Mark 1:44

Mar 1:44 . εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς : for a testimony from priest to people, without which the leper would not be received as clean.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All the posterity of Aaron might judge of a leper.

He witnesseth that he was not moved with ambition, but with the only desire of his Father’s glory, and love toward poor sinners.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

44. shew thyself to the priest] that he may attest the reality of thy cure (Lev_14:3).

those things which Moses commanded] viz. (1) two birds, “alive and clean,” Lev_14:4, (2) cedar wood, (3) scarlet, and (4) hyssop; this was for the preliminary ceremony (Lev_14:4-7). On the eighth day further offerings were to be made, (1) two he lambs without blemish, (2) one ewe lamb, (3) three tenth deals of fine flour, (4) one log of oil. If the leper was poor, he was permitted to offer one lamb and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, with one tenth deal of fine flour.

for a testimony unto them] Rather, for a testimony against them, i. e. against their unbelief in refusing to acknowledge our Lord to be all He claimed to be in spite of His mighty works. Comp. Mar_6:11 with Luk_9:5.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And saith unto him, see thou say nothing to any man,.... By the way, till he came to the priest;

but go thy way, show thyself to the priest: the Syriac and Persic versions read, "to the priests"; and the Vulgate Latin renders it, "to the chief priest"; but any priest might judge of the cleansing of a leper;

and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them; See Gill on Mat 8:4.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

Ver. 44. {See Trapp on "Mat 8:3"} {See Trapp on "Mat 8:4"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It was not the intention of Christ, that he should not tell any body; had that been his wish, he would easily have realized it: he spoke thus purposely, to shew us that we ought not to seek the empty praises of men. He bade him also offer the sacrifices prescribed, because the law remained in full force till the passion of Christ, in which was offered a perfect sacrifice, that did away with all the legal sacrifices. (Nicholas of Lyra)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

See thou say nothing to any man. St. Chrysostom says that our Lord gave him this charge, "to shun ostentation, and to teach us not to boast of our virtues, but to hide them." It is evident that he wished to draw the thoughts of men away from his miracles, and to fix them upon his doctrine. Go thy way, show thyself to the priest; the priest who in the order of his course presided over the rest. Our Lord sent him to the priest, that he might be seen to recognize their special office in cases of leprosy; and further, that the priest himself might have clear evidence that this leper was cleansed, not after the custom of the Law, but by the operation of grace.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See thou say nothing to any man - But our blessed Lord gives no such charge to us. If he has made us clean from our leprosy of sin, we are not commanded to conceal it. On the contrary, it is our duty to publish it abroad, both for the honour of our Benefactor, and that others who are sick of sin may be encouraged to ask and hope for the same benefit. But go, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing what Moses commanded for a testimony to them - The priests seeing him, pronouncing him clean, Lev. xiii, 17, 23, 28, 37, and accordingly allowing him to offer as Moses commanded, Lev. xiv, 2, 7, was such a proof against them, that they durst never say the leper was not cleansed; which out of envy or malice against our saviour they might have been ready to say, upon his presenting himself to be viewed, according to the law, if by the cleansed person's talking much about his cure, the account of it had reached their ears before he came in person. This is one great reason why our Lord commanded this man to say nothing.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

44. Shew thyself to the priest. At Jerusalem. Those things which Moses commanded. See Lev. 14:4–7, and note on Matt. 8:4.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

44. Ὅρα μηδενὶ μηδὲν εἴπῃς. Winer, p. 625. The ὅρα and the double negative indicate the urgency of the command. Mk is fond of double negatives; Mar 2:2, Mar 3:27, Mar 5:3; Mar 5:37, Mar 7:12, Mar 9:8, Mar 11:2; Mar 11:14, Mar 12:34, Mar 14:25, Mar 15:4-5, Mar 16:8. Neither here nor at Mar 3:27, Mar 9:8, Mar 14:25 is there a double neg. in Mt. Elsewhere Mt. omits the sentence. The change from pres. imperat. to aor. is correct: Continually take care that thou do not begin to say to anyone at all; so also the change from ὕπαγε to δεῖξον. Compare the commandments with aorists (Mar 10:19), and contrast the presents (Mar 5:36, Mar 6:50, Mar 9:39). On these charges to keep silence see Sanday, J.T.S. Apr. 1904. In this case silence would prevent the man from mixing with others till he was pronounced clean by proper authority, and from producing unhealthy excitement in himself and his hearers; and there may have been other reasons affecting Christ Himself.

ὕπαγε. Cf. Mar 2:11, Mar 5:19; not in LXX., but found in Eur. and Aristoph. See on Mar 6:38.

σεαυτὸν δεῖξον. The emphasis on the pronoun makes the command more urgent. Christ does not assume the right to pronounce the man clean; for that He sends him to the proper official; cf. Luk 12:14.

ἃ προσέταξεν Μωϋσῆς. Christ is making no statement as to the authorship of the Pentateuch or of Leviticus 14. In accordance with current thought and language He speaks of the Pentateuch as “Moses” (Mar 7:10, Mar 10:3-4, Mar 12:26, etc.) and of the Psalms as “David” (Mar 12:36-37). Questions of authorship had not been raised, and He did not raise them or give any decision about them. See Plummer, S. Matthew, p. 311, and the literature there quoted. The important thing here is that He was no revolutionary teacher; He did not encourage men to ignore the Law. Hort, Jud. Chris. p. 29.

εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς. The words are in all three. The gift which the man offers is the “testimony,” and “to them” means “to the priests.” The offering would show them that there was among them One who could heal leprosy and yet did not take upon Himself to absolve men from their obligation to observe the Law. It would be testimonium de Messia praesente, legi non derogante (Beng.).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

44.] σεαυτόν, being prefixed to the verb, has an emphasis: trouble not thyself with talking to others, but go complete thine own case by getting thyself formally declared pure.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

44. Ὅρα, μηδενὶ μηδὲν εἴπῃς—Take heed lest you say anything to anybody.1 The reason for this prohibition is not the urgency of his performance of the legal requirements, with which nothing must be allowed to interfere, but the danger in which Jesus stood of just the results which followed his disobedience. His spreading the story prevented Jesus’ work in public, and forced him into retirement, and so Jesus forbade his telling it. And the words in which he warned him off this dangerous ground are made as sharp as possible. σεαυτὸν δεῖξον τῷ ἱερεῖ καὶ προσένεγκε—show thyself to the priest, and offer.2 εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς—for a testimony to them. These words are to be connected with δεῖξον and ὑπένεγκε—show thyself to the priest, and make the prescribed offering, for a testimony to them. Take this official way, authorized and prescribed by the law, of testifying to your cure. This case, taken by itself, would be one of subservience to the law. And Weiss makes it the text of a discourse on Jesus’ strict conformity to the law, ceremonial as well as moral.3 But this is an evident overstatement, to say the least. Jesus’ general position is that of a Jew, conforming himself, as any sane man would, to Jewish law and custom. And yet, sometimes he acts as if there was no such law. But in both observance and non-observance, he acts simply as a rational spirit, bound by definite principles, but conforming to fixed rules only so far as they do not interfere with the principles. Take, e.g., what he says about the higher law in its relation to the Sabbath, and about the principle of fasting. In this very case, his touch of the leper made him unclean, so that his action combined both observance and non-observance. And in his discourse about eating with unwashed hands, he abrogates the distinction between clean and unclean. No, to judge of his action here in a large way, it is apparent that Jesus would not have encouraged the man to disregard the law, and might very likely have bidden him observe it, just as he would himself. But this insistence on it can scarcely be attributed to Jesus’ anxiety or scrupulosity about ceremonial law. But the provision for official announcement of the cure to a single person in Jerusalem, by taking the place of publishing it abroad in Galilee, gave Jesus an opportunity to supplement his prohibition with a reminder of what the law provided in such cases.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.