Indicating the severity of the fever.

puressousa (puressw) pres. part. "with a fever" - being fever-stricken, suffering with a fever. The participle is adverbial, probably forming a causal clause; "she was laid up in bed because she had a fever." A high temperature was not necessarily dangerous, just as it is today, but it could be, eg. pneumonia. A fever was often viewed as a consequence "of divine punishment or demon possession", Edwards.

legousin (legw) pres. "they told" - they speak. Possibly an impersonal plural here, so "Jesus was told that Simon's mother-in-law was sick", CEV.

autw/ dat. pro. "Jesus" - to him. Dative of indirect object.

peri + gen. "about" - concerning. Reference; "about / with reference to."

proselqwn (prosercomai) pres. part. "So he went to her" - having come to. Probably best treated as an attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "he raised". The participle could though be adverbial, temporal, or consecutive expressing result, as NIV; "they told Jesus about her and (de) so as a result he went to her."

hgeiren (egeirw) aor. "helped her up" - he raised, lifted up. The word is used a number of times for a healing and possibly alludes to the resurrection.

krathsaV (kratew) aor. part. + gen. "took her hand" - grasping, grabing hold of, taking. Again best treated as an attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "raised"; "he went to her, gripped her hand and lifted her up", Barclay. Descriptive of the hands-on approach of Jesus, an approach indelibly marked on the disciples memory and carried into the oral tradition.

dihkonei (diakonew) imperf. + dat. of persons. "began to wait on" - she was serving, waiting on. NIV opts for an inceptive imperfect stressing the beginning of the action. Indicating the completeness of the healing; "she gave them something to eat."

autoiV dat. pro. "them" - Dative of direct object after the verb diakonew, "serve" = "wait on".

Jesus undertakes a general healing session, v32-34.

oyiaV gen. adj. "evening" - evening. Genitive in agreement with the participle, "having come." The Sabbath was ended. Mark seems to make a point of both Jesus and the crowd obeying Sabbath regulations, although he may just be telling us that the crowd was keen to see Jesus and did so as soon as they were free to make a move.

genomenhV (ginomai) gen. aor. part. "-" - having come. The genitive absolute participle is adverbial forming a temporal clause; "when even came", Barclay.

o{te "after [sunset]" - when. Introducing a temporal clause, as NIV; "and when the sun had set", Barclay.

edu (duvw) aor. "[sun]set" - go down, set.

eferon (ferw) imperf. "the people brought" - they were carrying, bringing. The imperfect is durative, or iterative (repeated action); "they kept bringing", Zerwick. Probably "all who were sick or had demons were brought to Jesus", CEV.

touV ... econtaV (ecw) pres. part. "the sick" - those [bad] having. The participle functions as a substantive modified by the adverb "bad". "Those having it bad", ie. the sick.

touV daimonizomenouV (daimonizomai) pres. pas. part. "the demon-possessed" - the ones being demon-possessed. The participle functions as a substantive.

oJlh hJ poliV "the whole town" - Hyperbole = "a large crowd"

hn ... episunhgmenh (episunagw) perf. pas. part. "gathered" - was having been gathered together, assembled. Pherephrastic pluperfect = "was gathered." The word derives from "synagogue", so Mark is saying something like "the whole town formed a congregation at the door", Boring.

proV + acc. "at [the door]" - to, toward. Expressing movement toward, so "pressed in at the front door."

eqerapeusen (qerapeuw) aor. "Jesus healed" - he healed.

pollouV adj. "many" - The statement "Jesus healed many" is not implying that it was only "many" and not "all" who were healed, but rather that the "all" were "many".

econtaV (ecw) pres. part. "who had" - having. The participle is adjectival, limiting "many", as NIV. Modified by the adverb kakwV = "having bad" = "who were ill."

poikilaiV adj. "various" - diverse, manifold, various. Indicating Jesus' ability to heal a full range of diseases.

nosoiV (oV) dat. "diseases" - Dative of association / accompaniment; "many who were ill with various diseases", Berkeley.

exebalen (ekballw) aor. "he drove out" - he cast out. Exorcised.

lalein (lalew) pres. inf. "[would not let the demons] speak" - [he did not allow .....] to speak. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "allow".

oJti "because" - that. Here introducing a causal clause explaining why Jesus would not let the demons speak.

hdeisan (oida) pluperf. "knew" - they had known. The pluperfect here is intensive expressing abiding results. Mark notes that Jesus silenced the demons. This may have something to do with the messianic secret. In the early stages of Jesus' ministry he limited his self revelation, both his person (used the title "son of man", an unclear and mysterious messianic title) and his work (the suffering servant). Yet, it is more likely that by silencing the demons he was again demonstrating his power and authority over them. They knew Jesus and by using his name they tried to claim authority over him, but Jesus didn't even let them speak.

Mark now gives us a general summary of Jesus' ministry, a summary which shows that his "ministry extends beyond both the confines of Capernaum and the scope of the gospel narrative so far", Edwards, v35-39. "This brief section weaves together important Markan concerns: presence and absence of Jesus, the purpose of Jesus 'coming', the disciples' commitment to and misunderstanding of Jesus, the lure of resting on past success and the call of future mission, Jesus' ministry of word and deed, and the diving/human character of the person of Jesus himself", Boring.

prwi ennuca lian "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark" - early nightime exceedingly. This description illustrates how early Jesus gets up in the morning, either as is his practice, or to avoid the crowds, or both.

anastaV (anisthmi) aor. part. "Jesus got up" - having arisen. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verbs "went out" and "went away"; "very early in the morning Jesus rose up and left, making his way to a solitary place", Cassirer.

aphlqen (apercomai) aor. "went off" - went away. Jesus went out of the house and out of Capernaum, and went away from the crowds. Mark uses this word in the sense of going away from people rather than going away from a place. He "went out and away", Moule.

erhmon adj. "[to] a solitary place" - [to, into] a deserted, desert. A wilderness image. "An isolated spot", TH.

proshuceto (proseucomai) imperf. "[where] he prayed" - [and there] he was praying. The imperfect tense expressing continued action, probably up to the point where Jesus was found by his disciples. So, Mark is describing what Jesus is doing when the disciples found him. "He was praying there when Simon and his friends tracked him down", cf. Barclay.

met (meta) + gen. "[and his] companions" - [and the ones] with [him]. Expressing association.

katediwxen (katadiwkw) aor. "went looking for" - hunt down, pursue closely, track down, follow after. It was obviously Simon and the other three disciples who tracked Jesus down. "Tracked him to his retreat", Swete.

eu|ron (euJriskw) aor. "when they found him" - they found. The "when" is added for meaning, although the Gk. sentence runs from v36; "Simon and his companions searched for him, found him and said to him ...."

legousin (legw) pres. "they exclaimed" - they say. Historic present tense expressing what was happening at that time.

autw/ dat. pro. "-" - [they say] to him. Dative of indirect object.

oJti "-" - Introducing a dependent statement, direct speech.

panteV adj. "everyone" - all. Emphatic position where "all" is placed before the verb to emphasize its completeness.

autoiV dat. pro. "[Jesus] replied" - [he said] to them. Dative of indirect object.

agwmen (agw) subj. "let us go" - Hortatory subjunctive expressing an exhortation.

ecomenaV (ecw) pres. mid. part. "nearby [villages]" - having, possessing. The participle is adjectival, limiting "villages", while the middle voice has the meaning, "neighboring", "next to"; "let us go to the towns which are nearby."

kwmopoleiV (iV ewV) "villages" - village, town, market town. Possibly a small village, although Jesus probably means other market towns like Capernaum rather than just all the local villages.

iJna + subj. "so [I can preach]" - that [I may preach]. Forming a purpose clause.

eiV touto gar "that is why" - for to this = for this purpose. Expressing cause / reason.

exhlqon (exercomai) aor. "I have come" - I go out, come forth. Possibly came out from Capernaum, or came out on mission, or even, came forth from the Father. The second option is best. This statement is climactic, and although at one level it serves to explain why Jesus came out from Capernaum, at another level it serves to explain the purpose of Jesus' ministry. Like the prophets of old Jesus proclaims the word of God. The choice of the word "come out" may well be expressing the idea of "come out to do battle", to do battle with Satan and his minions. Preaching and exorcism go hand in hand (note v39) - Jesus speaks the divine word with authority and the dark powers scatter before him. "I want to proclaim my message there too, for that is what I came to do", Barclay.

hlqen (ercomai) aor. "so he travelled" - he came / went. "Jesus went to Jewish meeting places everywhere in Galilee, where he preached and forced out demons", CEV.

eiV oJlhn "throughout [Galilee]" - into whole region of Galilee.

khrusswn (khrussw) pres. part. "preaching" - preaching, proclaiming. This participle, as for ekballwn, "driving out", is best treated as adverbial, modal, expressing the manner of his coming / going; "he went preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons", Berkeley. Most often used of preaching the gospel. The present tense indicating continued action: "continued to preach", Knox.

eiV "in [their synaogues]" - The variant en is generally accepted now, although eiV "toward" is probably original, where the sense of "movement toward" is being expressed. "He went into their synagogues", NAB.

Mark Introduction

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