Mark

9:14-29

The journey to God's mountain, 6:1-10:52

2. Growing faith, 8:22-10:52

iv] The healing of a possessed boy

Leaving the majesty of mount transfiguration, Jesus and his three disciples come upon an epileptic boy. The boy's father is desperate because his child is now suicidal. The disciples, who remained behind while Peter, James and John went up the mountain with Jesus, are unable to exorcise the evil spirit and so now Jesus takes over and heals the child.

Prayer - faith turned to God - involves dependence on Christ rather than self.

i] Context: See 8:22-30.

ii] Structure: Faith and Unfaith:

A healing narrative with an associated discourse, v14-29:

Jesus returns to the world, v14-16;

The boy's condition, v17-19;

The issue of faith and unbelief, v20-24;

The exorcism, v25-27;

The disciples' failure, v28-29.

iii] Interpretation.

iv] Synoptics:

v] Exposition: A simple exposition of this passage can be found in the pew-level sermon notes Faith and Unfaith.

The healing of the boy with the unclean spirit, v14-29. i] The return, v14-16. Jesus, and the three apostles, come upon an embarrassing failure. Members of the Sanhedrin, obviously gathering evidence against Jesus, are haranguing the disciples for a failed exorcism. Jesus asks what's going on.

elqonteV (ercomai) aor. part. "when they came" - [and] having come [to the disciples]. Variant, "when he came", but the plural reading is more likely. The participle is adverbial, temporal, as NIV. The "they" refers to Jesus and the three disciples who witnessed the transfiguration.. "Great/large crowd".

peri + acc. "around" - [they saw a much = large crowd] about, around [them]. Spatial. The "them" being the disciples who had remained behind while Jesus, Peter, James and John went up the mountain.

suzhtountaV (suzhtew) pres. part. "arguing" - [and scribes] arguing, questioning. The present tense, being durative serves, to express ongoing argumentation, probably of the whole crowd, rather than just the scribes. This may explain why "scribes" is anarthrous in that they are just one element of the crowd. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "the experts of the law", "who were engaged in an argument."

proV + acc. "with" - toward [them]. Here expressing opposition, "against", or association, "with".

euquV "-" - [and] immediately. Often used to heighten dramatic movement in an episode. "Immediately the whole crowd ...... ran forward", Weymouth, but it can also serve to indicate narrative transition, "then the whole crowd ...."

paV "all [the people]" - all [the crowd]. "The whole crowd". The reaction of the "whole" crowd heightens the impact of that reaction.

idonteV (eidon) aor. part. "as soon as ...... saw" - having seen [him]. The participle is adverbial, best taken as temporal; "when they saw", ESV.

exeqambhqhsan (ekqambew) aor. mid./pas. "were overwhelmed with wonder" - they were alarmed, astounded, astonished, amazed. The middle voice is often used with emotion. This is one of a group of key words in the gospel which express amazement. Amazement / awe is a proper initial response to Jesus, but a response which inevitably moves on to either belief, or unbelief. The word is a strong word and made stronger by the prefix ek producing an awe / amazement / wonder of extreme emotional distress and wonderment, reinforced by a perfective aspect, ie. the action is complete in itself. One wonders why the crowd reacts so strongly at the sight of Jesus. Is Mark suggesting that Jesus is still radiant after the transfiguration, in much the same way as Moses' visage was radiant after his meeting with God on Mount Sinai, ie., is Jesus showing "the lingering affects of his transfiguration", Guelich? We should remember that the people of Israel were so fearful that they were unable to look at the face of Moses after he came down from the mountain. Cranfield thinks the reaction is due to Jesus' "unexpected and opportune arrival." "They were alarmed", BAGD; "greatly amazed", Torrey.

prostreconteV (prostrecw) pres. part. "ran" - [and] running to, up to him. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "they were greeting him"; "they ran up to him and greeted him." Adverbial, temporal, is a possibility, so Decker, "when they ran ...." Further emphasising the reaction of the crowd to Jesus.

hspazonto (aspazomai) imperf. "to greet [him]" - they were greeting, welcoming [him]. The imperfect is durative, possibly iterative, expressing repeated greetings; "they hailed Jesus one after another", Gundry. Of course, the imperfect is often used to indicate background information, and that may be its intention here, so Decker.

proV + acc. "with [them]" - and he enquired of them, what are you arguing] to, toward [them]? Here expressing opposition, "against". Jesus asks "them", "What are you (plural) arguing about with them?" Who are the autouV, "them"? There are numerous options, but most commentators take the view that Jesus address the crowd ("them") asking what they ("you") are arguing about with the disciples ("them"). This seems the best option because in v17 it is the father, a member of the crowd, who answers Jesus' question. Some commentators differentiate between the crowd and the scribes, but as already noted, the scribes are probably just one element of an agitated mob. Of course, the scribes wouldn't be passive onlookers, but obviously intent on stirring the pot.

ii] The boy's condition, v17-19. The boy possesses an evil spirit which has not only destroyed his capacity to communicate, but has sought to take his life. Jesus had given the disciples the power to exorcise, but on this occasion the powers of darkness were too strong for them. In the face of faithless humanity, Jesus feels the burden of loneliness, anguish, and disappointment.

eiJV "a man" - [and answered him] one. Here eiJV is used instead of tiV, "a certain one / somebody", TH, so NIV.

ek + gen. "of" - from [the crowd]. Here the preposition serves instead of a partitive genitive.

didaskale (oV) voc. "teacher" - teacher. Vocative. Standing for the Aramaic "Rabbi" and indicating a limited understanding of Jesus' person.

econta (ecw) pres. part. "who is possessed" - [i brought the son of me toward you] having. The participle is possibly adverbial, causal, "I brought my son to you for he has a spirit that makes him mute", ESV. Although anarthrous, it is accusative in agreement with uiJon, "son", it may be adjectival, attributive, as NIV.

alalon adj. "that has robbed him of speech" - [a spirit] speechless, mute. The attributive adjective limits "spirit", accusative direct object of "has", but in what sense? Presumably the sense is that a dumb/speechless spirit, having possessed someone, makes that person speechless, ie., the person takes on the characteristics of the evil spirit. Best expressed "because he has a spirit which makes him dumb", Barclay, or adjusted for the PC police, "keeps him from talking", CEV.

The symptoms are now described, indicating that the boy is an epileptic (explicitly stated in Matthew 17:15) - thrown to the ground, foaming at the mouth, gnashing of teeth, and becoming stiff. For Mark, the problem is demonic, not medical, and this because Mark is alluding to a struggle with dark powers that will find its climax at the cross in a victory of faith.

oJpou ean + subj. "whenever" - [and] wherever. This construction normally introduces an indefinite local clause (adverbial), so "wherever it comes upon him", Weymouth, although most translations opt for a temporal clause, as NIV. Either way, the evil spirit is powerful and can take hold of the boy at will.

katalabh/ (katalambanw) aor. subj. "it seizes" - it takes, overtakes [him, it throws him and he foams at the mouth and gnashes the teeth and he becomes stiff]. In the sense "take hold of with hostile intent", TH, so "takes possession of".

toiV maqhtaiV (hV ou) dat. "disciples" - [and i said] to the disciples [of you]. Dative of indirect object. "I talked to your followers about casting out this demon", Junkins.

iJna + subj. "-" - that [may you cast it out]. Introducing an object clause / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what he said / asked, although possibly introducing a purpose clause, "I asked / told your disciples in order that they may cast it out."

kai "but" - and. Possibly with an adversative sense here, as NIV.

ouk iscusan (iscuw) aor. "they could not" - they were not strong. We might expect ou dunamai, "they were not able", but here as a stark statement underlining the disciples lack of strength, lessoned somewhat by the variant reading "to cast it out" - an obvious addition. "But they could not do a thing", Junkins.

oJ de "-" - but/and he. Transitional construction, indicating a step in the dialogue from the father to Jesus.

apokriqeiV "Jesus replied" - having answered [he says to them, o disbelieving generation]. A typical long winded Aramaic introduction with the attendant participle treated as virtually redundant, as NIV. "O faithless, unbelieving, disbelieving, unfaithful, .... generation." Who is Jesus addressing? Is it the father, the Sadducees, the crowd, the disciples, or everyone? Cranfield argues that Jesus' words can apply to everyone there, but they particularly apply to the disciples, since it is their lack of faith that is at issue. Cranfield goes on to suggest that the disciples' problem lay in taking their previous success for granted, but this is not the point that Mark makes. "The disciples not the least", Swete, so Marcus. "He differentiates himself from unbelieving humanity as such", Boring. Not all commentators agree, cf., Gundry, Taylor, Evans. Edwards argues that Jesus excludes the disciples from the "faithless generation". This seems likely, as Jesus never uses the term "faithless generation" for his disciples. So, it seems likely that Jesus is referring to the unbelieving crowd stirred up by the Scribes. The disciples have simply struck a situation too difficult for them to handle, and as Jesus will go on to explain, when the situation is beyond us, we can only turn to God in prayer - "prayer is faith turned to God", Grundmann.

eJwV pote "how long" - until when. Temporal construction; "how long", as NIV.

proV "with" - [will i be] toward [you]. Here the preposition expresses association, "with / in company with". "How long must the Son of Man strive with the disbelief of humanity?"

uJmwn gen. pro. "you" - [how long will i bear, put up with, endure, have to be patient with] you. As a verb of emotion, "to endure" takes a genitive of direct object, although not in classical Gk.

ferete (ferw) pres. imp. "Bring [the boy to me]" - bring, carry [him to me]. "Bring that boy to Me", Junkins.

iii] The issue of faith and unbelief, v20-24. In the presence of Jesus, the Satanic power oppresses the boy. Jesus' question to the father demonstrates empathy and interest, yet after the disciples' failure, the Father's plea now carries with it doubt. Is Jesus really able to act for his son? Yet, the power and authority of Jesus is not limited, for nothing is impossible to God. The father affirms his willingness to rely on Jesus, but exposes his humanity in identifying himself with the "faithless generation". All he can do is seeks God's mercy in the face of his "faithless" faith.

idwn (eidon) aor. part. "when [the spirit] saw [Jesus]" - [and they brought him toward him, and] having seen [him, the spirit immediately]. The participle is adverbial, temporal, as NIV. The NIV is probably right in its translation, although both the subject and the object are unclear, eg. "when Jesus saw the boy, the spirit ...", "when the boy saw Jesus, the spirit ...." As Gundry notes, the nominative case of "having seen" requires that it modify the neuter subject "the spirit", ad sensum. Of course, we then have to recognise a change in subject with "he fell to the ground", ie. "the boy fell to the ground", but then there is often a subject interchange between a demoniac and their demon.

sunesparaxen (susoarassw) aor. "threw [the boy] into a convulsion - convulsed, he pulled about [him]. The prefix may serve to strengthen the verb ("to convulse completely"), but as it is only found here and in Luke, there is no agreement as to the intention of the prefix.

peswn (piptw) aor. part. "he fell" - [and] having fallen [upon the ground]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verb "convulsed".

afrizwn (afrizw) pres. part. "foaming at the mouth" - [he was rolling around] foaming at the mouth. The participle is adverbial, modal, expressing the manner of the action of the verb "he was rolling around", as NIV.

wJV (af oJu) "-" - [and he questioned the father of him, how much time is it] while/when. Here functioning as a temporal conjunction; "since", Cranfield.

autw/ dat. pro. "[has] he [been like this]" - [this has happened] to him? Dative of interest, disadvantage.

ek + gen. "from [childhood]" - [and he said] from [childhood]. The preposition here is temporal; "ever since he was a child", CEV.

"The father's words leave a vivid impression", Taylor.

iJna + subj. "to [kill him]" - [and often, many times and = also into fire it threw him and into waters] that [it might destroy him]. Here obviously introducing a purpose clause, "in order to destroy him."

alla "but" - but. Adversative / contrastive. The evil spirit is powerful, but Jesus is surely more powerful, so "nevertheless, if you are able ....", Gundry.

ei + ind. "if" - if. Introducing a conditional clause, 1st. class, where the proposed condition is assumed to be true, "if, as is the case, .... then ...." If ability is the issue here, with the disciples of Jesus unable to cast out the demon, so implying that Jesus is also unable, then why don't we have a 3rd., class conditional clause? None-the-less, doubt / caution is being expressed by the Father; he is unsure if Jesus has the power to deal with the situation. Indicated by his sharp response, this is certainly how Jesus views the man's statement.

dunh/ (dunamai) pres. pas. "you can do" - you are able to do. The complementary infinitive poiein, "to do" is assumed, so "you are able to do." The issue is one of ability, not willingness. Due to the disciples' failure, they being representatives of Jesus, the father is unsure whether Jesus "is able", how the power, to perform the exorcism.

ti acc. "anything" - a certain thing / anything. Object of the assumed infinitive.

splagcnisqeiV (splagcnizomai) aor. pas. part. "take pity on" - having compassion, pity, mercy. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the imperative verb "help [us]", therefore imperatival, although in the terms of a petition rather than a command; "do help us, do have pity on us", Moffatt.

hJmaV "us" - [upon] us. Taylor notes that by the use of the plural the father has identified himself with the child's condition.

hJmin dat. pro. "[help] us" - Dative of direct object after the verb bohqew, "to help"

"The issue posed hopefully, but tentatively by the father, is whether Jesus is able to do anything. With divine indignation, Jesus rejects the inquiry as a non-question - the one who represents the power of God cannot be questioned about his ability", Boring. "A man with real faith will refuse to set limits to God's power present in Jesus", Hunter.

de "-" - but/and [jesus said to him]. Transitional, indicating a step in the dialogue from the father to Jesus, "`if you can do anything', retorted Jesus", Phillips.

to "-" - the [if you are able]. A neuter article is commonly used in classical Gk. to introduce direct speech, or a quote, but it is more likely serving here as a nominalizer, turning the restatement of the protasis of the conditional clause, v22, into a nominative of exclamation, Wallace, 59-60.

panta adj. "everything" - all things. The adjective is used as a noun, nominative subject of an assumed verb to-be.

dunata adj. "possible" - are able, possible to do. Predicate adjective. Again the infinitive "to do" is assumed, so "all things are able to be done".

tw/ pisteuonti (pisteuw) dat. pres. part. "for him who believes" - to = for the one believing. The participle serves as a substantive, dative of interest, advantage, as NIV. This rather bald statement is often removed from its context and used to support wishful thinking. Cranfield lists the usual suspects, opting for "a man who has faith will not set any limit to what I (Jesus) (or perhaps God?) can do", although properly "what I said I will do." Effective faith entails reliance on the revealed will of God in Christ, a reliance that God will do what he says he will do.

The father's response causes the expositor no end of trouble. Calvin observes the contradiction of claiming to believe, but at the same time asking for help to overcome unbelief. "As our faith is never perfect, it follows that we are partly unbelievers." Calving suggests that the father is asking forbearance for his "little" / wavering faith. On the other hand, the father may wrongly think that the issue is quantitative? "Sir I do have faith - if it is not enough, do help me (ie., help me to increase it)", Hunter. Of course, we do well to remember that faith is not quantitative, since faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain, and this because God does the moving. It is also possible that the father "believes, but does not have faith as a possession to which he can appeal, and he knows he must pray (an expression of faith) for faith (which he does not claim to have)", Boring. Calvin's approach seems best. So, the father's words remind us that "true faith is always aware how small and inadequate it is", Edwards. The father does indeed believe, since he brought his child to be healed, but he exemplifies, not the "faithless generation", but the faithful who struggle with their faith - simil justus et peccator, "at once righteous and a sinner", Luther.

euquV adv. "immediately" - [and having cried out] immediately. Expressing again dramatic movement; "he responds promptly and without hesitation", Decker.

tou paidiou (on) gen. "of the child" - [the father] of the child. The genitive is adjectival, relational.

elegen (legw) imperf. "exclaimed" - was saying. Standing with the attendant circumstance participle "having exclaimed, cried out"; "cried out and said." "At once the father of the boy cried out", Moffatt.

bohqei (bohqew) pres. imp. "help" - [i believe] help, assist. Note the move from the aorist (punctiliar) "help", v22, to the present (durative) "help" here, expressing ongoing help for a lingering state of unbelief - a state common to humanity. As noted above, the father asks for forbearance.

th/ apistia/ (a) dat. "[my] unbelief" - the faithlessness, unbelief [of me]. Dative of direct object after the verb "to help."

iv] The exorcism, v25-27. Release is again effected through Jesus' powerful and authoritative word. The description of the near-death struggle of the child's release is possibly intended to image the death and resurrection of Jesus, through which the powers of darkness will soon be defeated.

Jesus continues maintaining the messianic secret by moving to complete the exorcism before the crowd can reform / increase. It is unclear what is happening with regard the crowd. Had Jesus moved away from the crowd to deal personally with the boy and his father, or is the crowd rapidly expanding, or is this a different crowd? It is likely that what we have is a crowd moving from one point to another. Initially gathered around the disciples, it moves, with some running, to meet Jesus as he comes down the mountain, and then again reforms around him.

idwn (eidon) aor. part. "when [Jesus] saw" - [and jesus] having seen. The Participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, as NIV, probably with a causal twist; "As Jesus saw that .....", Moffatt.

oJti "that" - that [a crowd is gathering]. Here introducing a dependent statement of perception expressing what Jesus became aware of; "Jesus noticed that a mob was collecting", Berkeley. The word "gathering" is strengthened by its prefixes and may express "hostile intent", TH. "The crowd closed in upon them", Manson.

epetimhsen (epitimaw) aor. "he rebuked" - he rebuked, commanded. Here obviously with the sense "command", a command with an implied threat. "It is I who order you", Barclay.

tw/ pneumati tw/ akaqartw/ dat. "the evil spirit" - the unclean spirit [saying to it]. Dative of direct object after the epi prefix verb "to rebuke." An example of the canon of Apollonius where two dependent nouns either both take an article, as here, or both lack it. We are now told that the "spirit" is "unclean", ie., of an evil force which makes a person ritually unclean and thus apart from the people of God; "a contaminating spirit".

to alalon kai kwfon pneuma "you deaf and mute spirit" - mute and deaf spirit. Nominative of address, rather than a vocative. Again more information is supplied in that this spirit is deaf, and thus by implication makes the possessed person deaf.

soi dat. pro. "you" - [i command] you. Dative of direct object after the epi prefix verb "to give orders to."

ex (ek) + gen. "of [him]" - [come out] from [him]. Expressing separation.

mhketi eiselqhV (eisercomai) aor. subj. "never enter again" - [and] no more may you enter [into him]. A subjunctive of prohibition, Wallace p469.

kraxaV (krazw) aor. part. "the spirit shrieked" - [and] having cried out. This participle, along with "having torn apart", are attendant circumstance expressing action accompanying the main verb "came out", but possible temporal; "after crying out and convulsing him terribly", ESV.

polla adv. "violently" - [and having torn apart] much [it came out]. Adverbial use of polluV. Probably referring to frequency, so "repeatedly", Gundry, but possibly "greatly".

wJsei aor. "like" - [and he became] as if, like [dead]. Comparative.

w{ste + inf. "that" - so that. This construction forms a consecutive clause, "with the result that many said".

pollouV adj. "many" - many, much. Probably "most of the crowd", even "all the crowd", BAGD, "all who were present", Cranfield. Gundry argues that the crowd demonstrates by this statement, a statement which expresses the victory of the evil powers, that it is indeed the faithless generation. Boring, on the other hand, argues that Mark is simply emphasising the boy's death-like state, as opposed to his being raised up, "to point to the Christ event as a whole and communicate resurrection faith".

oJti "-" - to say = said that [he died]. Introducing direct speech, what the crowd said.

krathsaV (kratew) aor. part. "took [him by the hand]" - [but jesus] having grasped [the hand of him]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verb "lifted /raised up", "grasped his hand and helped him up", but it may be treated adverbially, instrumental, expressing the means by which he lifted him up. "Hand", ceiroV, is a genitive of direct object after the verb "to take hold of."

anesth (anisthmi) aor. "he stood up" - [raised, lifted up him, and] he stood up, got up, arose. Note, also used of resurrection, ie., "lived again, came to life" after having died. Probably the sense is that the boy, having been helped to his feet by Jesus, is able to stand by himself "demonstrating his restoration to health", Guelich.

v] The disciples' failure, v28-29. In a short epilogue, Mark records the reason for the disciples' failure. The disciples faced a power that was beyond them and they could do nothing more than hand the matter over to the divine restorer.

eiselqontoV (eisercomai) gen. aor. part. "after [Jesus] had gone" - [and he] having entered. The genitive participle ,and its genitive subject, forms a genitive absolute construction, temporal. Noted as a typical loose use of the genitive absolute, reflecting Aramaic usage, cf., Zerwick #49.

eiV + acc "indoors" - into [a house]. Spatial; expressing the direction of the action and arrival at.

ephrwtwn (ephrwtaw) imperf. "asked" - [the disciples of him] were enquiring, questioning [him]. Imperfect is probably progressive / descriptive, expressing action that is in progress.

kat idian "privately" - according to ones own. Idiomatic; "apart / privately", Zerwick.

oJti "-" - that = why. Usually classified as an interrogative use of hoti = oJ + tiv, ie., introducing a question, as NIV.

ekbalein (ekballw) aor. inf. "drive [it] out" - [we were not able] to cast out [it]. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the negated verb "were not able".

en nhsteia/ "-" - in = by fasting. This variant is rejected by most commentators and translations. The preposition en is probably instrumental; "by fasting."

In Matthew's gospel Jesus answers the disciples' question with the words "because of your little faith", but Mark's point seems quite different. "This kind / type" of unclean spirit, a powerful kind (Mark has made this point in his description of the boy's symptoms), necessitates prayer. Seeing Jesus didn't pray, it is usually argued that the need for pray applies to the disciples. They needed to put the exorcism into divine hands, given its difficulty, rather than rely on their own abilities. This, of course, indirectly becomes a matter of faith; "prayer is faith turned to God", Grundmann. From the boy's father we learn the lesson of faith. He asks Jesus for forbearance and his prayer was answered. The point is, the situation faced by the disciples was beyond them; the evil power was too powerful for them. Not so for Jesus. When life crushes us, we can only hand the situation over to Jesus in the knowledge that ultimately it will all be set right, if not in this life, then certainly in the next.

touto to genoV "this kind" - [and he said to them] this sort, type, kind. The kind of unclean spirit that is powerful.

exelqein (exercomai) aor. inf. "[can] come out" - [is not able] to come out. The infinitive of the verb, "to come out / go out", in this context, stands for the passive of exelqein, "to be cast out", cf., Swete. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the negated verb "is able".

ei mh "only" - except. Introducing an exceptive clause, expressing a contrast by designating an exception.

en "by" - in, by [prayer]. Here taking an instrumental sense, "by means of".

Mark Introduction

Exposition

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