Mark 1:21-28
1:21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught.
1:22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
1:23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit,
1:24 and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”
1:25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
1:26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.
1:27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching–with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
1:28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
[21]Καὶ εἰσπορεύονται εἰς Καπερναούμ· καὶ εὐθέως τοῖς σάββασιν εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν ἐδίδασκε.
[22]καὶ ἐξεπλήσσοντο ἐπὶ τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ· ἦν γὰρ διδάσκων αὐτοὺς ὡς ἐξουσίαν ἔχων, καὶ οὐχ ὡς οἱ γραμματεῖς.
[23]Καὶ ἦν ἐν τῇ συναγωγῇ αὐτῶν ἄνθρωπος ἐν πνεύματι ἀκαθάρτῳ, καὶ ἀνέκραξε
[24]λέγων· ἔα, τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί, ᾿Ιησοῦ Ναζαρηνέ; ἦλθες ἀπολέσαι ἡμᾶς; οἶδά σε τίς εἶ, ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ Θεοῦ.
[25]καὶ ἐπετίμησεν αὐτῷ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς λέγων· φιμώθητι καὶ ἔξελθε ἐξ αὐτοῦ.
[26]καὶ σπαράξαν αὐτὸν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἀκάθαρτον καὶ κράξαν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ἐξῆλθεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ.
[27]καὶ ἐθαμβήθησαν πάντες, ὥστε συζητεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς λέγοντας· τί ἐστι τοῦτο; τίς ἡ διδαχὴ ἡ καινὴ αὕτη, ὅτι κατ᾿ ἐξουσίαν καὶ τοῖς πνεύμασι τοῖς ἀκαθάρτοις ἐπιτάσσει, καὶ ὑπακούουσιν αὐτῷ;
[28]καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἡ ἀκοὴ αὐτοῦ εὐθὺς εἰς ὅλην τὴν περίχωρον τῆς Γαλιλαίας.
Comments
The conjunction καί (‘and’) introduces successive short independent clauses (sentences). This is a tell-tale sign of oral delivery common in storytelling and conversation (‘I saw him. And I went up to him and smiled. And he went away. And I decided…’). See Sir Kenneth Dover, The evolution of Greek prose style, Oxford, 1997, p. 70.
[21] εἰσπορεύονται: ‘they go into…’, a historic or dramatic present, which lends vividness and clearness to the narration. Εἰσπορεύομαι, mid. vc, ‘I enter, go into’ (cl. Gk prose).
ἐδίδασκε: impf. διδάσκω, ‘I instruct someone’ (already in Homer). Cf. Engl. didactic.
[22] ἐξεπλήσσοντο ἐπὶ τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ: ἐξεπλήσσοντο, impf. 3rd pers. pl., pass. vc. < ἐκπλήσσομαι < ἐκπλήσσω, ‘I strike’ (of a violent blow, say, from a thunderbolt). Here the pass. vc. is figurative: ‘I am amazed, astounded’. Jesus’ audience in the synagogue are shocked by his authoritative teaching (διδαχή).
ἦν γὰρ διδάσκων αὐτοὺς: periphrastic impf., which is common in koine Greek and is used alongside the simple impf., cf. ἐδίδασκε (v. 21 above). The periphrastic impf. consists of the impf. of εἰμί + pres. part. of the vb. Thus here ἦν γὰρ διδάσκων αὐτοὺς = ‘he was instructing them’, ‘he instructed them’.
[23] ἐν πνεύματι ἀκαθάρτῳ, καὶ ἀνέκραξε: ἀκάθαρτος, adj., ‘unclean, impure’, of things and persons (cl. Gk). The prep. phrase ἐν πνεύματι ἀκαθάρτῳ = ‘under the influence of an unclean spirit’, ‘in the grip of an unclean spirit’.
ἀνέκραξε, aor., 3rd pers. sg. aor. (a late aor.) < ἀνακράζω, a cmpd vb, ‘I cry out’, ‘I shout’ (already in Homer), most freq. of human beings. The ‘spirit’ is personified. Cf. the simplex κράξαν (< κράζω) in v. 26.
[24] ἔα, τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί, ᾿Ιησοῦ Ναζαρηνέ; ἦλθες ἀπολέσαι ἡμᾶς; οἶδά σε τίς εἶ, ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ Θεοῦ: ἔα, 2nd pers. sg., pres. imperative < ἐῶ (άω), ‘I leave’. ἡμᾶς is the implied obj. of ἔα: ‘Leave us, let us be!’ τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί, a question with a colloquial ring: ‘What business have we with you?’ ‘What have we and you in common?’ The plural is an anacolouthon (here = a syntactic inconsistency), but may suggest that ‘we’ are the company of demons, whilst the singular ‘I know’ refers to the man speaking on his own behalf (in propria persona).
οἶδά σε τίς εἶ: οἶδα, ‘I know’, denotes a cognitive process, not a sense perception. The proleptic syntax is common in anc. Gk: ‘I know you who you are’. In Engl. = ‘I know/ realise who you are’.
ὁ ἅγιος: the article specifies, i.e. ‘the holy one’.
[25] καὶ ἐπετίμησεν αὐτῷ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς λέγων· φιμώθητι καὶ ἔξελθε ἐξ αὐτοῦ: ἐπετίμησεν, aor., 2nd pers. sg. < ἐπιτιμῶ (άω), ‘Ι rebuke, censure’ c. dat., of persons or things. The spirit is referred to in the sg. The rebuke takes the form of a command in the imper.
φιμώθητι καὶ ἔξελθε ἐξ αὐτοῦ: φιμώθητι, 2nd pers. sg., pass. aor. imper. < φιμοῦμαι (φιμόομαι), pass. < φιμῶ (όω), ‘I muzzle an animal’; ‘shut’ (a mouth in Eur. Fr. 479: see M.). The pass., as here= ‘I am silent, I keep quiet’. The command φιμώθητι = ‘Keep your mouth shut’ (verging on a mid. pass.). Jesus vehemently rebukes and addresses the unclean spirit in the singular. Translations render the order as a decorous ‘Be silent!’ vel sim., but Jesus’ order may be harsher than that.
[26] καὶ σπαράξαν αὐτὸν: σπαράξαν, the aor. part., neuter < σπαράσσω, ‘I tear to bits’, of a dog or other carnivores attacking (cl Gk: LSJ); metaph., as here, ‘convulse’. The possessed man was attacked by the unclean spirit, and sent him into convulsions. In Hippocrates (Coac. 546), the vb means ‘retch’.
[27] ἐθαμβήθησαν πάντες: θαμβοῦμαι (έομαι), pass. vc., ‘I am astounded and awestruck’, a koine usage (in Homer the active θαμβῶ has the same meaning).
[28] ἡ ἀκοὴ αὐτοῦ: ἡ ἀκοὴ (< ἀκούω, ‘I hear’), ‘news, account, reputation’ (already in Homer).
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 