Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 3:2
And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
2. they watched him ] The same company of Scribes and Pharisees had gathered together from Juda, Jerusalem, and Galilee itself (Luk 5:17), to find matter of accusation against Him. They watched Him with no friendly purpose. The word itself signifies stratagem and hostility: comp. Luk 20:20, “And they watched Him and sent forth spies:” Act 9:24, “And they watched the gates day and night to kill him.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 2. They watched him] , they maliciously watched him. See Clarke on Lu 14:1.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And they watched him,…. The ruler of the synagogue, and the principal men in it; particularly the Scribes and Pharisees, who followed him wherever he went; they observed him diligently, and kept their eyes upon him; this lame man being in the synagogue, to see
whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; which, knowing his readiness to do good, they might expect he would:
that they might accuse him; as they had accused his disciples before, of the violation of the sabbath: according to the Evangelist Matthew, they put a question to him, whether it was lawful to heal on the sabbath day? with this view, that they might, one way or another, have something to accuse him of, either to the people, or to the sanhedrim; [See comments on Mt 12:10].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They watched (). Imperfect tense, were watching on the side (or sly). Luke uses the middle voice, , to accent their personal interest in the proceedings. It was the sabbath day and in the synagogue and they were there ready to catch him in the act if he should dare to violate their rules as he had done in the wheat fields on the previous sabbath. Probably the same Pharisees are present now as then.
That they might accuse him ( ). So Mt 12:10. Luke has it “that they might find how to accuse him” ( ). They were determined to accuse him. The sabbath controversy offered the best opening. So here they are ready for business.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
They watched [] . Imperfect tense. They kept watching. The compound verb, with para, by the side of, means to watch carefully or closely, as one who dogs another’s steps, keeping beside or near him. Wyc., They aspieden him : i e., played the spy. On threw, to watch, see on Joh 17:12.
He would heal [] . Future tense : whether he will heal, the reader being placed at the time of the watching, and looking forward to the future.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And they watched Him,” (kai pareteroun auton) “And they, the Pharisees, watched Him (Jesus) carefully,” were keeping their eyes glued on Him, with ulterior motives, were eyeballing Him continually, still intent on finding fault, accusatory fault with Him, regarding the sabbath day.
2) “Whether He would heal him on the sabbath day;”(ei tois sabbasin therapeusei auton) “Whether He would proceed to heal him on the sabbath day,” Mar 2:23-28.
3) “That they might accuse Him.” (hina kategoresosin autou) “In order that they might accuse, charge, or indict Him,” bring an accusatory and condemnatory charge against Him regarding desecration of the sabbath day, Mat 12:8; Joh 5:16-18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
2. Watched him Kept their eye fixed upon him to detect something which they might construe to an evil meaning. It is thus that some minds place themselves when they come to view religion. They scan it, not to know the true will of God, and their duty in his sight, but to see if some ground of perversion cannot be found.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
Ver. 2. And they watched him ] So carnal men do still watch and pry into professors and their conversation, , 1Pe 3:2 , curiously observing what they may catch and carp at. But it is a brave thing to throttle envy, to stop an evil mouth, to deny them occasion to blaspheme, as Christ did; to lead convincing lives, as Bradford and Bucer did, whom neither their friends could sufficiently praise, nor their foes find anything to fasten on. (Acts and Mon.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2. ] Luke only adds that it was the Scribes and Pharisees who watched Him.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 3:2 . , they were watching Him; who, goes without saying: the same parties, i.e. , men of the same class, as those who figure in the last section. This time bent on finding Jesus Himself at fault in re the Sabbath, instinctively perceiving that His thoughts on the subject must be wholly diverse from theirs.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
watched = were watching.
whether = if. Implying that they had no doubt about it. App-118.
that = in order that.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2.] Luke only adds that it was the Scribes and Pharisees who watched Him.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 3:2. , they were watching) Obliquely and secretly. On the immediately preceding Sabbath they had heard His doctrine concerning the Sabbath.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Psa 37:32, Isa 29:20, Isa 29:21, Jer 20:10, Dan 6:4, Luk 6:7, Luk 11:53, Luk 11:54, Luk 14:1, Luk 20:20, Joh 9:16
Reciprocal: Mat 12:2 – Behold Mar 1:32 – at even Luk 13:14 – and not Joh 5:9 – and on
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2
The Pharisees were always pretending to be zealous about the law, though they did not keep it themselves. Jesus was performing his good deeds on every day of the week, but they knew they could not object to what he was doing, hence they pretended to be offended because he did some things on the sabbath day. So they had their eyes set upon him with a wicked interest, hoping he would heal this man on that day and thus give them a pretext for accusing him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 3:2. And they watched him. Watched Him closely.
Whether he would. Lit., will Marks account being in the present tense.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
XXXIX.
JESUS DEFENDS HEALING A WITHERED HAND
ON THE SABBATH.
(Probably Galilee.)
aMATT. XII. 9-14; bMARK III. 1-6; cLUKE VI. 6-11.
a9 And he departed thence. [The word here points to a journey as in Mat 11:1, Mat 15:29, which are the only places where Matthew uses this expression. Greswell may be right in thinking that it indicates the return back to Galilee from the Passover, since a cognate expression used by John expresses such a journey from Galilee to Juda. See Joh 7:3], c6 And it came to pass on another sabbath [another sabbath than that on which the disciples plucked the grain], that he entered bagain aand went into their {cthe} synagogue and taught [The use of the pronoun “their” indicates that the synagogue in question was under the control of the same Pharisee who had caviled about plucking grain on the Sabbath. Where the synagogue was is not known. Some argue that from the presence of Herodians it was at Sepphoris, which was then capital of Herod Antipas. But Herodians were likely to be found everywhere.]: a10 and behold, bthere was a man who had {a having} a {bhis} hand withered. cand his right hand was withered. [The hand had dried up from insufficient absorption of nutriment, until its power was gone, and there was no remedy known by which it could be restored.] b2 And they cthe scribes and the Pharisees watched him, bwhether he would heal him on the sabbath day; cthat they might find how to accuse him. [They sought to accuse him before the local judges or officers of the synagogue; i. e., before a body of which they themselves were members. Jesus gave them abundant opportunity for such accusation, for we have seven recorded [214] instances of cures on the sabbath day; viz.: Mar 1:21, Mar 1:29, Joh 5:9, Joh 9:14, Luk 13:14, Luk 14:2, and this case.] aAnd they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? [They were afraid that Jesus might not notice the man, so they spoke about him. But, taught by their experience in the grainfield, they changed their bold assertion, “It is not lawful,” and approached the subject with a guarded question, hoping to get an answer that could be used as a ground for accusation.] c8 But he knew their thoughts [omnisciently]; and he said to {bsaith unto} the man that had his hand withered, cRise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. [Jesus thus placed the man openly before all the people, as though he stood on trial as to his right to be healed on the sabbath day.] a11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be of you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12 How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! [A man who had but one sheep would set a high value upon it. But the most valuable sheep is not to be weighed in the balance against a man. The fact that Jesus used this illustration shows clearly that such an action was allowed at that time, though the rabbins forbade it afterward.] Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day. c9 And Jesus aid {bsaith} unto them, cI ask you, Is it lawful on the sabbath bday to do good, or to do harm? to save life, or to kill? {cdestroy it?} [The rules of the Pharisees made the Sabbath question wholly a matter of doing or of not doing. But Jesus made it a question of doing good, and his question implies that a failure to do good, when one is able, is harmful and sinful. “The ability,” says Cotton Mather, “to do good imposes an obligation to do it.” To refrain from healing in such an instance would have been to abstain from using a power given him for that very purpose. The Jews held it lawful to defend themselves on the Sabbath, and considered themselves justified in killing their enemies if they [215] attacked on that day (I Macc. ii. 41; Josephus Ant. XII. vi. 2]. bBut they held their peace. [afraid to say that Jesus was wrong and stubbornly unwilling to admit that he was right.] 5 And when he had looked round about on them call, bwith anger, being grieved at the hardening of their heart [The anger of Jesus was not a spiteful, revengeful passion, but a just indignation ( Eph 4:26). God may love the sinner, but he is angry at sin. Anger is not sin, but it is apt to run into it: hence it is a dangerous passion. Righteous anger rises from the love of God and man, but that which rises from self-love is sinful], he saith {csaid} a13 Then cunto him, bthe man, Stretch forth thy hand. cAnd he did so: ahe stretched it forth; and it bhis hand was restored. awhole, as the other. [As Jesus here healed without any word or action of healing, merely ordering the man to stretch forth his hand, the Pharisees could find no legal ground for accusation. God can not be tried by man, because his ways are hidden from the senses of man save as he chooses to reveal them.] c11 But they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. b6 And the Pharisees went out, and straightway with the Herodians took counsel against him, how they might destroy him. [Here the three Synoptists first tell of the counsel to put Jesus to death, and we should note that, like John, they described the anger of the Jewish rulers as arising because of this Sabbath question. Their real motive was envious hatred, but their pretext was a zeal for the law. That it was not genuine zeal for the law is shown by the fact that they consulted with the Herodians or the adherents of Herod Antipas, as they also did afterwards ( Mat 22:16, Mar 12:13). They needed the secular power of the Herodians to secure the death of Jesus. Its efficiency for such ends had just been shown in the imprisonment of John the Baptist. But the Herodians were no friends of the Jewish law; in fact, they were real perverters of that law which Jesus merely correctly interpreted. This party and its predecessors had [216] flatteringly tried to make a Messiah of Herod the Great, and had been friends of Rome and patrons of Gentile influence. They favored the erection of temples for idolatrous ends, and pagan theaters and games, and Gentile customs generally. Unlike Jesus, the Pharisees grew angry and sinned, for it was against their conscience to consort with the Herodians.]
[FFG 214-217]