MARK 3:4 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 he asked the leaders, “Is it allowable to do good on the rest day, or only to do evil? To save life, or to kill?” But they didn’t reply.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, 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 he says to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbaths to do good or to do harm; to save a life or to kill?” But they were keeping silent.

UST Then Jesus told the Pharisees, “You know that the laws that God gave Moses allow people to do what is good and to rescue people on Jewish days of rest. They do not allow people to do what is wrong and to kill people on Jewish days of rest.” However, the Pharisees did not respond to him.

BSB And He asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy [it]?”
§ But they were silent.

BLB And He says to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbaths to do good, or to do evil, to save life, or to kill?" But they were silent.

AICNT And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they were silent.

OEB and to the people he said, ‘Is it allowable to do good at the Sabbath – or harm? To save a life, or destroy it?’

WEBBE He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do harm? To save a life or to kill?” But they were silent.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy it?” But they were silent.

LSV And He says to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbaths to do good, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill?” But they were silent.

FBV “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or to do evil? Should you save life, or should you kill?” he asked them. But they didn't say a word.

TCNT Then Jesus said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

T4T Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Do the laws that God gave Moses permit people to do good ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►, or do they permit people to do evil? Specifically, do his laws permit us to save a person’s life ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►, or do they permit us to let him die by refusing to help him?” But they did not reply.

LEB And he said to them, “Is it permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

BBE And he said to them, Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? to give life or to put to death? But they said nothing.

Moff then he asked them, "Is it right to help or to hurt on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?" They were silent.

Wymth Then He asked them, "Are we allowed to do good on the Sabbath, or to do evil? to save a life, or to destroy one?" They remained silent.

ASV And he saith unto them, Is it lawful on the sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? to save a life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

DRA And he saith to them: Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy? But they held their peace.

YLT And he saith to them, 'Is it lawful on the sabbaths to do good, or to do evil? life to save, or to kill?' but they were silent.

Drby And he says to them, Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? But they were silent.

RV And he saith unto them, Is it lawful on the sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? to save a life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
(And he saith/says unto them, Is it lawful on the sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? to save a life, or to kill? But they held their peace. )

SLT And he says to them, Is it lawful in the sabbaths to do good, or to do evil? to save a soul, or to kill? And they were silent.

Wbstr And he saith to them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? but they held their peace.

KJB-1769 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
(And he saith/says unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. )

KJB-1611 And hee saith vnto them, Is it lawfull to doe good on the Sabbath dayes, or to doe euill? to saue life, or to kill? but they held their peace.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation)

Bshps And he saide vnto them: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabboth dayes, or to do euyl? to saue lyfe, or to kyll? But they helde their peace.
(And he said unto them: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kyll? But they held their peace.)

Gnva And he saide to them, Is it lawfull to doe a good deede on the Sabbath day, or to doe euil? to saue the life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
(And he said to them, Is it lawful to do a good deed on the Sabbath day, or to do evil? to save the life, or to kill? But they held their peace. )

Cvdl And he sayde vnto the: Is it laufull to do good on the Sabbath? Or is it laufull to do euell? to saue life, or to kyll? But they helde their tonge.
(And he said unto them: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath? Or is it lawful to do evil? to save life, or to kyll? But they held their tongue.)

TNT And he sayd to them: whether is it laufull to do a good dede on the Saboth dayes or an evyll? to save life or kyll? But they helde their peace.
(And he said to them: whether is it lawful to do a good deed on the Sabbath days or an evil? to save life or kyll? But they held their peace. )

Wycl And he seith to hem, Is it leeueful to do wel in the sabatis, ether yuel? to make a soul saaf, ether to leese? And thei weren stille.
(And he saith/says to hem, Is it lawful to do well in the sabbaths, either evil? to make a soul safe, either to leese? And they were still.)

Luth Und er sprach zu ihnen: Soll man am Sabbat Gutes tun oder Böses tun, das Leben erhalten oder töten? Sie aber schwiegen stille.
(And he spoke to/for to_them: Soll man in/at/on_the sabbath goodness/good_(person) do/put or evil do/put, the life receive/obtain or töten? They/She but silence still(v).)

ClVg Et dicit eis: Licet sabbatis benefacere, an male? animam salvam facere, an perdere? At illi tacebant.
(And he_says to_them: It’s_possible sabbaths to_do_good, an male? the_soul has_saved to_do, an to_lose? But them be_silentbant. )

UGNT καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, ἔξεστιν τοῖς Σάββασιν ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι? οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων.
(kai legei autois, exestin tois Sabbasin agathopoiaʸsai aʸ kakopoiaʸsai, psuⱪaʸn sōsai aʸ apokteinai? hoi de esiōpōn.)

SBL-GNT καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν ⸀ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι; οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων.
(kai legei autois; Exestin tois sabbasin ⸀agathopoiaʸsai aʸ kakopoiaʸsai, psuⱪaʸn sōsai aʸ apokteinai; hoi de esiōpōn.)

RP-GNT Καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι; Ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι; Οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων.
(Kai legei autois, Exestin tois sabbasin agathopoiaʸsai aʸ kakopoiaʸsai; psuⱪaʸn sōsai aʸ apokteinai; Hoi de esiōpōn.)

TC-GNT Καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Ἔξεστι τοῖς σάββασιν [fn]ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι; Ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι; Οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων.
(Kai legei autois, Exesti tois sabbasin agathopoiaʸsai aʸ kakopoiaʸsai; psuⱪaʸn sōsai aʸ apokteinai; Hoi de esiōpōn. )

3:4 αγαθοποιησαι ¦ αγαθον ποιησαι ECM^† NA

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

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:1–6: Jesus healed a man on the rest day and angered the Pharisees

In this section, Mark continued to tell about how the Pharisees opposed Jesus. The Pharisees had decided that healing a person on the Sabbath was work. The Jewish religious law prohibited work on the Sabbath. So the Pharisees criticized Jesus because he worked on the Sabbath.

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

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Man with a Paralyzed Hand (GNT)

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath (NLT)

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 12:9–14 and Luke 6:6–11.

Paragraph 3:1–6

Verse 3:1 provides the background for the story that is told in 3:2–6. It introduces the people in the story and the place where it happened.

3:4a

And He asked them,

Then Jesus said to them,
Then Jesus asked the people who were accusing him,
Then Jesus said to the people who wanted to accuse him,

And: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as And introduces what Jesus said next. Connect 3:3 and 3:4 in the way that is most natural in your language.

He asked them: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as asked is literally “said,” as in the RSV. Because Jesus was about to ask a rhetorical question, the verb asked is appropriate here in English. Use the verb that is appropriate in your language.

He: The pronoun He refers to Jesus.

them: The pronoun them refers to the people who wanted to accuse Jesus. It does not refer to the whole crowd.

3:4b–d

Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus asked this question to rebuke the Pharisees. He rebuked them by emphasizing a fact that everyone knew to be true: It was lawful on the Sabbath to do good, not evil. It was also lawful to save life, not to kill. There are at least two ways to translate this rebuke:

As a rhetorical question. For example:
Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm…? (RSV)
Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil…? (NIV)
What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? (GNT)
As a statement. For example:
It is certainly lawful on the Sabbath to do good, and not to do harm. It is certainly lawful to save life, and not to kill.

Use whichever form is most natural in your language to emphasize a fact that everyone knows is true and that expresses a rebuke.

3:4b

“Which is lawful on the Sabbath:

“What does our^(incl) law allow on the Sabbath?
“What are we^(incl) allowed to do on the rest day?
“On the day for resting, it is certainly right

is lawful: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as is lawful here means “is permitted by the Jewish religious law.”

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? (GNT)

Is it right to do good or to do evil on the day of worship…? (GW)

Sabbath: See how you translated the word Sabbath in 1:21b and 3:2c. If you used a longer phrase, such as “the rest day of the Jews” in those verses, it may be appropriate to use a shorter form of the phrase here, for example, “the rest day.”

3:4c

to do good or to do evil,

Does it allow us^(incl) to do good works or evil?
Should we^(incl) help people or harm them on the rest day?
to do good to people. It is certainly not right to do evil to people, right?

to do good or to do evil: The phrase to do good here means to do good to people or to help them. The phrase to do evil here means to hurt or harm people.

Here is another way to translate this:

to help someone or to harm someone

3:4d

to save life or to destroy it?”

Does our^(incl) law allow us to save people or kill them?”
Should we^(incl) save them or kill them?”
It is certainly right to save a person. It is not right to kill him.”

to save life: The phrase to save life in this context refers to saving someone from danger.

If you cannot speak generally about saving a life, here are some other ways to translate this:

to save/rescue a person

to save/rescue a person from danger/death

General Comment on 3:4b–d

In some languages, it may be clearer to express 3:4b–d as four separate questions or statements. For example:

Does our Law allow us to help people on the Sabbath? Or does it allow us to harm people? Does it allow us to save someone’s life? Or does it allow us to kill someone?

In other languages, it may be more natural to express 3:4b–d as two questions. One question could refer to the actions of doing good and saving life. The other question could refer to the actions of doing evil and killing. For example:

Is it lawful to do good and to save a life? Or it is lawful to do evil and to kill someone?

3:4e

But they were silent.

But they did not reply.
But no one answered him.
When he said that, they did not say anything.

But: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as But introduces a contrast. In this context it was expected that the Pharisees would answer Jesus. But instead they kept silent.

they: The pronoun they refers to those who wanted to accuse Jesus. The context shows that they were some of Jesus’ enemies from the Pharisee party.

were silent: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as were silent indicates that they did not respond to Jesus. They remained silent because they did not know how to answer Jesus without admitting that they themselves were wrong.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

But they wouldn’t answer him. (NLT)

But no one said a word. (CEV)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns

αὐτοῖς & οἱ

˱to˲_them & they

Just as in [3:2](../03/02.md), the pronouns them and they refer to the Pharisees who were there, as [3:6](../03/06.md) shows. If this is not clear for your readers, you could refer to them more directly. Alternate translation: [to the Pharisees … they]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

ἔξεστιν τοῖς Σάββασιν ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι?

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λέγει αὐτοῖς Ἔξεστιν τοῖς Σάββασιν ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἤ κακοποιῆσαι ψυχήν σῶσαι ἤ ἀποκτεῖναι οἱ Δέ ἐσιώπων)

Jesus is using the question form to rebuke the Pharisees. He knows that they would agree with what his question implies. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate this as a statement or an exclamation. Alternate translation: [I know that you realize that it is lawful on the Sabbaths to do good and not to do harm; to save a life and not to kill.] or [Surely you know that it is lawful on the Sabbaths to do good and not to do harm; to save a life and not to kill!]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

τοῖς Σάββασιν

˱on˲_the Sabbaths

See how you translated this phrase in [2:23](../02/23.md). Alternate translation: [on any of the Sabbath days] or [during a Sabbath day]

ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι

˓to˒_do_good (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λέγει αὐτοῖς Ἔξεστιν τοῖς Σάββασιν ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἤ κακοποιῆσαι ψυχήν σῶσαι ἤ ἀποκτεῖναι οἱ Δέ ἐσιώπων)

Alternate translation: [to help people or to hurt people]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι

Jesus is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You could supply these words from earlier in the sentence if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: [is it lawful on the Sabbaths to save a life or to kill]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ψυχὴν σῶσαι

Here, the phrase save a life refers to preventing a person from dying. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable phrase or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [to rescue from death] or [to keep people from dying]

Parallel MARK 3:4