“Successful Thai gatherings are always crowded. Four people carrying a wooden bed is a symbol of death to Thai people. Here Jesus symbolizes resurrection by raising the man from the sick bed back to health in body and soul.”
A few days passed. There was a house in the town of Capernaum. Jesus came there. A rumor went around among the people that Jesus was there. Many, many people began to come to the house. The house was full, it was very crowded, there was no room, even outside. Everyone wanted to hear Jesus. And Jesus preached to them.
There was one man there, a sick man. He was paralyzed, his body was not moving. He was lying down and four men were carrying him on a stretcher. They wanted to help him, to bring him to Jesus so that Jesus could heal him. And so they carried the sick man. There was a crowd of people around. Those men tried to push the crowd apart, but it was very crowded. There was no way through. They began to think what to do. They saw that the roof of the house was flat, and there was a ladder attached to the house, which led directly to the roof. And they decided: let’s climb up! All four of them climbed up to the roof. They took a thick stick and began to break a hole in the roof. The roof was flat, made of clay and reeds. And so they made a hole in the roof and pulled apart the clay and reeds. It was a big round hole. They looked down and there was Jesus preaching. They got excited. Jesus looked up at them from below and smiled.
— “I know you have faith in me!
And the four men used ropes to pull the stretcher with the sick man up onto the roof, and then carefully lowered him down into the hole below. Jesus watched the stretcher being lowered, and when it came down in front of him, he said:
— My son, your sins are forgiven!
And in the midst of the crowd sat several teachers of the law. They shuddered with indignation, and began to talk and point at Jesus:
— How dare Jesus say, “Your sins are forgiven”! God alone can forgive sins! And Jesus says such things! He is insulting God.
They were very indignant.
Jesus realized what they were thinking and said:
— Enough! Why are you slandering me? I am asking you a question. There are two things: which one is easier?
First I say to him, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The second thing: Here is a paralyzed man lying down. I say to him, “Get up, roll up your mat, and go home!”
Which of these two things is easier? The first thing is easier. It’s easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven.”
And so you see I’m here on earth right now. I have the power to forgive the sins of people who sin and do evil deeds. So here I am saying to this paralyzed man, “Get up, roll up your mat and get on your feet.”
The crowd around was amazed. Look, look — everyone said — we know this man could not walk, but he stood up. We have never seen such a miracle before! Everyone was amazed and glorified God.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Прошло несколько дней. В городе Капернаум был один дом. Туда пришел Иисус. Между людьми повсюду пошел слух, что там Иисус. И многие-многие люди стали приходить в этот дом. Дом переполнился, было очень тесно, места не было даже снаружи. Все хотели послушать Иисуса. И Иисус им проповедовал.
Там был один человек, больной. Он был парализован, его тело не двигалось. Он лежал, а четыре человека несли его на носилках. Они хотели помочь ему, поднести его к Иисусу, чтобы Иисус исцелил его. И вот они несут больного. Кругом толпа народа. Те люди пытались раздвинуть толпу, но было очень тесно. Нет пути. Они стали думать, что делать. Видят они: у дома крыша плоская, а к дому приставлена лестница, которая ведет прямо на крышу. И решили: давайте заберемся! Все вчетвером забрались на крышу. Взяли толстую палку и стали пробивать дыру в крыше. Крыша была плоская, была она сделана из глины и тростника. И вот они делают дыру в крыше, раздвигают глину и тростник. Получилась большая круглая дыра. Смотрят вниз, а там Иисус проповедует. Они обрадовались. Иисус снизу на них посмотрел, улыбнулся.
Иисус говорит:
— Я знаю, у вас есть вера в Меня!
А эти четыре человека на веревках подтянули носилки с больным на крышу, а потом аккуратно опустили в дыру вниз. Иисус смотрел, как носилки опускаются, и когда они перед ним опустились, он сказал:
— Сын мой! Твои грехи тебе прощаются!
А среди толпы сидели несколько учителей закона. Они даже вздрогнули от возмущения и стали недовольно переговариваться, показывая на Иисуса:
— Да как же Иисус смеет говорить «твои грехи прощены»! Только один Бог может прощать грехи! А Иисус такое говорит! Он оскорбляет Бога.
Они были очень возмущены.
Иисус понял, о чем они думают, и сказал:
— Довольно! Зачем на меня клевещете? Я вам задаю вопрос. Есть две вещи: какая из них проще?
Первая вещь. Я ему говорю: «Твои грехи прощены».
Вторая вещь. Вот парализованный человек лежит. Я ему говорю: «Вставай, сверни свой коврик и ступай домой!»
Что из этих двух вещей проще? Первая вещь проще. Проще сказать: «Твои грехи прощены».
И вот вы видите, что я сейчас здесь, на земле. Я имею власть прощать грехи людей, которые грешат и совершают злые дела. Вот я говорю этому парализованному человеку: «Вставай, скатай свой коврик и ступай».
И о чудо! Этот человек поднялся, тело его сделалось здоровым. С восторгом он смотрит на свои руки и ноги. Он скатал свой коврик, взял его под мышку и радостный пошел.
Толпа вокруг была изумлена. Смотрите, смотрите — говорили все — мы знаем, этот человек не мог ходить, а он встал. Мы такого чуда никогда раньше не видели! Все изумлялись и прославляли Бога.
The Greek that is usually translated as “scribe” in English “were more than mere writers of the law. They were the trained interpreters of the law and expounders of tradition.”
Tboli: “one who taught the law God before caused Moses to write” (or “one who taught the law of Moses”) (source for this and 5 above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Noongar: Mammarapa-Warrinyang or “law man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Mairasi: “one who writes and explains Great Above One’s (=God’s) prohibitions” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Chichewa: “teacher of Laws” (source: Ernst Wendland)
Lalana Chinantec: “one who is a teacher of the law which God gave to Moses back then”
Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “one who know well the law” (Source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Huixtán Tzotzil: “one who mistakenly thought he was teaching God’s commandments”(Huixtán Tzotzil frequently uses the verb -cuy to express “to mistakenly think something” from the point of view of the speaker; source: Marion M. Cowan in Notes on Translation 20/1966, pp. 6ff.)
Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian”
English translation by Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023): Covenant Code scholar
In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “expert” and “law.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Scribe” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 2:6:
Uma: “There were also several Yahudi religion teachers sitting in the house. They were angry hearing Yesus. They said in they hearts:” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But there were teachers of the religious law sitting there. They said/grumbled in their livers because Isa spoke like that.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There were some teachers of the law sitting there, and when they heard what Jesus said, they became angry, and they thought,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Whereupon the teachers of the law who were there sitting, they said in their thoughts,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “There were sitting there a few people who were explainers of the laws of Moises. When they heard that which Jesus said, in their minds (they thought),)” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
ēsan … kathēmenoi kai dialogizomenoi ‘were … sitting and questioning’: these verbal phrases, consisting of the imperfect of eimi ‘to be’ plus the present participle of the main verbs, denote continuous action.
dialogizomenoi (2.8; 8.16, 17; 9.33; 11.31) ‘considering,’ ‘pondering,’ ‘reasoning.’ Moulton & Milligan note that in the N.T. the word always has the sense of “inward deliberation or questioning.”
en tais kardiais autōn ‘in their hearts’: the meaning is the same as ēn heautois ‘in themselves’ of v. 8.
kardia (2.8; 3.5; 6.52; 7.6, 19, 21; 8.17; 11.23; 12.30, 33) ‘heart’: in Hebraic thought the heart is the center of intellectual activity. Lagrange points out that the same concept was true also of the Latins and even of the Greeks. The narrative throughout makes clear that this questioning carried on by the scribes was wholly internal and not outwardly expressed. Cf. Abbott-Smith: “say to oneself, i.e. think, reflect, without saying anything aloud.”
Translation:
Now is transitional, introducing a new aspect of the situation; it is not temporal.
For scribes see 1.22.
Questioning can be quite well translated as ‘thinking’ or even ‘speaking to themselves in their hearts.’
Though the heart is spoken of in the Bible as the center of intellectual and emotive elements of human experience, in other languages the heart may have no such value. In some languages the corresponding centers are the viscera (Conob), the liver (Laka), the stomach (Uduk), the gall (Toraja-Sa’dan) and the head (Anuak), though in the neighboring Shilluk demons may be in one’s head, but the liver and heart are the center of most other psychological activities. Whether one is to use ‘heart’ or some other part or organ of the body depends entirely upon the manner in which in any language such psychological experiences are described.
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 .
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