MARK 3:11 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) And the demons, whenever they saw Yeshua, they fell down to the ground in front of him and yelled out, “You are God’s son!”

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they were falling down before him and crying out, saying, “You are the Son of God.”

UST Also, when demons saw Jesus, they caused the people whom they controlled to kneel down in front of Jesus and yell, “You are the Son of God!”

BSB And when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!”

BLB And the unclean spirits, whenever they beheld Him, were falling down before Him and crying out, saying, "You are the Son of God."

AICNT And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.”

OEB The foul spirits, too, whenever they caught sight of him, flung themselves down before him, and screamed out, ‘You are the Son of God’!

WEBBE The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him and cried, “You are the Son of God!”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”

LSV and the unclean spirits, when they were seeing Him, were falling down before Him, and were crying, saying, “You are the Son of God”;

FBV Whenever the evil spirits saw him they would fall down in front of him and shout out, “You are the Son of God!”

TCNT Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they would fall down before him and cry out, “Yoʋ are the Son of God.”

T4T Whenever the evil spirits saw Jesus, they caused the people whom they controlled to fall down in front of Jesus in recognition of Jesus’ power. Then they exclaimed, “You are ◄the Son of God/the man who is also God►!”

LEB And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, were falling down before him and crying out, saying, “You are the Son of God!”

BBE And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, went down before him, crying out, and saying, You are the Son of God.

Moff And whenever the unclean spirits saw him they fell down before him, screaming, "You are the Son of God!"

Wymth And the foul spirits, whenever they saw Him, threw themselves down at His feet, screaming out: "You are the Son of God."

ASV And the unclean spirits, whensoever they beheld him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.

DRA And the unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him: and they cried, saying:

YLT and the unclean spirits, when they were seeing him, were falling down before him, and were crying, saying — 'Thou art the Son of God;'

Drby And the unclean spirits, when they beheld him, fell down before him, and cried saying, Thou art the Son of [fn]God.

3.11 Elohim

RV And the unclean spirits, whensoever they beheld him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
(And the unclean spirits, whence/whereoever they beheld him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou/You art the Son of God. )

SLT And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell before him, and cried, saying, That thou art the Son of God.

Wbstr And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.

KJB-1769 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
(And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou/You art the Son of God. )

KJB-1611 And vncleane spirits, when they saw him, fell downe before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Sonne of God.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps And when the vncleane spirites sawe hym, they fell downe before hym, and cryed, saying: Thou art the sonne of God.
(And when the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him, and cried, saying: Thou/You art the son of God.)

Gnva And when the vncleane spirits sawe him, they fel downe before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Sonne of God.
(And when the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou/You art the Son of God. )

Cvdl And whan the foule spretes sawe him, they fell downe before him, and cried, and sayde: Thou art the sonne of God.
(And when the foul spirits saw him, they fell down before him, and cried, and said: Thou/You art the son of God.)

TNT And when the vnclene sprites sawe him they fell doune before him and cryed sayinge: thou arte the sonne of God.
(And when the unclean sprites saw him they fell down before him and cried saying: thou/you art the son of God. )

Wycl whanne thei seyen hym, felden doun to hym, and crieden, seiynge, Thou art the sone of God.
(when they seyen him, fell down to him, and cried, saying, Thou/You art the son of God.)

Luth Und wenn ihn die unsaubern Geister sahen, fielen sie vor ihm nieder, schrieen und sprachen: Du bist Gottes Sohn!
(And when him/it the unclean spirits/ghosts saw, fell they/she/them before/in_front_of him low/lowly, shouted/screamed and said: You(sg) are God’s son!)

ClVg Et spiritus immundi, cum illum videbant, procidebant ei: et clamabant, dicentes:[fn]
(And spirit unclean/impure, when/with him seebant, procidebant to_him: and they_cried, saying: )

3.11 Et spiritus immundi, etc. BEDA. Uterque et plagas habentes, et immundi spiritus. Sed infirmi pia intentione salutis: dæmoniaci, vel potius in eis dæmones: non solum timore coacti ad procidendum, verum etiam ad confitendum majestatem ejus. Præsentia enim ejus perterriti, quem Filium Dei esse jamjamque noverant, celare non poterant. Saniores Arianis, qui etiam hodie negant Filium Dei esse.

3.11 And spirit unclean/impure, etc. BEDA. Uterque and strokes having, and unclean/impure spirit. But sick pious intention health: demonsci, or rather in/into/on to_them demons: not/no only with_fear coacti to procidendum, true also to to_confess majesty his. Præsentia because his perterriti, which Son of_God to_be alreadyyamque noverant, celare not/no they_could. Saniores Arianis, who/which also today/at_this_time they_deny Son of_God to_be.

UGNT καὶ τὰ πνεύματα τὰ ἀκάθαρτα, ὅταν αὐτὸν ἐθεώρουν, προσέπιπτον αὐτῷ καὶ ἔκραζον λέγοντα, ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ.
(kai ta pneumata ta akatharta, hotan auton etheōroun, prosepipton autōi kai ekrazon legonta, hoti su ei ho Huios tou Theou.)

SBL-GNT καὶ τὰ πνεύματα τὰ ἀκάθαρτα, ὅταν αὐτὸν ⸂ἐθεώρουν, προσέπιπτον⸃ αὐτῷ καὶ ⸀ἔκραζον ⸀λέγοντα ὅτι Σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ.
(kai ta pneumata ta akatharta, hotan auton ⸂etheōroun, prosepipton⸃ autōi kai ⸀ekrazon ⸀legonta hoti Su ei ho huios tou theou.)

RP-GNT Καὶ τὰ πνεύματα τὰ ἀκάθαρτα, ὅταν αὐτὸν ἐθεώρει, προσέπιπτεν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἔκραζεν, λέγοντα ὅτι Σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ.
(Kai ta pneumata ta akatharta, hotan auton etheōrei, prosepipten autōi, kai ekrazen, legonta hoti Su ei ho huios tou theou.)

TC-GNT Καὶ τὰ πνεύματα τὰ ἀκάθαρτα, ὅταν αὐτὸν [fn]ἐθεώρει, προσέπιπτεν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἔκραζε, [fn]λέγοντα ὅτι Σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ.
(Kai ta pneumata ta akatharta, hotan auton etheōrei, prosepipten autōi, kai ekraze, legonta hoti Su ei ho huios tou Theou. )

3:11 εθεωρει προσεπιπτεν αυτω και εκραζε ¦ εθεωρουν προσεπιπτον αυτω και εκραζον ANT CT

3:11 λεγοντα ¦ λεγοντες NA

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

TTN Tyndale Theme Notes:

The Secret of the Messiah

Throughout the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells others—those he healed or raised from the dead, the disciples who recognized him as the Christ, and the demons who had a correct understanding of his true identity—not to reveal his identity (e.g., Mark 1:34, 44; 3:11-12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:29-30; 9:9; this theme occurs far less frequently in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke—see Matt 8:4; 16:20; Luke 9:21). Why did Jesus command those he healed and those who knew his true identity to keep his healings and identity secret?

One possibility relates to how the Roman authorities would have responded to an extremely popular preacher who proclaimed the arrival of God’s Kingdom, performed marvelous healings, and openly allowed his followers to call him Israel’s long-awaited Messiah and King. Roman authorities would not tolerate it—they would immediately seek to suppress such a movement. In the Roman Empire, there was no room for another kingdom or for a messianic rescuer from Roman occupation. Thus, though Jesus acknowledged to his disciples that he was the Messiah (Mark 8:27-30), he did not intend to overthrow Rome.

Another possible reason for this secrecy has to do with the prolific misunderstanding of Jesus’ identity that we see throughout the Gospel of Mark, even among his closest followers. Jesus makes clear that his identity as Messiah and Son of God is directly tied to his suffering and death, a reality which did not match up with Jewish expectations regarding the Messiah. Thus, immediately after Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus announces that he would suffer and die (Mark 8:27-31), which generates a response from Peter that demonstrates his lack of understanding (8:32-33). It was not his miracles or his profound teaching that served as the primary attribute of his messiahship, but rather his sacrificial death.

For these reasons, it was expedient for Jesus to teach about God’s Kingdom in parables (see Mark 4:1-34, especially 4:10-12), to minimize the excitement created by his miracles (1:44; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26), to conceal his presence at times from the people (7:24; 9:30-31), to conceal his teaching from outsiders (4:10-12, 33-34; 7:17), and to command those who knew his true identity not to reveal it (1:23-26, 34; 3:11-12; 8:29-30; 9:9). Jesus came “to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:45), not to lead the nation of Israel in rebellion against Rome.

Nonetheless, Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1), could not be hidden. The secret was not and cannot be kept (7:36), for Jesus is too great. Those who experienced and witnessed his healing touch could not help but proclaim what he had done. Jesus’ identity broke through, and it became clear that he is indeed the Messiah, the Son of God, the Lord over nature, disease, and death. And for the readers of the Gospel of Mark, who are made aware of his identity in the very first verse, Jesus was demonstrated to be the Messiah precisely because of—not in spite of—his suffering, death, and resurrection.

Passages for Further Study

Matt 8:4; 16:20; Mark 1:34, 44; 3:11-12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:29-30; 9:9, 30-31; Luke 9:21

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:7–12: Crowds of people followed Jesus to Lake Galilee

Even though some people opposed Jesus (3:1–6), this section tells about the many people who wanted to come to Jesus. Some people wanted to hear him, and some wanted him to heal their sick people.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus healed many people at Lake Galilee

People come from many places to see Jesus

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 12:15–16 and Luke 6:17–19.

Paragraph 3:7–12

The story in 3:7–12 began sometime after the story in 3:1–6 ended. The Greek text does not indicate how much time passed between these two stories. The events in 3:7–12 could have happened on that day or on another day.

3:11a

And when the unclean spirits saw Him,

Whenever the people possessed by evil spirits saw Jesus,
Whenever evil spirits saw Jesus,

the unclean spirits: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as unclean spirits refers to spirits that are evil and can control people’s actions. It does not imply that the spirits are literally dirty. The phrase unclean spirits refers to the same type of spirit as the Greek terms that are often translated as “demons” and “evil spirits.”

Here are some other ways to translate unclean spirits:

Use a general term in your language that refers to spirits that are evil and can control people. If there is one word with this meaning, you may not need a separate word like “evil.” For example:
demons
Use a specific term in your language that refers to a certain type of spirit. This spirit should be able to do what is described in this context. Do not use a term that refers to the spirit of a dead person.
Use a descriptive phrase. For example:
evil spirits
bad spirits Be sure that an expression like “unclean spirits” does not imply that the spirits are literally dirty.

See the note on “unclean spirit” in 1:23a. See also evil spirit in the Glossary.

3:11b

they fell down before Him and cried out,

they knelt in front of Jesus, and they shouted,
they caused the people they controlled to lie face down before him and shout

they fell down before Him: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as they fell down before Him indicates that the unclean spirits were causing the people to kneel or lie face down before Jesus. It does not mean that the people stumbled and fell. The unclean spirits did this because Jesus had authority over them.

they: The pronoun they refers grammatically to the unclean spirits. However, the action of lying face down on the ground refers to the people who were possessed by the unclean spirits. For example, the GW says:

Whenever people with evil spirits saw him, they would fall down

The GNT and NLT are similar.

In some languages it may be more natural to express this meaning with a causative verb. For example:

Whenever the evil spirits saw Jesus, they caused the people whom they possessed to kneel down in front of him

Use a natural way in your language to describe this action.

cried out: The phrase cried out means “shouted loudly.” It introduces what the unclean spirits shouted to Jesus. The unclean spirits recognized who Jesus really was, and they caused the people whom they controlled to shout to him, “You are the Son of God!”

3:11c

“You are the Son of God!”

“You^(sing) are the Son of God.”
to him that he was the Son of God.

the Son of God: The Bible uses the title Son of God to express the fact that Jesus has the same nature as God and that he comes from God. God does not have a physical body, and he did not create/produce Jesus the way a human father produces a son. Jesus existed eternally as the Son with his Father.

For further information, see the note on 1:1.

God: The Greek word that the BSB translates as God refers here to the eternal spirit who created everything. He is more powerful than any other spirit, and he is perfectly good and wise. He deserves to be worshiped. Here are some ways to translate God:

Use a name or title for God that people in your culture already use.
Use a descriptive term that fits the truth about God that is revealed in the Bible. For example:
Creator
Great Spirit
Ruler of the universe

See how you translated God in 1:1. For more detailed information, see God in the Glossary.

General Comment on 3:11c

The BSB has translated this as a direct quote. In some languages it will be more natural to translate this as an indirect quote. For example:

They shouted to Jesus that he was the Son of God.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

προσέπιπτον αὐτῷ καὶ ἔκραζον λέγοντα

˱they˲_˓were˒_falling_before ˱to˲_him (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί τά πνεύματα τά ἀκάθαρτα ὅταν αὐτόν ἐθεώρουν προσέπιπτον αὐτῷ καί ἔκραζον λέγοντα ὅτι Σύ εἶ ὁ Υἱός τοῦ Θεοῦ)

Here Mark implies that the unclean spirits forced the people whom they were possessing to do these things. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [they were making the people they possessed fall down before him and cry out, saying]

Note 2 topic: translate-symaction

προσέπιπτον αὐτῷ

˱they˲_˓were˒_falling_before ˱to˲_him

In Mark’s culture, the phrase falling down before him refers to kneeling down and putting one’s face close to the ground in front of someone. This was a position used to show respect and reverence. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable expression for a physical position used to show respect or worship, or you could express the idea plainly. Alternate translation: [they were throwing themselves on the ground before him] or [they were lying down before him to show respect]

Note 3 topic: writing-quotations

λέγοντα

saying

Consider natural ways of introducing direct quotations in your language. Alternate translation: [and they said]

Note 4 topic: guidelines-sonofgodprinciples

ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ

the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί τά πνεύματα τά ἀκάθαρτα ὅταν αὐτόν ἐθεώρουν προσέπιπτον αὐτῷ καί ἔκραζον λέγοντα ὅτι Σύ εἶ ὁ Υἱός τοῦ Θεοῦ)