3:10–12

In 3:10–12 Mark explained why the crowd of people might crush Jesus (3:9). They knew that he had healed many people, and they wanted Jesus to heal them also. People who were controlled by demons added more disorder by kneeling in front of him and shouting out who he was.

Express the explanation in 3:10–12 in a natural way in your language. There may be special ways to indicate such explanations, such as certain verb forms. Here is an example from the God’s Word:

9d…so that the crowd would not crush him. 10He had cured so many that everyone with a disease rushed up to him in order to touch him. 11Whenever people with evil spirits saw him, they would fall down in front of him and shout, “You are the Son of God!” 12He gave them orders not to tell people who he was.

Notice the verb forms and conjunctions that are underlined. The explanation describes events that happened often when Jesus was with a crowd.

3:10a

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces an explanation of 3:9. Introduce this explanation in a natural way in your language. In some languages a connector may not be needed.

He had healed: The tense of the Greek verb meaning He had healed indicates that Jesus had already healed many people.

many: The word many refers to many sick people.

3:10b

that: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as that indicates that what follows is the result of Jesus having healed so many people.

Here some other ways to translate this:

10aThere had been many healings that day. 10bAs a result, many sick people were crowding around him… (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
-or-
He had healed many people, so all the sick were pushing toward him to touch him. (New Century Version)

all who had diseases: Here are some other ways to translate the phrase all who had diseases:

the people who were sick
-or-
the sick people

were pressing forward: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as were pressing forward is literally “falling on him.” It indicates that the people were approaching eagerly and forcefully. They were pushing against each other and forcing their way forward to get near Jesus.

to touch Him: The phrase to touch Him tells why the people were pushing forward. They were pushing in order to touch him.

There is implied information here. The people believed that if they touched Jesus, they would be healed. In some languages, it may be necessary to add this information. For example:

to touch him so that they would be healed

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