Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Mark 6:1-13
6:1 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
6:2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!
6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
6:4 Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.”
6:5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.
6:6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching.
6:7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
6:8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;
6:9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.
6:10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.
6:11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
6:12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.
6:13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
[1]Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἐκεῖθεν καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν πατρίδα ἑαυτοῦ· καὶ ἀκολουθοῦσιν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ.
[2]καὶ γενομένου σαββάτου ἤρξατο ἐν τῇ συναγωγῇ διδάσκειν· καὶ πολλοὶ ἀκούοντες ἐξεπλήσσοντο λέγοντες· πόθεν τούτῳ ταῦτα; καὶ τίς ἡ σοφία ἡ δοθεῖσα αὐτῷ, καὶ δυνάμεις τοιαῦται διὰ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ γίνονται;
[3]οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τέκτων, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς Μαρίας, ἀδελφὸς δὲ ᾿Ιακώβου καὶ ᾿Ιωσῆ καὶ ᾿Ιούδα καὶ Σίμωνος; καὶ οὐκ εἰσὶν αἱ ἀδελφαὶ αὐτοῦ ὧδε πρὸς ἡμᾶς; καὶ ἐσκανδαλίζοντο ἐν αὐτῷ.
[4]ἔλεγε δὲ αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι προφήτης ἄτιμος εἰ μὴ ἐν τῇ πατρίδι αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τοῖς συγγενέσι καὶ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ.
[5]καὶ οὐκ ἠδύνατο ἐκεῖ οὐδεμίαν δύναμιν ποιῆσαι, εἰ μὴ ὀλίγοις ἀρρώστοις ἐπιθεὶς τὰς χεῖρας ἐθεράπευσε.
[6]Kαὶ ἐθαύμαζε διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν. Καὶ περιῆγε τὰς κώμας κύκλῳ διδάσκων.
[7]Καὶ προσκαλεῖται τοὺς δώδεκα, καὶ ἤρξατο αὐτοὺς ἀποστέλλειν δύο δύο, καὶ ἐδίδου αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τῶν πνευμάτων ἀκαθάρτων,
[8]καὶ παρήγγειλεν αὐτοῖς ἵνα μηδὲν αἴρωσιν εἰς ὁδὸν εἰ μὴ ῥάβδον μόνον, μὴ πήραν, μὴ ἄρτον, μὴ εἰς τὴν ζώνην χαλκόν,
[9]ἀλλ᾿ ὑποδεδεμένους σανδάλια, καὶ μὴ ἐνδεδύσθαι δύο χιτῶνας.
[10]καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· ὅπου ἐὰν εἰσέλθητε εἰς οἰκίαν, ἐκεῖ μένετε ἕως ἂν ἐξέλθητε ἐκεῖθεν·
[11]καὶ ὅσοι ἐὰν μὴ δέξωνται ὑμᾶς μηδὲ ἀκούσωσιν ὑμῶν, ἐκπορευόμενοι ἐκεῖθεν ἐκτινάξατε τὸν χοῦν τὸν ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν ὑμῶν εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀνεκτότερον ἔσται Σοδόμοις ἢ Γομόρροις ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως ἢ τῇ πόλει ἐκείνῃ.
[12]Καὶ ἐξελθόντες ἐκήρυσσον ἵνα μετανοήσωσι,
[13]καὶ δαιμόνια πολλὰ ἐξέβαλλον, καὶ ἤλειφον ἐλαίῳ πολλοὺς ἀρρώστους καὶ ἐθεράπευον.
Comments
[2] ἀκούοντες ἐξεπλήσσοντο λέγοντες· πόθεν τούτῳ ταῦτα;: ἐξεπλήσσοντο, 3rd pers. pl. pass., impf., ἐκπλήσσομαι (Att. ἐκπλήττομαι), ‘I am shocked, amazed, astounded’. Πλήσσω (πλήττω) means ‘I strike’. ‘Hearing/ listening (ἀκούοντες, a circumstantial part.), they were dumbstruck/ astounded’. λέγοντες, another circumst. part. dependent on ‘they were astounded’ in effect means ‘they said’, and introduces a set of five questions in direct discourse.
τούτῳ, dat. of place. ταῦτα, the demonst. pron., is vague: ‘Whence to him these things, viz. words (and actions)?’
καὶ δυνάμεις τοιαῦται διὰ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ γίνονται;: the interrogative adv. πόθεν (‘whence?’) is understood (ellipsis). ‘Whence such miraculous events take place (γίνονται) by his hands?’ δύναμις (‘power, might’) often ‘belongs to the terminology of miracles’ (EDNT s.v., p. 357, no. 6). Cf. v. 5.
[3] οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τέκτων: a question introduced by the negative οὐ expects an affirmative answer. ‘Τhis man is the carpenter, isn’t he?’
οὐκ εἰσὶν αἱ ἀδελφαὶ αὐτοῦ: ‘these are his sisters, aren’t they?’
[5] καὶ οὐκ ἠδύνατο ἐκεῖ οὐδεμίαν δύναμιν ποιῆσαι, εἰ μὴ ὀλίγοις ἀρρώστοις ἐπιθεὶς τὰς χεῖρας ἐθεράπευσε: δύναμις, ‘miracle’.
ἄρρωστος, ‘powerless, weak, sick’ (in Arist., LXX, and late Gk: LSJ, Muraoka, EDNT s.v.). The adj. is used in the same sense (‘sick’) in modern Gk. Cf. v. 13.
θεραπεύω, ‘I treat medically’ (Hippocrates, etc.: LSJ s.v.); ‘I cure’, trans. & abs. (LXX: Muraoka s.v., 2); that is the meaning in NT: ‘cure, heal’ (EDNT s.v.). Cf. Engl. therapy.
[7] ἤρξατο αὐτοὺς ἀποστέλλειν δύο δύο: δύο δύο, ‘two-two’ is a Semitism.
[9] μὴ πήραν, μὴ ἄρτον, μὴ εἰς τὴν ζώνην χαλκόν: the string of unconnected nouns (asyndeton) introduced severally by the negative μὴ (used in prohibitions) intensifies Jesus’ instructions. ‘No traveller’s bag, no bread, no copper [sc. coins] in your belt’.
[11] ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀνεκτότερον ἔσται Σοδόμοις ἢ Γομόρροις ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως ἢ τῇ πόλει ἐκείνῃ: ‘Amen, I tell you, it will be more bearable in Sodom or Gomorrah on the day of judgement than in that city’. The ending of this verse is omitted from many modern editions.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 