Mark 1.

40-45
Does this account of the "leper" include verse 39 or not? (Note in your NET Bible the difference in paragraph division between the English and the Greek texts.)
1.40

[ ] . NET Now a leper came to him and fell to his knees, asking for help. "If you are willing, you can make me clean," he said. NRS A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, "If you choose, you can make me clean." KJV And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. DRA And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down said to him: If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. NAU And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." NIV A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." NJB A man suffering from a virulent skin-disease came to him and pleaded on his knees saying, 'If you are willing, you can cleanse me.' NLT A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. "If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean," he said. CEV A man with leprosy came to Jesus and knelt down. He begged, "You have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to." MSG A leper came to him, begging on his knees, "If you want to, you can cleanse me." What is the setting of this account? In particular, are the disciples with Jesus, or is he by himself? Where does this event occur? (Or is the ambiguity of the location intentional?) What kind of medical condition did the person have? Why the brackets around [ ]? What factors are involved in determining the best reading? (Cf. Metzgers Commentary) Will you choose to include these words in your translation or not? What kind of conditional sentence does the man use? What word will you use to translate ? (Note the words used in the various translations.) It is clear that the leper asks to be made clean. How do we usually understand this word? What would the use of clean require you to know about leprosy? Does the CEV translation communicate better by using make me well?

1.41

, Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing. Be clean!" NRS Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I do choose. Be made clean!" KJV And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. DRA And Jesus having compassion on him, stretched forth his hand; and touching him, saith to him: I will. Be thou made clean. NAU Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." NIV Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" NJB Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said to him, 'I am willing. Be cleansed.' NLT Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. "I am willing," he said. "Be healed!" CEV Jesus felt sorry for the man. So he put his hand on him and said, "I want to! Now you are well." MSG Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, "I want to. Be clean." Note carefully the textual variants associated with . What other readings are found in the manuscripts? What factors are involved in determining the best reading? (Check both the NET Bible notes and Metzger) What difference is there in the meaning of the text? To get a sense of Marks understanding of , look up all its occurences in Mark. What is the main verb of this verse and why should this be the point of emphasis? (Remember that the participles only provide context for this main verb.) is _______ mood and Passive voice. Though the actor is unstated, is there any indication of by whom the leper is cleansed? Watch the tenses of the indicative verbs!
NET

1.42

, . The leprosy left him at once, and he was clean. NRS Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. KJV And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. DRA And when he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean. NAU Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. NIV Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. NJB And at once the skin-disease left him and he was cleansed. NLT Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. CEV At once the man's leprosy disappeared, and he was well. MSG Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Note the move back to the aorist indicatives.
NET

1.43

Immediately Jesus sent the man away with a very strong warning. NRS After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, KJV And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; DRA And he strictly charged him, and forthwith sent him away. NAU And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, NIV Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: NJB And at once Jesus sternly sent him away and said to him, NLT Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: CEV After Jesus strictly warned the man, he sent him on his way. MSG Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: What is the best way to translate ? (Check a lexicon and check where else it is used in Mark. In particular, is this word indicating that Jesus was angry in some way? If so, why?) What is the verb used for sending the person away? How else is this verb used in Mark? (Especially note 1.39!) Note the approximate chiastic structure of vv. 42-43: ,
NET

1.44

, , . NET He told him, "See that you do not say anything to anyone, but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." NRS saying to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." KJV And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. DRA And he saith to him: See thou tell no one; but go, shew thyself to the high priest, and offer for thy cleansing the things that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them. NAU and He said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." NIV "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." NJB 'Mind you tell no one anything, but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your cleansing prescribed by Moses as evidence to them.' NLT "Don't tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed." CEV He said, "Don't tell anyone about this. Just go and show the priest that you are well. Then take a gift to the temple as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed." MSG "Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people." If Jesus sent the man away in v. 43, how can he still be talking to him here in v.44? Note the switch back to the present tense with . Note that Jesus gives two commands to the man. Does he obey either? What did Moses command? (And where does it state it?) What kind of testimony is this? Who is the them to which the refers? Where is this priest to whom the man is to show himself? What was the setting of this account, and now where is the man supposed to go?

1.45

, , . NET But as the man went out he began to announce it publicly and spread the story widely, so that Jesus was no longer able to enter any town openly but stayed outside in remote places. Still they kept coming to him from everywhere. NRS But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter. KJV But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter. DRA But he being gone out, began to publish and to blaze abroad the word: so that he could not openly go into the city, but was without in desert places: and they flocked to him from all sides. NAU But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere. NIV Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. NJB The man went away, but then started freely proclaiming and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but stayed outside in deserted places. Even so, people from all around kept coming to him. NLT But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn't publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him. CEV The man talked about it so much and told so many people, that Jesus could no longer go openly into a town. He had to stay away from the towns, but people still came to him from everywhere. MSG But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out-of-the-way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over. Note again the return to aorist and imperfect indicatives. What is the that the man is spreading around? Who else proclaims / in Mark? What significance is there narratively that Jesus could not openly enter a city but had to remain in desert places?

Narrative Criticism
What questions does this story raise for a reader? What other leper do we meet in Mark? What other biblical leper stories do you recall? What point of view does the story take? It is clearly a third person narrative (he did this, then the other person said this), but what do we know of the interior views of the characters? What do we know of what Jesus or the leper was thinking or feeling? In narratives, the nearness to the story is controlled in part by the tense of the indicative verbs in the storys framework. Think of it in terms of filming the story. Closeups with present tense; distant still shots with aorist; distant panning shots with imperfect. Here is our text with the Present, Aorist, and Imperfect Indicatives highlighted.
39

. [ ] . 41 , 42 , . 43 44 , , . 45 , , .
40

Now consider how you might film this account with the tenses in mind. How does verse 39 function as an interesting introduction to this story? o What words in v39 are repeated in vv40-45? o How does v39 function as a frame with v45?

Additional background exercises for Mark 1.40-45 not needed for this class session.

Form Criticism
The form of healing miracles usually includes the five basic elements listed in the table below. Compare this miracle story in Mark 1.40-45 with its Synoptic parallels.
Stage 1 Introduction Stage 2 Conflict 40b: If you wish Stage 3 Action Stage 4 Confirmation Stage 5 Reaction 45: went and proclaimed

Mark 1.40-45

40a: leper comes

42: Immediately the 41: moved, stretched, leprosy left him touched, speaks 43-44: show to priest 3b: Immediately his leprosy was cleansed 4: Say nothing, go to priest 13b: Immediately the leprosy left him 14: Go, show priest

Matthew 8.1-4

1-2a: leper comes

3a: stretched, 2b: Lord, if you wish touched, speaks

Luke 5.12-16

12a: man w/ leprosy

12b: Lord, if you wish

13a: stretched, touched, speaks

15-16: word spreads

How does the recounting of this story in Mark 1.40-45 conform to or contrast with a typical healing miracle form? How does the Markan telling compare with its telling in Matthew and Luke? How does a form critical analysis of the story help you focus on its important aspects?

Redaction Criticism
Compare the Markan version with the parallels in Matthew and Luke. What significant differences are there between Mark and Matthew? What significant differences are there between Mark and Luke? What do the contrasts suggest is important in Marks recounting?