A Sabbath in Capernaum

The words

1. Anon

   In Mark, “anon they tell him” refers to reporting Simon’s mother-in-law’s fever, after the group has entered Simon and Andrew’s house from the synagogue.

   Mark 1:29–30 (opens a new tab)

2. Astonished

   Mark says the hearers are astonished because Jesus teaches with authority; Luke likewise links their astonishment at his teaching with the power of his word.

   Mark 1:22 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:32 (opens a new tab)

3. Capernaum

   Mark begins these events with Jesus teaching in Capernaum’s synagogue on the Sabbath; Luke calls Capernaum a city of Galilee and also describes his Sabbath teaching there.

   Mark 1:21 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:31 (opens a new tab)

4. Commandeth

   Gives commands.

   Mark places “commandeth” in the witnesses’ response to Jesus: they ask about his authority over unclean spirits and their obedience; Luke likewise reports a question about authority and power.

   Mark 1:27 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:36 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 1:21-39 (opens a new tab)

5. Fame

   News or report.

   Mark reports news about Jesus spreading through the region around Galilee after the synagogue encounter; Luke also describes the report reaching the surrounding country.

   Mark 1:28 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:37 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 1:21-39 (opens a new tab)

6. Great Fever

   Luke calls the illness of Simon’s mother-in-law a “great fever,” rendered “high fever” in the NET; he then describes Jesus rebuking it and her rising at once to serve.

   Luke 4:38–39 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 4:31-44 (opens a new tab)

7. Hold Thy Peace

   Be silent.

   Mark and Luke both place “Hold thy peace” in Jesus’s rebuke to the spirit, followed by the command to come out of the man.

   Mark 1:25 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:35 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 1:21-39 (opens a new tab)

8. Holy One of God

   Mark and Luke give “the Holy One of God” as the spirit’s designation of Jesus in the synagogue; Jesus’s next words rebuke and silence it.

   Mark 1:24–25 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:34–35 (opens a new tab)

9. Loud Voice

   Mark describes a loud cry as the unclean spirit leaves the man; Luke places a loud cry earlier, when the man speaks before Jesus’s rebuke.

   Mark 1:26 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:33–35 (opens a new tab)

10. Next Towns

    Mark records Jesus proposing the next towns so that he can preach there too; Luke gives his statement about preaching the kingdom of God to other cities.

    Mark 1:38 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:43 (opens a new tab)

11. Solitary Place

    A deserted or secluded place.

    Mark describes Jesus going to a solitary place to pray while it is still dark; Luke describes his departure to a desert place when day comes.

    Did you know?

    Mark later uses “a desert place” when Jesus invites the returning apostles to rest; they travel there by boat in Mark 6:31–32.

    Mark 1:35 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:42 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 1:21-39 (opens a new tab) · Mark 6:31–32 (opens a new tab)

12. Synagogue

    Mark sets Jesus’s Sabbath teaching and his command to the unclean spirit in the synagogue at Capernaum; Luke likewise places the encounter in a synagogue.

    Did you know?

    The Bornblum synagogue catalog lists Aramaic and Greek inscriptions and ornament showing a seven-branched candelabrum and a wagon bearing a shrine; it notes that the building’s date is debated.

    Mark 1:21–25 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:33–35 (opens a new tab) · Bornblum catalog: Capernaum (opens a new tab)

13. Torn

    Convulsed or violently shaken.

    Mark’s KJV describes the spirit as having “torn” the man before leaving; the NET says it caused convulsions, while Luke says the man was not hurt.

    Mark 1:26 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 1:21-39 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:35 (opens a new tab)

14. Unclean Spirit

    Mark introduces a man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue, then describes Jesus commanding it to leave; Luke calls it “a spirit of an unclean devil.”

    Mark 1:23–26 (opens a new tab) · Luke 4:33 (opens a new tab)

15. Wife's Mother

    Mark introduces Simon’s mother-in-law lying with a fever; he describes Jesus taking her hand and lifting her up, followed by the fever leaving and her serving.

    Mark 1:30–31 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 1:21-39 (opens a new tab)