Mark 2:4

Mar_2:4

They uncovered the roof where He was.

Daring faith

These roofs are substantially built, as they need to be, since the whole family habitually walked and slept upon them. They broke up and uncovered a part of the roof. But one would have thought that even then they were as far off from Jesus as ever. It must have required a daring faith in those four men to conceive and carry out the course they took. They let down their neighbour in a bed, which they had slung to ropes, into the room where Jesus was talking with rabbis of all the schools, but they uttered no request. One would like to know the names of these four good men, good neighbours, good friends. The fact that we know not their names suggests to us that Christ cares for men whose names the world has never heard of, and never will hear; for the lowly and inconspicuous, no less than for the famous and the great. (S. Cox, D. D.)

Doing difficult work

When you cannot do a good thing, then is the very time to do it. If it cannot be done in one way, do it in another. If there is no way of doing it on the ground level, get up on to the roof and do it. Where there is a will, there is a way. The best work done in the world has been work that could not be done; and there is rarely a time when you ought not to do something that cannot be done-as it seems to you. (H. C. Trumbull.)

The potency of faith in Christian work

I. True faith is always concerned for the welfare of others. These men manifestly worked disinterestedly. So faith always acts; like the sister grace of charity, she seeketh not her own.

II. True faith always looks to Christ as the centre of its operations. Not forms or ceremonies, or ministers, or churches, or even the Bible itself, but Christ is the only Saviour of the lost.

III. True faith is fertile in expedients for overcoming difficulties. Have we exhausted all ingenuity in seeking souls?

IV. True faith meets with its appropriate reward. What a reward for their faith! Here is infinitely more than they ever expected (Eph_3:20). Learn-that faith is essentially practical; that religion is promoted by the exertions of believers; that to bring others to Jesus is the noblest achievement of man. (W. W. Smith.)

Faith seen by Christ

On none of these qualities did Christ fix as an explanation of the fact. He went deeper. He traced it to the deepest source of power that exists in the mind of man. When Jesus saw their faith. For as love is deepest in the Being of God, so faith is the mightiest principle in the soul of man. Let us distinguish their several essences. Love is the essence of the Deity-that which makes it Deity. Faith is the essence of Humanity, which constitutes it what it is. And, as here, it is the warring principle of this world which wins in lifes battle. No wonder that it is written in Scripture-This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. No wonder it is said, All things are possible to him that believeth. It is that which wrestles with difficulty, removes mountains, tramples upon impossibilities. It is this spirit which in the common affairs of life, known as a sanguine temperament, never says impossible and never believes in failure, leads the men of the world to their most signal successes, making them believe a thing possible because they hope it; and giving substantial reality to that which before was a shadow and a dream. It was this substance of things hoped for that gave America to Columbus, when billows, miles deep, rose between him and the land, and the men he commanded well- nigh rose in rebellion against the obstinacy which believed in things not yet seen. It was this that crowned the Mahomedan arms for seven centuries with victory: so long as they believed themselves the champions of the One God with a mission from Him, they were invincible. And it is this which so often obtains for some new system of medicine the honour of a cure, when the real cause of cure is only the patients trust in the remedies. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:4 because of the crowd: See 2:1. • The roof would have been flat, constructed of mud, thatch, and branches. They literally dug a hole to make an opening.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 2:4. Ἀπεστέγασαν) they took off the roof) out of love, without doing injury. [So faith penetrates through all obstacles (Mar 2:5) to reach Christ.—V. g.] It is probable that it was a cottage [tugurium, hut], not a large house.—ἐξορύξαντες, digging out) the ceiling, beneath the tiles of the roof, so as to make a large aperture. The people crowding in numbers, had caused great delay in reaching Christ.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 2:4 . The particulars in this verse not in Mt., who did not care how they found their way to Jesus; enough for him that they succeeded somehow . προσεγγίσαι (T. R.): here only in N. T. to approach; προσενέγκαι (W.H [8] ), to bring near (the sick man understood) to Him, Jesus. ἀπεστέγασαν τ . σ ., removed the roof, to which they would get access by an outside stair either from the street or from the court. ὅπου ἦν , where He was; where was that? in an upper room (Lightfoot and Vitringa), or in a room in a one-storied house (Holtz., H. C.), or not in a room at all, but in the atrium or compluvium , the quadrangle of the house (Faber, Archäol. , Jahn, Archäol. ). In the last-mentioned case they would have to remove the parapet (battlement, Deu 22:8 ) and let the man down into the open space. ἐξορύξαντες : not something additional to but explanatory of ἀπεστέγασαν = they unroofed by digging through the material tiles, laths, and plaster. κράβαττον : a small portable couch, for the poor, for travellers, and for sick people; condemned by Phryn., p. 62; σκίμπους the correct word. Latin grabatus , which may have led Mk. to use the term in the text.

[8] Westcott and Hort.

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

They brake up the upper part of the house, which was plain, and let down the man that was sick of the palsy, into the lower part where Christ preached, for they could not otherwise come into his sight.

The word signifieth the worst kind of bed, whereupon men used to lay down themselves at noontide, and such other times, to refresh themselves: we call it a couch.

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

And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press--or, as in Luke (Luk 5:19), "when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude," they "went upon the housetop"--the flat or terrace-roof, universal in Eastern houses.

they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed--or portable couch

wherein the sick of the palsy lay--Luke (Luk 5:19) says, they "let him down through the tilling with his couch into the midst before Jesus." Their whole object was to bring the patient into the presence of Jesus; and this not being possible in the ordinary way, because of the multitude that surrounded Him, they took the very unusual method here described of accomplishing their object, and succeeded. Several explanations have been given of the way in which this was done; but unless we knew the precise plan of the house, and the part of it from which Jesus taught--which may have been a quadrangle or open court, within the buildings of which Peter's house was one, or a gallery covered by a veranda--it is impossible to determine precisely how the thing was done. One thing, however, is clear, that we have both the accounts from an eye-witness.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. They uncovered the roof] The houses in the east are generally made flat-roofed, that the inhabitants may have the benefit of taking the air on them; they are also furnished with battlements round about, De 22:8; Jdg 16:27; and 2Sa 11:2, to prevent persons from falling off; and have a trap door by which they descend into the house. This door, it appears, was too narrow to let down the sick man and his couch; so they uncovered the roof, removed a part of the tiles; and having broken it up, taken away the laths or timber, to which the tiles had been attached, they then had room to let down the afflicted man. See Lu 5:19, and on Mt 10:27; Mt 24:17.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) They uncovered the roof . . . when they had broken it up.—The strong expressions of the injury done to the roof are peculiar to St. Mark. St. Luke gives, “through the tiles.”

They let down the bed.—St. Mark uses a different word from St. Matthew, the Greek form of the Latin word grabatus, the pallet or camp-bed used by the poor. The same word appears in Joh_5:8-10, and in Act_5:15; Act_9:33, but not at all in St. Matthew or St. Luke.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. they uncovered the roof] They appear (1) to have ascended to the flat roof probably by a flight of steps outside (Luk_5:19); (2) to have broken up the tiling or thin stone slabs, sometimes used at this day; (3) to have lowered the paralytic upon his bed through the opening into the presence of the Great Healer. The room was probably an upper-chamber, which often extended over the whole area of the house. For other notices of such upper-rooms compare Act_1:13; Act_9:37; Act_20:8.

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.

When Jesus saw their faith,.... The faith of the sick man, and his friends, who seemed confident, that could they get at Christ, a cure would be wrought: the faith of the one appears in suffering himself to be brought in such a manner, under so much weakness; and with so much trouble; and of the other in bringing him, and breaking through so many difficulties to get him to Christ.

He said unto the sick of the palsy, son, thy sins be forgiven thee; pointing and striking at the root of his disorder, his sins. Christ calls him son, though, in this afflicted condition a person may be a child of God, and yet greatly afflicted by him; afflictions are not arguments against, but rather for sonship: "for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?" He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth, and by chastising them, dealeth with them as with sons; and such as are without chastisement are bastards, and not sons, Heb 12:6, yea he calls him a son, though a sinful creature, and who had not, as yet, until these words were spoken by Christ, any discovery and application of pardoning grace unto him: he was a son of God by divine predestination, being predestinated to the adoption of children: he was a son by virtue of the covenant of grace, he was interested in, as appears by his enjoying pardon of sin, a blessing of it; which runs thus, "I will be their Father, and they shall be my sons and daughters", Co2 6:18. He was one of the children which were given to Christ as in such a relation: and for the sake of whom Christ was now a partaker of flesh and blood, and in a little time was to die for them, in order to gather them together, who were scattered abroad. The blessing Christ conferred on this poor man is of the greatest consequence and importance, forgiveness of sin: it is what springs from the grace and mercy of God; it is provided in a promise in the covenant of grace; Christ was sent to shed his blood to procure it, in a way consistent with the holiness and justice of God; and this being done, it is published in the Gospel, and is a most considerable article in it, and than which, nothing can be more desirable to a sensible sinner: and blessed are they that are partakers of it, their sins will never be imputed to them; they will never be remembered more; they are blotted out of God's book of debts; they are covered out of his sight, and are removed as far as the east is from the west, even all their sins, original and actual, secret or open, of omission, or commission; See Gill on Mat 9:2.

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

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.

Ver. 4. They uncovered the roof] Which in those countries was flat, so that they might walk upon it, Deu 22:8, preach upon it, Mat 10:27, &c.

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.

Such diligence ought to be used to bring sinners to Christ, by means of the sacraments, as was used to procure for this man, through Christ, the health of his body. (Bristow)

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).

They uncovered the roof - Or, took up the covering, the lattice or trap door, which was on all their houses, (being flat roofed.) And finding it not wide enough, broke the passage wider, to let down the couch.

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

4. προσενέγκαι ([229][230][231] 33) rather than προσεγγίσαι ([232][233][234][235][236]).

[229] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[230] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[231] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[232] Codex Alexandrinus. 5th cent. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to King Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. The whole Gospel. Photographic facsimile, 1879.

[233] Codex Ephraemi. 5th cent. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out, and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it; but a great deal of the original writing has been recovered; of Mark we have Mar 1:17 to Mar 6:31, Mar 8:5 to Mar 12:29, Mar 13:19 to Mar 16:20. In the National Library at Paris.

[234] Codex Bezae. 6th cent. Has a Latin translation (d) side by side with the Greek text, and the two do not quite always agree. Presented by Beza to the University Library of Cambridge in 1581. Remarkable for its frequent divergences from other texts. Contains Mark, except Mar 16:15-20, which has been added by a later hand. Photographic facsimile, 1899.

[235] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mar 3:35 to Mar 6:20.

[236] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

4. μὴ δυνάμενοι. The μή does not necessarily give their view; “because they saw that they could not”: in N.T., μή with participles is normal; Mar 5:26, Mar 6:34, Mar 8:1, Mar 12:21; Mar 12:24. Blass, § 75. 5; J. H. Moulton, p. 231.

προσενέγκαι. See crit. note. An outside staircase leading to the flat roof is not uncommon in Palestinian houses, the roof being used for various purposes. If there was no staircase, ladders could be obtained, and the roof would be no great distance from the ground. Men who were so much in earnest would not think getting on to the roof and removing a small portion of it an insuperable difficulty. There has been needless discussion of a simple matter; and to treat the whole narrative as fiction, because we have no certain explanation of this interesting detail, is not sane criticism. It is not even necessary to surmise that Mk and Lk. are thinking of two different kinds of houses.

διὰ τὸν ὄχλον. Mk commonly has ὄχλος (Mar 2:13, Mar 3:9; Mar 3:20; Mar 3:32, Mar 4:1; Mar 4:36, etc., etc.), the others, ὄχλοι.

ἀπεστέγασαν τὴν στέγην. They unroofed the roof. A rare verb, not found elsewhere in N.T., or in LXX. Lk.’s διὰ κεράμων shows that only part of the roof was removed, just the part above the place where Christ was teaching. This verb and ἐξορύξαντες illustrate Mk’s correct use of compound verbs; cf. Mar 2:15, Mar 3:5, Mar 4:5; Mar 4:7. The men would “dig out” whatever clay or mortar had to be removed, so as to cause as little inconvenience as possible to those in the room below; in Gal 4:15 and in LXX., ἐξορύσσω is used of gouging out eyes. Burglars who break into houses are said to “dig through” (διορύσσω) the mud walls (Mat 6:20). These difficulties in bringing the patient to the Healer tested the faith of all five, and thereby strengthened it.

χαλῶσι τὸν κράβαττον. They let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. Cf. Act 9:25 and 2Co 11:33 of St Paul being let down in a basket. The κράβαττος (Mar 6:55; cf. Joh 5:8-11; Act 5:15; Act 9:33) would be the rug or mattress on which they carried him to the house. Mt. and Lk. adopt a more literary word; but κλίνη, like “bed,” suggests something larger than a κράβαττος, and therefore less likely to be used. When Lk. comes to the letting down through the roof, he changes κλίνη, “bed” to κλινίδιον, “couch” (A.V., R.V.), but no distinction is made in A.V. or E.V. between κράβαττος and κλίνη. The spelling of κράβαττος varies greatly in MSS. of N.T. and in papyri. The Latin grabatus or grabatum commonly means a poor kind of bed, a pallet; grabatis tegetibusque concepti (Mart. vi. 39). Coelius Aurelianus, the famous physician, says, eos quiescere jubemus lecto mutato, ad grabata aegros transferendo. Κραβάτειος = cubicularius is found in inscriptions.

κατέκειτο. Was lying. Christ does not rebuke him or his bearers for interrupting His teaching.

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.

4.] It would appear that Jesus was speaking to the crowd from the upper story of the house, they being assembled in the court, or perhaps (but less probably) in the street. Those who bore the paralytic ascended the stairs which led direct from the street to the flat roof of the house, and let him down through the tiles (διὰ τῶν κεραμῶν, Luke). See the extract from Dr. Robinson, describing the Jewish house, in note on Mat 26:69.

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

4. Καὶ μὴ δυνάμενοι προσενέγκαι—And as (they saw that) they were unable to bring him to him. μὴ shows that their inability is not viewed simply as a fact, but in their view of it, as it influenced their minds.4

προσενέγκαι, instead of προσεγγίσαι, Tisch. Treg. marg. WH. RV.marg. א BL 33, 63, 72 marg. 253, two mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Memph. Harcl. etc.

ἀπεστέγασαν τὴν στέγην—they unroofed the roof. Uncovered, EV., does not render the paronomasia of the Greek.5 ἐξορύξαντες—having dug it out. This describes the process of unroofing. It would imply probably some sort of thatched roof. χαλῶσι τὸν κράβαττον—they let down the pallet. The noun denotes any slight bed, such as might be used to carry the sick about the streets, a stretcher.6 ὅπου—where (on).

ὅπου, instead of ἐφʼ ᾦ Tisch. Treg. WH. א BDL two mss. Lat. Vet.

The roofs of Eastern houses were flat. Access to the roof would be easy by an outside stairway or ladder. The description, moreover, implies that this house had only one story, according with what we know of the humble position and means of Jesus and his followers.

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

Come nigh unto him [προσεγγισαι] . The word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. But some read prosenegkai bring him unto him. So Rev., in margin.

They uncovered [απεστεγασαν] . The only use of the word in New Testament.

Broken it up [εξορυξαντες] . Lit., scooped it out. Very graphic and true to fact. A modern roof would be untiled or unshingled; but an oriental roof would have to be dug to make such an opening as was required. A composition of mortar, tar, ashes, and sand is spread upon the roofs, and rolled hard, and grass grows in the crevices. On the houses of the poor in the country the grass grows more freely, and goats may be seen on the roofs cropping it. In some cases, as in this, stone slabs are laid across the joists. See Luk 5:19, where it is said they let him down through the tiles; so that they would be obliged, not only to dig through the grass and earth, but also to pry up the tiles. Compare Psa 79:6.

The bed [κραβαττον] . One of Mark's Latin words, grabatus, and condemned by the grammarians as inelegant. A rude pallet, merely a thickly padded quilt or mat, held at the corners, and requiring no cords to let it down. They could easily reach the roof by the steps on the outside, as the roof is low; or they could have gone into an adjoining house and passed along the roofs. Some suppose that the crowd was assembled in an upper chamber, which sometimes extended over the whole area of the house. It is not possible accurately to reproduce the details of the scene. Dr. Thomson says that Jesus probably stood in the lewan or reception - room, a hall which is entered from the court or street by an open arch; or he may have taken his stand in the covered court in front of the house itself, which usually has open arches on three sides, and the crowd was around and in front of him.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.