Through the Roof

The words

1. Blasphemies

   Mark gives “blasphemies” in the scribes’ inward question about who can forgive sins; Luke attributes a similar question to scribes and Pharisees after Jesus’s words of forgiveness.

   Mark 2:5–7 (opens a new tab) · Luke 5:20–21 (opens a new tab)

2. Borne of Four

   Carried by four people.

   Mark gives the number of those carrying the man as four; when blocked by the crowd, they lower his bed through an opening they make in the roof.

   Mark 2:3–4 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 2:1-12 (opens a new tab)

3. Couch

   A bed or stretcher.

   Luke describes the man being lowered with his couch into the midst before Jesus; later, Jesus tells him to take the couch and go home.

   Luke 5:19; Luke 5:24 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 5:17-26 (opens a new tab)

4. Easier

   Mark, Luke and Matthew each record Jesus asking which is easier to say: that the man’s sins are forgiven, or that he should rise and walk.

   Mark 2:9 (opens a new tab) · Luke 5:23 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 9:5 (opens a new tab)

5. Housetop

   Luke describes the carriers going onto the housetop because the crowd prevents them from bringing the man inside; they lower him into the midst before Jesus.

   Luke 5:18–19 (opens a new tab)

6. Noised

   Mark begins with news that Jesus is in the house after returning to Capernaum; people gather until there is no room, even around the door.

   Did you know?

   Mark’s KJV says “in the house”; the NET reads “at home.” Neither wording names the homeowner in the opening verse.

   Mark 2:1–2 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 2:1-12 (opens a new tab)

7. Palsy

   Mark describes the man as “sick of the palsy”; he is carried by four people and later walks out with his bed after Jesus’s command.

   Mark 2:3; Mark 2:11–12 (opens a new tab)

8. Power on Earth

   Authority on earth.

   Mark records Jesus saying the Son of Man has “power on earth to forgive sins”; Luke likewise puts this authority claim before the instruction to rise and go home.

   Mark 2:10–11 (opens a new tab) · Luke 5:24 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 2:1-12 (opens a new tab)

9. Press

   Mark describes so many people gathered that there is no room even by the door; this “press” prevents the man’s carriers from reaching Jesus directly.

   Mark 2:2–4 (opens a new tab)

10. Reasoning

    Thinking or debating inwardly.

    Mark describes scribes sitting and reasoning in their hearts, then Jesus perceiving their thoughts and asking why they reason that way; Luke likewise reports his response to inward thoughts.

    Mark 2:6–8 (opens a new tab) · Luke 5:21–22 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 5:17-26 (opens a new tab)

11. Roof

    Mark describes the carriers uncovering the roof and breaking it up before lowering the bed; Luke’s parallel account describes them letting the man down through tiling.

    Did you know?

    NET’s note describes a flat roof reached by stairs or a ladder as regional background; the Gospel accounts do not specify how these carriers reached the roof.

    Mark 2:4 (opens a new tab) · Luke 5:19 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 2:1-12 (opens a new tab)

12. Strange Things

    Luke gives “We have seen strange things to day” as the crowd’s words after the man leaves; the NET renders the description as “incredible” things.

    Luke 5:25–26 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 5:17-26 (opens a new tab)

13. Take Up Thy Bed

    Mark records Jesus telling the man to rise, take his bed and go home; Luke describes him immediately getting up and taking what he had been lying on.

    Mark 2:11–12 (opens a new tab) · Luke 5:24–25 (opens a new tab)

14. Tiling

    Luke describes the man being lowered through “tiling”; the NET translates “roof tiles,” while its note acknowledges uncertainty about the Greek word and local roof construction.

    Luke 5:19 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 5:17-26 (opens a new tab)

15. Uncovered

    Mark says the carriers “uncovered the roof where he was”; after breaking it up, they lower the bed on which the man lies, because the crowd has blocked their approach.

    Mark 2:4 (opens a new tab)