Studying the Synoptic Problem: the man with the withered hand.

While I am studying the Synoptic Problem I will be posting my notes on the various pericopes. These notes will include the SBL GNT text, my rough translation, and some observations regarding the similarities and differences between the various Gospels as well as what is unique to each. I welcome any and all to (1) use these notes for yourself and/or (2) point out any observations you’d like to share whether it be that you dislike my translation or you think there is something else that should be observed that I did not include. The first story will be the man with the withered hand which appears in all the Synoptic Gospels.

The man with the withered hand (Mt 12.9-14; Mk 3.1-6; Lk 6.6-11):

Mk 3.1: ¹ Καὶ εἰσῆλθεν πάλιν εἰς συναγωγήν, καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπος ἐξηραμμένην ἔχων τὴν χεῖρα. ² καὶ παρετήρουν αὐτὸν εἰ τοῖς σάββασιν θεραπεύσει αὐτόν, ἵνα κατηγορήσωσιν αὐτοῦ. ³ καὶ λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ τὴν χεῖρα ἔχοντι ξηράν· Ἔγειρε εἰς τὸ μέσον. ⁴ καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι; οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων. ⁵ καὶ περιβλεψάμενος αὐτοὺς μετʼ ὀργῆς, συλλυπούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· Ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρα· καὶ ἐξέτεινεν, καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ. ⁶ καὶ ἐξελθόντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι εὐθὺς μετὰ τῶν Ἡρῳδιανῶν συμβούλιον ἐδίδουν κατʼ αὐτοῦ ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν.

And he went up again into the Synagogue. And there was a man having a withered hand. And they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. And he said to the man having the withered hand, “Arise into the midst.” And he said to them, “Is it permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they were silent. And looking around at them with anger, being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts he said to man. “Stretch forth your hand!” And he stretched it forth and his hand was healed. And the Pharisees went up immediately with the Herodians to give council together in order to destroy him.

Mt 12.9: ⁹ Καὶ μεταβὰς ἐκεῖθεν ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν αὐτῶν· ¹⁰ καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος χεῖρα ἔχων ξηράν. καὶ ἐπηρώτησαν αὐτὸν λέγοντες· Εἰ ἔξεστι τοῖς σάββασιν θεραπεύειν; ἵνα κατηγορήσωσιν αὐτοῦ. ¹¹ ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Τίς ἔσται ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος ὃς ἕξει πρόβατον ἕν, καὶ ἐὰν ἐμπέσῃ τοῦτο τοῖς σάββασιν εἰς βόθυνον, οὐχὶ κρατήσει αὐτὸ καὶ ἐγερεῖ; ¹² πόσῳ οὖν διαφέρει ἄνθρωπος προβάτου. ὥστε ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν καλῶς ποιεῖν. ¹³ τότε λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· Ἔκτεινόν ⸂σου τὴν χεῖρα· καὶ ἐξέτεινεν, καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη ὑγιὴς ὡς ἡ ἄλλη. ¹⁴ ἐξελθόντες δὲ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι συμβούλιον ἔλαβον κατʼ αὐτοῦ ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν.

And departing from there he went into their Synagogue. And behold a man having a withered hand. And they asked him saying, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?” in order that they might accuse him. But he said to them, “Who is a man from you who if he has one sheep and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath would he not grab it and raise it? Then how many would carry the sheep? So that it is permitted to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch forth your hand!” And he stretched it forth and brought it to health as the other. And the Pharisees went up and took council against him in order that they might destroy him.

Lk 6.6: ⁶ Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ἑτέρῳ σαββάτῳ εἰσελθεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν καὶ διδάσκειν· καὶ ἦν ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖ καὶ ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ἡ δεξιὰ ἦν ξηρά· ⁷ παρετηροῦντο δὲ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι εἰ ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ θεραπεύει, ἵνα εὕρωσιν κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ. ⁸ αὐτὸς δὲ ᾔδει τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν, εἶπεν δὲ τῷ ⸀ἀνδρὶ τῷ ξηρὰν ἔχοντι τὴν χεῖρα· Ἔγειρε καὶ στῆθι εἰς τὸ μέσον· καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔστη. ⁹ εἶπεν δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς πρὸς αὐτούς· Ἐπερωτῶ ὑμᾶς, εἰ ἔξεστιν τῷ σαββάτῳ ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀπολέσαι; ¹⁰ καὶ περιβλεψάμενος πάντας αὐτοὺς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου· ὁ δὲ ἐποίησεν, καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ. ¹¹ αὐτοὶ δὲ ἐπλήσθησαν ἀνοίας, καὶ διελάλουν πρὸς ἀλλήλους τί ἂν ποιήσαιεν τῷ Ἰησοῦ.

And it came to pass on another Sabbath that he entered the Synagogue and taught. And a man was there his right hand being withered. And the Scribes and the Pharisees watched closely if on the Sabbath he would heal, that they might find reason to accuse him. And he himself already knew their reasoning, and he said to the man having the withered hand, “Arise and stand in the midst!” and arising he stood. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, if it is permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” And he looked around at all of them and said to him, “Stretch forth your hand.” And he did and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and they discussed among themselves what they might do to Jesus.

Juxtaposing Mk and Mt:

Mt transitions from Jesus and the disciples eating corn in the field on the sabbath. Mk transitions from the same narrative. Mt transitions to Jesus leaving to go perform exorcisms. Mk transitions to Jesus and the disciples going to the Sea of Galilee and then ordaining them to perform exorcisms. Both record Jesus entering into the Synagogue. Both record the man with a withered hand. Both have the antagonist watching to see whether or not Jesus will heal on the Sabbath, but only Mt has them asking Jesus directly. Mk has Jesus tell the man, “Arise into the midst.” Mt does not. Mt has Jesus tell the story of the man rescuing his sheep on the Sabbath. Mk does not. Both has Jesus addressing whether one can do good on the Sabbath, but only Mk has Jesus asking and adding if it is right to do evil. Mk has Jesus compare saving a life with killing on the Sabbath, but Mt does not. Mk has the crowd respond in silence. Mk has Jesus look at them in anger know that they have hard hearts. In both Jesus commands the man to stretch forth his hand and then the hand is healed. In both the Pharisees form a council to discuss how to destroy Jesus, but in Mk the Herodians are part of this council as well.

Juxtaposing Mk and Lk:

Mk transitions from Jesus eating corn in the field on the Sabbath with the disciples. Lk does the same. Mk transition to Jesus and the disciples going to the Sea of Galilee and then Jesus ordain his disciples to do exorcisms. Lk transitions to Jesus going to pray before rejoining the disciples to heal and perform exorcisms. Mk says that Jesus went “again” into the Synagogue while Lk emphasizes that it was a different Sabbath. Lk says Jesus taught; Mk does not mention this. Both mention the crowds watching Jesus to see if he would heal the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, and Lk says it is his “right” hand. Lk has the Scribes present; Mk does not. Lk says that they were seeking a reason to accuse Jesus. This explains why they were watching. Also, Lk explains that Jesus knew their thoughts (reasoning). In both Jesus commands the man to arise and stand in the midst. In both Jesus asks if it is permitted to do good or do evil on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill. In Mk they are silent. In Mk Jesus looks around at them in anger because they have hard hearts. Lk only has Jesus look at the crowd. In both Mk and Lk the man is told to stretch forth his hand. In both he obeys and his hand is healed. In Mk the Pharisees join the Herodians to council together about destroying Jesus. In Lk it is the crowd who is furious with Jesus.

Juxtaposing Mt and Lk:

Both Mt and Lk transition from the story of Jesus and his disciples eating corn in the field on the Sabbath. Mt transitions to Jesus going to perform exorcisms. Lk has Jesus going to pray before rejoining the disciples to heal the sick and perform exorcisms. Mt has Jesus going into the Synagogue as does Lk, but Lk says it was “another” Sabbath. Both have Jesus seeing the man with the withered hand and Lk adds that it is the “right” hand. Mt has the crowd ask if it is permitted to heal on the Sabbath. Lk only has the crowd of Scribes and Pharisees watch. In Lk Jesus knows their thoughts without them asking Jesus the challenging question. In Mt there is the story of the man who saves his sheep on the Sabbath. In Mt Jesus states that it is right to do good on the Sabbath. In Lk Jesus asks if one should do good or evil, save a life or kill on the Sabbath. Lk has Jesus commanding the man to arise and stand in the midst, but Mt does not. Both have Jesus commanding the man to stretch forth his hand. In both he does and he is healed. In Mt the Pharisees council together regarding how to destroy Jesus. In Lk the Scribes and Pharisees are furious at Jesus and discuss what they may do to him.

Unique to Mk:

Jesus goes into the Synagogue “again” (exception W). The crowd is “silent” after Jesus questions them. Jesus looks at the crowd in anger because of their hardened hearts. The Herodians are present.

Unique to Mt:

Jesus does not ask if it is permitted to do good or do evil, to save a life or to kill on the Sabbath. The crowd asks Jesus is he can heal on the Sabbath. Jesus asks if one should do “good” on the Sabbath. Jesus tells the story of the sheep. Jesus does not tell the man to arise into the midst of the crowd. The healed hand becomes like “the other”.

Unique to Lk:

It is “another” Sabbath. Jesus taught. The withered hand was the “right” hand. The Scribes are present. The Scribes and Pharisees are seeking something to accuse Jesus. Jesus looks around at “all of them”. The Scribes and Pharisees are full of fury over Jesus deed and they ponder what they should do to him (whereas Mt and Mk have them discussing how to destroy Jesus).

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