3:2

In 3:2, there are three clauses in Greek. The Berean Standard Bible has changed the Greek order of these clauses by moving the purpose statement from 3:3c to 3:3a. If it followed the Greek order it would read: They were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath in order to accuse Jesus. See the General Comment on 3:2a–c at the end of 3:2c regarding the order of the clauses in this verse.

3:2a

In order to accuse Jesus: This is a purpose clause. Jesus’ enemies wanted to accuse Jesus. In order to accuse him, they were watching him (3:2b).

In some languages it may be natural to move this to the beginning of the sentence as the Berean Standard Bible does or place it in a new sentence. For example:

They wanted to accuse Jesus
-or-
They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus

accuse Jesus: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as accuse Jesus means “to say that he is doing wrong things.” This is a term that describes what a person does in court when he says that someone has done something wrong. It can also be translated as:

bring a charge against Jesus
-or-
prosecute him

In some languages it may be necessary to say what the men wanted to accuse Jesus of doing. It may be possible to say:

accuse Jesus of doing wrong
-or-
accuse him of breaking the law
-or-
charge him with working on the rest day

3:2b

they were watching: The phrase they were watching means that some of the people in the synagogue carefully observed everything Jesus did. This verse does not indicate who these people were. However, the context makes it clear that they were some of Jesus’ enemies from the Pharisee party. In some languages it may be necessary to make that explicit. For example:

The Pharisees (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Jesus’ enemies (New Living Translation)

See the notes on “the Pharisees” and “Pharisees” in 3:6a.

3:2c

to see if He would heal: The pronoun He refers to Jesus. In some languages, the verb heal may require an explicit object so you may need to mention the man with a withered hand by pronoun or explicitly. For example:

to see if Jesus would heal the man with the paralyzed hand
-or-
to see if Jesus would heal him

on the Sabbath:

The Berean Standard Bible capitalizes the word Sabbath, other translations do not capitalize it (sabbath). In many languages it is probably not necessary to capitalize the term for Sabbath. However, if you decide to capitalize it, you should capitalize it consistently in your translation.
The word Sabbath is the name of the seventh and last day of the week for the Jews. This was the special day in the week when they rested and worshipped God. The Law of Moses said that the Jews must not work on that day (Deuteronomy 5:12–15).

Here are some other ways to translate Sabbath:

the Jewish rest day
-or-
the day for resting
-or-
the day to rest and worship God

If the word Sabbath is already known in your area, you may write it according to the sounds of your language. You may also want to include a phrase to explain the meaning. For example:

the Sabat, the Jews’ day for resting

Be careful that the term you choose is not confused with Sunday, the day when Christians worship. The Sabbath for the Jews began at sundown on Friday and went until sundown on Saturday. You may want to include a footnote to give more information. For example:

The Sabbath is a name for the seventh day of the week. It is the day when the Jews rested from work and worshipped God.

General Comment on 3:2a–c

In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder the verse parts in 3:2 in a similar way to the Berean Standard Bible.

Use a natural order in your language.

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