If many of these verses seem familiar, they should. I chose many of the exercises in the Workbook from the early chapters of Mark.
Paralytic and Forgiveness
2:1 Καὶ εἰσελθὼν πάλιν εἰς Καφαρναοὺμ δι᾽ ἡμερῶν1 ἠκούσθη ὅτι ἐν οἴκῳ2 ἐστίν. 2:2 καὶ συνήχθησαν πολλοὶ ὥστε μηκέτι χωρεῖν3 μηδὲ τὰ4 πρὸς τὴν θύραν, καὶ ἐλάλει αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον. 2:3 καὶ ἔρχονται5 φέροντες πρὸς αὐτὸν παραλυτικὸν αἰρόμενον ὑπὸ τεσσάρων. 2:4 καὶ μὴ δυνάμενοι προσενέγκαι αὐτῷ διὰ τὸν ὄχλον ἀπεστέγασαν6 τὴν στέγην7 ὅπου ἦν, καὶ ἐξορύξαντες8 χαλῶσι9 τὸν κράβαττον ὅπου ὁ παραλυτικὸς κατέκειτο. 2:5 καὶ ἰδὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς10 τὴν πίστιν αὐτῶν λέγει τῷ παραλυτικῷ· τέκνον, ἀφίενταί11 σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι. 2:6 ἦσαν δέ τινες τῶν γραμματέων ἐκεῖ καθήμενοι καὶ διαλογιζόμενοι ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν· 2:7 τί οὗτος οὕτως λαλεῖ; βλασφημεῖ· τίς δύναται ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεός;12 2:8 καὶ εὐθὺς ἐπιγνοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς τῷ πνεύματι αὐτοῦ ὅτι οὕτως διαλογίζονται ἐν ἑαυτοῖς λέγει αὐτοῖς· τί ταῦτα διαλογίζεσθε ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν; 2:9 τί ἐστιν εὐκοπώτερον,13 εἰπεῖν τῷ παραλυτικῷ· ἀφίενταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι, ἢ εἰπεῖν· ἔγειρε καὶ ἆρον τὸν κράβαττόν σου καὶ περιπάτει;14 2:10 ἳνα δὲ εἰδῆτε ὅτι ἐξουσίαν ἔχει ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς — λέγει τῷ παραλυτικῷ· 2:11 σοὶ λέγω, ἔγειρε ἆρον τὸν κράβαττόν σου καὶ ὕπαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου. 2:12 καὶ ἠγέρθη καὶ εὐθὺς ἄρας15 τὸν κράβαττον ἐξῆλθεν ἔμπροσθεν πάντων, ὥστε ἐξίστασθαι16 πάντας καὶ δοξάζειν τὸν θεὸν λέγοντας ὅτι οὕτως οὐδέποτε εἴδομεν.
Calling of Levi
2:13 Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν πάλιν παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν· καὶ πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος ἤρχετο πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ ἐδίδασκεν αὐτούς. 2:14 Καὶ παράγων εἶδεν Λευὶν τὸν17 τοῦ Ἁλφαίου καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον,18 καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· ἀκολούθει μοι. καὶ ἀναστὰς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ.
2:15 Καὶ γίνεται19 κατακεῖσθαι20 αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ πολλοὶ τελῶναι καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ συνανέκειντο21 τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· ἦσαν γὰρ πολλοὶ καὶ ἠκολούθουν αὐτῷ. 2:16 καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς τῶν Φαρισαίων ἰδόντες ὅτι ἐσθίει μετὰ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ τελωνῶν ἔλεγον τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· ὅτι μετὰ τῶν τελωνῶν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐσθίει;22 2:17 καὶ ἀκούσας ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς [ὅτἲ οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱ ἰσχύοντες ἰατροῦ23 ἀλλ᾽ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες·24 οὐκ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλούς.25
Conflict over Fasting
2:18 Καὶ ἦσαν οἱ μαθηταὶ Ἰωάννου καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι νηστεύοντες. καὶ ἔρχονται καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· διὰ τί οἱ μαθηταὶ Ἰωάννου καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ τῶν Φαρισαίων νηστεύουσιν, οἱ δὲ σοὶ μαθηταὶ οὐ νηστεύουσιν; 2:19 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· μὴ δύνανται οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ νυμφῶνος26 ἐν ᾧ27 ὁ νυμφίος μετ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐστιν νηστεύειν;28 ὅσον χρόνον ἔχουσιν τὸν νυμφίον μετ᾽ αὐτῶν οὐ δύνανται νηστεύειν. 2:20 ἐλεύσονται δὲ ἡμέραι ὅταν ἀπαρθῇ29 ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ὁ νυμφίος, καὶ τότε νηστεύσουσιν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ. 2:2130 Οὐδεὶς ἐπίβλημα31 ῥάκους32 ἀγνάφου33 ἐπιράπτει34 ἐπὶ ἱμάτιον παλαιόν· εἰ δὲ μή, αἴρει τὸ πλήρωμα ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὸ καινὸν τοῦ παλαιοῦ καὶ χεῖρον σχίσμα35 γίνεται. 2:22 καὶ οὐδεὶς βάλλει οἶνον νέον εἰς ἀσκοὺς παλαιούς· εἰ δὲ μή, ῥήξει36 ὁ οἶνος τοὺς ἀσκοὺς καὶ ὁ οἶνος ἀπόλλυται καὶ οἱ ἀσκοί· ἀλλὰ οἶνον νέον εἰς ἀσκοὺς καινούς.
Conflict over Eating on the Sabbath
2:23 Καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς σάββασιν παραπορεύεσθαι37 διὰ τῶν σπορίμων,38 καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἤρξαντο ὁδὸν ποιεῖν τίλλοντες39 τοὺς στάχυας.40 2:24 καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι ἔλεγον αὐτῷ· ἴδε τί ποιοῦσιν τοῖς σάββασιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν; 2:25 καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· οὐδέποτε41 ἀνέγνωτε τί ἐποίησεν Δαυὶδ ὅτε χρείαν ἔσχεν καὶ ἐπείνασεν42 αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, 2:26 πῶς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ43 Ἀβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως44 ἔφαγεν, οὓς οὐκ ἔξεστιν φαγεῖν εἰ μὴ τοὺς ἱερεῖς, καὶ ἔδωκεν καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ οὖσιν; 2:27 καὶ ἔλεγεν45 αὐτοῖς· τὸ σάββατον διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐγένετο καὶ οὐχ ὁ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὸ σάββατον· 2:28 ὥστε κύριός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ τοῦ σαββάτου.
Conflict over Healing on the Sabbath
3:1 Καὶ εἰσῆλθεν πάλιν εἰς τὴν συναγωγήν. καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπος ἐξηραμμένην46 ἔχων τὴν χεῖρα. 3:2 καὶ παρετήρουν αὐτὸν εἰ τοῖς σάββασιν θεραπεύσει αὐτόν, ἳνα κατηγορήσωσιν αὐτοῦ. 3:3 καὶ λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ τὴν ξηρὰν χεῖρα ἔχοντι· ἔγειρε εἰς τὸ μέσον. 3:4 καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν ἀγαθὸν ποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ἀποκτεῖναι; οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων. 3:5 καὶ περιβλεψάμενος αὐτοὺς μετ᾽ ὀργῆς, συλλυπούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρα. καὶ ἐξέτεινεν καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ. 3:6 καὶ ἐξελθόντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι εὐθὺς μετὰ τῶν Ἡρῳδιανῶν συμβούλιον ἐδίδουν κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν.
Congratulations
You made it through. Wonderful. I am sure it has taken a lot of effort and perhaps some tears to get this far. But now you are done with the building blocks of the language, and the real fun begins. Enjoy your Greek studies.
I will let you assign your own title to the picture on the next page.
Copyright 1975 Bill Mounce
1. BDAG gives a meaning for δία as throughout, through, during. It is used somewhat idiomatically with different words to indicate some concept of time. With ἡμέρα you can probably guess its meaning, through days, in other words, after some days.
2. ἐν οἴκῳ is idiomatic, but you can see what it means.
3. Did you remember that ὥστε plus infinitive has a special use?
4. Hint: The article is making the following prepositional phrase substantival. The neuter τά tells you Mark is not talking about people.
5. Did you notice ἔρχονται is present tense? When Greek wants to make a past story more vivid, it can shift into the present tense. We do the same thing in English, but Greek does it a lot more and so translators often ignore it. It is called an “historical present.”
6. ἀποστεγάζω, I unroof, remove the roof (1).
7. στέγη, -ης, ἡ, roof (3).
8. ἐξορύσσω, I dig out (2).
9. χαλάω, I let down (7).
10. Hint: Is Ἰησοῦς part of the participial phrase?
11. Hint: This is a compound verb formed with the preposition ἀπό (which has been changed to ἀφ).
12. Hint: What is the relationship of ὁ θεός to εἷς? Did you notice that εἷς is an adjective (not a preposition) and that it is not in an attributive position?
13. εὔκοπος, -ον, In our literature only as a comparative, εὐκοπώτερος, easier (7).
14. Which is easier to say? Why?
15. Hint: This root takes a first aorist, but it is also liquid.
16. Hint: This is a compound verb, and the verbal root is a μι verb.
17. As is often the case, the word this article modifies is missing, and therefore the following genitive has no expressed head noun. What is the noun?
18. τελώνιον, -ου, τό, revenue or tax office (3).
19. Καὶ γίνεται is idiomatic, somewhat like καὶ ἐγένετο.
20. Hint: This infinitive expresses the temporal idea while.
21. συνανάκειμαι, I recline at table with (7).
22. The question mark shows that the editors of the Greek text think the “scribes of the Pharisees” are asking a question, not making a charge. How, then, will you translate ὅτι?
23. ἰατρός, -οῦ, ὁ, physician (7).
24. This is an idiom, but you should be able to figure it out.
25. Can you feel Jesus’ sarcasm?
26. νυμφών, -ῶνος, ὁ, wedding hall, bridal chamber (3).
27. In this context, ἐν ᾧ is a temporal idiom meaning when.
28. Let me change the order of the Greek, and maybe that will help you with this sentence. Translate it first as a statement, and then turn it into a question. μή tells you what about the question? μὴ οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ νυμφῶνος δύνανται νηστεύειν ἐν ᾧ ὁ νυμφίος ἐστιν μετ᾽ αὐτῶν;
29. ἀπαίρω, I take away (3).
30. This is a hard sentence, so don’t get frustrated if you can’t translate it. ῥάκους ἀγνάφου is called a “genitive of material,” telling you what the patch is made of. εἰ δὲ μή is an idiom that means otherwise. The definition of πλήρωμα in the grammar is fullness, which doesn’t work here; it is another word for patch. And finally, you can put commas around τὸ καινὸν τοῦ παλαιοῦ, the genitive conveying the idea of from.
31. ἐπίβλημα, -ματος, τό, patch (4).
32. ῥάκος, -ους, τό, tattered garment, piece of cloth (2).
33. ἄγναφος, -ον, unshrunken, new (2).
34. ἐπιράπτω, I sow (1).
35. σχίσμα, -ματος, τό, split, division, tear, crack (8).
36. ῥήγνυμι, I tear, burst, break (6).
37. παραπορεύομαι, I go by or through (5).
38. σπόριμος, -ον, sown. As a noun, grain(field) (3).
39. τίλλω, I pluck, pick (3).
40. στάχυς, -υος, ὁ, head (of wheat), ear (of corn) (5).
41. You will need to look at the end of this sentence (v. 26) to understand the nuance of this negative.
42. Hint: The alpha is not a contract vowel.
43. ἐπί is specifying when the event occurred.
44. The definition of πρόθεσις in the grammar is plan, purpose, which doesn’t work here. It is called bread of the Presence, the sacred bread.
45. Interesting use of the imperfect. Why do you think Mark used this tense? It goes back to the imperfect in v. 24.
46. The lexical form of ἐξηραμμένην is ξηραίνω.