Exegesis:
exestin (cf. 2.24) ‘it is lawful.’ As in 2.24 the standard of reference is the Mosaic Law.
agathon poiēsai ē kakopoiēsai ‘to do good or to do bad’: it is debated whether the verbs are to be understood in a moral sense ‘do right … do wrong’ or in the sense of assistance ‘to help … to harm.’ Hatch contends that Biblical usage favors the second meaning. King James Version, Translator’s New Testament, The Modern Speech New Testament, Manson, have ‘to do evil’; American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, Knox, Moffatt, Torrey, translate ‘to do harm.’ The context, especially the words that follow, would seem to support the second meaning.
psuchēn sōsai ē apokteinai ‘to save life or to kill’; these words further define what is meant by ‘do good … do harm.’
psuchē (8.35, 36, 37; 10.45; 12.30; 14.34) ‘life,’ ‘soul,’ ‘self’: the various meanings of the word can be traced back to its use in the Septuagint. In Mark three general uses may be distinguished: (1) of earthly life itself, including the reflexive sense of ‘oneself,’ 8.35a, b; 10.45; 14.34; (2) of the inner life of man, his feelings and emotions, 12.30 (possibly 14.34 should be included here); (3) of the life which transcends earthly existence, 8.36, 37. The precise meaning of the word here is probably to be included in the first category in the sense of a living creature, person: ‘to save a person’s life or to destroy it?’ (for psuchē as “person,” “man” cf. Acts 27.37).
sōzō ‘save’: this word in Mark is used in the following senses: (1) ‘rescue’ (from death) 15.30, 31, ‘preserve’ (life) 3.4; 8.35a, and in the passive, ‘survive’ 13.20; (2) ‘heal,’ ‘cure’ 5.23, 28, 34; 6.56; 10.52; (3) of ‘salvation’ in the theological sense, 8.35b; 10.26; 13.13; 16.16. In the present passage the word falls into the first category: “Is it better to preserve a man’s life or destroy it?”
apokteinō (6.19; 8.31; 10.34; 12.5, 7, 8; 14.1) ‘kill.’
hoi de esiōpōn ‘but they were silent.’
siōpaō (4.39; 9.34; 10.48; 14.61) ‘keep silence,’ ‘be silent’: the meaning here is best expressed by ‘they remained silent.’
Translation:
Said may be changed to ‘asked’ if the following question requires such an introductory verb.
Lawful in this context (as in 2.24) refers to ‘what one should do’ or ‘what one is allowed to do’ (hence, lawful). That is to say, ‘On the Sabbath ought one to do good…,’ ‘is it proper to do good…,’ ‘is it allowable to do good…,’ or as in Tzeltal, ‘on the rest day is it good for one….’
Some languages require objects of expression such as ‘to do good’ and ‘to do harm.’ The logical grammatical objects would be persons, e.g. ‘to do good for people or to do them harm.’ The following clause is a further elaboration, and may need to be introduced by another main verb, ‘is it proper to save a man’s life or to kill him.’
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .