Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Mark 3:4 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 4. 4And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse develops the unit at Mark 3:4 in “A Sabbath Healing Exposes Hardened Harm”: “And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But…”.
Read It With
- Mark 3:1-6
Read Mark 3:4 with 3:1-6. This verse develops the unit at Mark 3:4 in “A Sabbath Healing Exposes Hardened Harm”: “And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But…”. The complete unit's controlling movement is: Jesus places a man with a withered hand at the center, asks whether Sabbath permits doing good and saving life, heals him, and grieves hardened silence as Pharisees and Herodians plot.
Why This Verse Appears Here
This verse develops the unit at Mark 3:4 in “A Sabbath Healing Exposes Hardened Harm”: “And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But…”. This specific contribution advances Mark 3:1-6 toward its narrated or taught result.
What Remains True
Doing life-giving good exposes the hardness that can hide behind rule enforcement. At Mark 3:4, develops the unit at Mark 3:4 in “A Sabbath Healing Exposes Hardened Harm”: “And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But…”.
How It Can Shape Life
- At Mark 3:4, use moral and religious rules to protect life and dignity, while resisting contempt for people inside a disputed tradition. This verse contributes to that response because it develops the unit at Mark 3:4 in “A Sabbath Healing Exposes Hardened Harm”: “And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But…”.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Mark 3:1-6 — A Sabbath Healing Exposes Hardened HarmSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Mark 3:1-6, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and material variants checked independently of the KJV.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Mark.txt, 3:1-6
Open the Mark Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Mark with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, older-English clarification, variants, background, and alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Mark PDF, printed pp. 1868–1901, 3:1-6 and attached translator/textual notes
Open the official NET Mark PDF ↗