Mark Chapter 6, Verse 5
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5: και ουκ ηδυνατο εκει ουδεμιαν δυναμιν ποιησαι ει μη ολιγοις αρρωστοις επιθεις τας χειρας εθεραπευσεν
5: And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his
hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
5: And he could not do any miracles there, only that he cured a few
that were sick, laying his hands upon them.
- καὶ οá½Îº á¼Î´Ïνατο á¼ÎºÎµá¿– ποιῆσαι οá½Î´ÎµÎ¼Î¯Î±Î½ δÏναμιν,εἰ μὴ ὀλίγοις á¼€ÏÏώστοις á¼Ï€Î¹Î¸Îµá½¶Ï‚ Ï„á½°Ï‚ χεῖÏας á¼Î¸ÎµÏάπευσεν. (WHNU)
And he was not able to do any miracles there, except he healed a few sick people having laid hands on them.
- á¼Ï€Î¹Î¸Îµá½¶Ï‚ is an adverbial participle, describing how the action occurred.
οá½Îº á¼Î´Ïνατο implies that he ‘could not’ do any mighty works. Is this true, and if so, why not? In Mt 13:58, we have “did notâ€, with a reason - their ἀπιστία. Why the difference? Cranfield says
- in the absence of faith he could not work mighty works in accordances with the purpose of his ministry; for to have worked miracles where faith was absent would, in most cases anyway, have been merely to have aggravated men’s guilt and hardened them against God.
Guelich says that
- Jesus did not come as a magician or a miracle worker to display and dazzle his audience.
So what about the εἰ μή and the healings he did do? How does this square with the οá½Î´ÎµÎ¼Î¯Î±Î½ (not one)? Is this a later correction? (Guelich says it doesn’t sound Markan) Some have suggested this means that the other healings were done out of mercy, not out of faith; others suggest a general response of lack of faith, but with some exceptions. France says the inability is “Christologically striking†and not helped by the exceptions.
