Passage

Mark 2.5

Book: Mark · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"3. And they come, bringing unto him a man sick of the palsy, borne of four. 4. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed whereon the sick of the palsy lay."

"5. And Jesus seeing their faith saith unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins are forgiven."

"6. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. Why doth this man thus speak? he blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but one, even God?" (Mark 2:3-7, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"3. Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him. 4. When they could not come near to him for the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on."

"5. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”"

"6. But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. “Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”" (Mark 2:3-7, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"3. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. 4. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay."

"5. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee."

"6. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?" (Mark 2:3-7, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"3. And they come unto him, bringing a paralytic, borne by four, 4. and not being able to come near to him because of the multitude, they uncovered the roof where he was, and, having broken [it] up, they let down the couch on which the paralytic was lying,"

"5. and Jesus having seen their faith, saith to the paralytic, 'Child, thy sins have been forgiven thee.'"

"6. And there were certain of the scribes there sitting, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. 'Why doth this one thus speak evil words? who is able to forgive sins except one, God?'" (Mark 2:3-7, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Mark (narrator) reporting Jesus
Audience: the crowd in Capernaum + the scribes (whose internal reaction in vv. 6-7 supplies the narrative's interpretive frame); ultimately the Markan Roman-Gentile readership
Location: a house in Capernaum (per 2:1)
Time period: events c. AD 28 (early Galilean ministry); composed c. AD 55-70
Narrative context: the healing of the paralytic let down through the roof. The episode is the first of five Galilean-controversy pericopes (Mk 2:1-3:6) in which Jesus's authority-claims provoke opposition. The forgiveness-pronouncement (v. 5) immediately triggers the scribes' (correct) recognition that only God forgives sins (v. 7); Jesus's subsequent healing (vv. 10-12) is the evidential demonstration of His authority to make the pronouncement.

Theological reading

Mark 2:5 is one of the highest-density Christological data-points in the Synoptic tradition. The narrative-logic of the scene depends on the scribes' (theologically correct) recognition that who can forgive sins but God only? (v. 7). Jewish covenantal theology in the Second Temple period held that sin is offense against God, and forgiveness is therefore God's prerogative alone; a priest could declare forgiveness on God's behalf through the sacrificial-system, but no Jewish figure was understood as personally forgiving sin by sovereign-pronouncement. Jesus's legei ("saith") in 2:5 is doing two simultaneous theological jobs. First, the speech-act itself is the forgiveness, the Greek perfect aphientai ("are forgiven", having-been-and-remaining-forgiven) treats the verbal pronouncement as constitutive of the forgiveness-state. Second, the speaker is taking the divine-prerogative position: He does not say "may God forgive thee" or "thou art forgiven by God's sacrificial system"; He says "thy sins are forgiven" in His own person, by His own authority. The scribes are right that this is blasphemy unless the speaker is divine. Jesus's subsequent visible-healing (vv. 10-12) is supplied as evidential-warrant: "that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins". The healing is not the point; the healing is the evidence of the point, which is the forgiveness-authority. The passage is foundational for the Markan-and-broader-NT case for Christ's deity: Jesus claims a divine prerogative in His own person, and the narrative offers visible-evidential confirmation.

Key words

G3004 - lego, legō (Strong's G3004), the legei speech-tag; the verb is doing significant theological work because the saying is itself the forgiving, and divine speech is performative-creative (Gen 1:3; Ps 33:9).

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.