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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Mark C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16
Mark 2 V1 V2 V3 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28
OET (OET-LV) And not being_able to_bring to_him because_of the crowd, they_unroofed the roof where he_was, and having_dug_ it _out, they_are_lowering the pallet where the paralytic was_lying.
OET (OET-RV) but because of the crowd, they were unable to get close. So they climbed up onto the flat roof, made a hole through it, and lowered the paralysed man lying on a pallet.
In this section, some people brought a paralyzed man to Jesus. They hoped that Jesus would heal him. First, Jesus told the man that his sins were forgiven. Then Jesus proved that God had given him authority to both heal and forgive sins by healing the paralyzed man.
When Jesus said, “your sins,” he was referring to the sins that the man had done in his life. He was not implying that the man had offended him personally. The Jews thought that only God could forgive all of the sins that a person had done. They were offended that Jesus also claimed to have that authority.
You should translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus showed that he has authority to forgive people’s sins
Jesus healed a paralyzed man
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 9:1–8 and Luke 5:17–26.
Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd,
Because it was so crowded that they could not bring him inside to Jesus,
They were not able to carry the man to Jesus through so many people, so
They could not carry the man through the crowd/people to Jesus, so
Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd: This part of the verse explains the reason for the action in 2:4b. Because the men could not get near Jesus by going through the crowd, they brought the paralytic to him in a different way.
Here is another way to translate this:
They could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd. So….
they were unable to get to Jesus: The phrase they were unable to get to Jesus indicates that they could not bring him all the way to Jesus. The men were unable to reach Jesus while carrying the paralyzed man.
they: The word they here refers to the people who were carrying the paralyzed man.
through the crowd: The phrase through the crowd indicates that so many people were at the door that there was no space for the men to enter.
they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening,
they made a hole in the roof above where Jesus was
they climbed on top of the house and dug through the roof above Jesus until they had made a wide hole.
The houses in Capernaum and other places in Israel had flat roofs. There were ladders or stairs so that people could get onto the roof of the house. To make the roof, people put wooden beams and smaller poles and sticks across the walls. These beams and poles were covered with thatch and then with a layer of tiles that were made of burnt clay. That is the reason that the men could dig through it and make a hole in it.
they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening: Here the author used two different ways to express a similar meaning. The men uncovered the roof by making an opening in it. You may need to say this only once. For example:
They made an opening in the roof
They dug through the roof
they uncovered the roof: The original readers of the Gospel of Mark would have understood that the men climbed stairs to get onto the roof. They would also have known that the roof was flat and the men could walk across it. In some languages it may be necessary to communicate some of this implied information.
Here are several ways to do this:
Make some of the details explicit in the text. For example:
they climbed stairs onto the flat roof and uncovered it
Use a footnote to explain how the men got onto the roof.
Include a drawing of a Galilean home with a ladder or stairs and four men carrying a paralyzed man onto the roof.
Use an appropriate option for your translation.
and lowered the paralytic on his mat.
and lowered the pallet/bed with the paralyzed man on it down in front of Jesus.
Then they took the man on his mat/stretcher and used ropes to lower him to the floor near Jesus.
lowered the paralytic on his mat: The paralyzed man was lying on a mat when the men lowered him through the roof. The text does not say exactly how the men lowered the mat. Probably they held onto ropes that they had attached to the four corners of the mat. Then they slowly lowered ropes until the man was on the floor in front of Jesus. Describe this in a way that will not be confusing in your language.
mat: The Greek word that the BSB translates as mat refers to a stretcher or pallet that was strong enough to use for carrying a person.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
μὴ δυνάμενοι προσενέγκαι αὐτῷ διὰ τὸν ὄχλον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί μή δυνάμενοι προσενέγκαι αὐτῷ διά τόν ὄχλον ἀπεστέγασαν τήν στέγην ὅπου ἦν καί ἐξορύξαντες χαλῶσι τόν κράββατον ὅπου ὁ παραλυτικός κατέκειτο)
If it would be more natural in your language, you could reverse the order of these phrases, since the second phrase gives the reason for the result that the first phrase describes. Alternate translation: [when, because of the crowd, they were not able to bring to him]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
προσενέγκαι αὐτῷ
˓to˒_bring ˱to˲_him
Here Mark implies that they were not able to bring the paralytic to Jesus. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [to bring the paralytic to Jesus]
Note 3 topic: translate-unknown
ἀπεστέγασαν τὴν στέγην ὅπου ἦν, καὶ ἐξορύξαντες, χαλῶσι
˱they˲_unroofed (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί μή δυνάμενοι προσενέγκαι αὐτῷ διά τόν ὄχλον ἀπεστέγασαν τήν στέγην ὅπου ἦν καί ἐξορύξαντες χαλῶσι τόν κράββατον ὅπου ὁ παραλυτικός κατέκειτο)
In the region where Jesus lived, houses usually had flat roofs that could be reached by staircases on the outside of the houses. These roofs were usually made of wooden beams, branches, and packed dirt or clay. Here Mark describes how these people dug through the branches and clay to create a hole in the roof through which they could lower the paralytic on his mat. If your readers would not be familiar with this kind of roof, you could use descriptive phrases, or you could use more general terms. Alternate translation: [they demolished the part of the flat roof above where he was, and having dug a hole in it, they lower] or [they cut a hole in the roof and lower through it]
Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-time-sequential
ἐξορύξαντες
˓having˒_dug_out_‹it›
Here Mark uses the phrase having dug it out to indicate that they finished making a hole before they lowered the man down. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces this sequence more explicitly. Alternate translation: [once they had dug it out] or [after digging it out]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἀπεστέγασαν τὴν στέγην ὅπου ἦν
˱they˲_unroofed (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί μή δυνάμενοι προσενέγκαι αὐτῷ διά τόν ὄχλον ἀπεστέγασαν τήν στέγην ὅπου ἦν καί ἐξορύξαντες χαλῶσι τόν κράββατον ὅπου ὁ παραλυτικός κατέκειτο)
Here Mark implies that they first climbed up onto the roof before they removed it. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [they climbed onto the roof of the house where he was and removed it]
Note 6 topic: translate-unknown
κράβαττον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί μή δυνάμενοι προσενέγκαι αὐτῷ διά τόν ὄχλον ἀπεστέγασαν τήν στέγην ὅπου ἦν καί ἐξορύξαντες χαλῶσι τόν κράββατον ὅπου ὁ παραλυτικός κατέκειτο)
A mat was a portable bed that could also be used to transport a person. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of bed, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [a stretcher]
Note 7 topic: translate-unknown
ὁ παραλυτικὸς
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί μή δυνάμενοι προσενέγκαι αὐτῷ διά τόν ὄχλον ἀπεστέγασαν τήν στέγην ὅπου ἦν καί ἐξορύξαντες χαλῶσι τόν κράββατον ὅπου ὁ παραλυτικός κατέκειτο)
See how you translated the word paralytic in [2:3](../02/03.md). Alternate translation: [the paralyzed person] or [the person who could not move his limbs]
2:4 because of the crowd: See 2:1.
• The roof would have been flat, constructed of mud, thatch, and branches. They literally dug a hole to make an opening.
OET (OET-LV) And not being_able to_bring to_him because_of the crowd, they_unroofed the roof where he_was, and having_dug_ it _out, they_are_lowering the pallet where the paralytic was_lying.
OET (OET-RV) but because of the crowd, they were unable to get close. So they climbed up onto the flat roof, made a hole through it, and lowered the paralysed man lying on a pallet.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.