Καὶ περιβλεψάμενος αὐτοὺς μετ’ ὀργῆς, συλλυπούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου. καὶ ἐξέτεινε, καὶ ἀποκατεστάθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ὑγιὴς ὡς ἡ ἄλλη. (Mark 3:5)
And having looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their heart, he says to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored, sound as the other.
Setting the Scene with Declensions
The verse unfolds in three movements shaped by morphology: (1) Jesus’ stance toward the crowd (μετ’ ὀργῆς; ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει), (2) his address to the sufferer (τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ), and (3) the result reported with precise agreement (ἡ χείρ αὐτοῦ ὑγιής ὡς ἡ ἄλλη). Declensions trace the emotional, ethical, and restorative lines of the narrative.
Declension Analysis Table
| Greek Form | Morphology | Case & Function | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| αὐτούς | 3rd person pronoun, acc. masc. pl. | Object of participle περιβλεψάμενος | “Having looked around at them” — the onlookers in the synagogue. |
| μετ’ ὀργῆς | μετά + gen. fem. sg. | Genitive of manner | “With anger” — ethical coloring of the gaze; genitive after μετά marks accompaniment/manner. |
| ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει | ἐπί + dat. fem. sg. | Dative of cause | “Because of the hardening” — dative under ἐπί can express cause/occasion. |
| τῆς καρδίας | 1st decl., gen. fem. sg. | Objective genitive | “Hardening of the heart” — heart is the object undergoing hardening. |
| αὐτῶν | 3rd person pronoun, gen. masc. pl. | Possessive genitive | Identifies whose heart is hardened: “their.” |
| τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ | 2nd decl., dat. masc. sg. with article | Dative of indirect object | Recipient of Jesus’ command: “he says to the man.” |
| τὴν χεῖρά | 3rd decl. (Attic), acc. fem. sg. with article | Direct object of understood motion (imperative) | Target of the command: “Stretch out your hand.” |
| σου | 2nd person pronoun, gen. sg. | Possessive genitive | Marks ownership: “your hand.” |
| ἡ χείρ | Nom. fem. sg. with article | Subject of ἀποκατεστάθη | Agreement with predicate adjective is explicit and emphatic. |
| αὐτοῦ | 3rd person pronoun, gen. masc. sg. | Possessive genitive | “his hand” — keeps focus on the healed man. |
| ὑγιής | Adjective, nom. fem. sg. | Predicate nominative | “Sound/whole” — agrees with ἡ χείρ (fem. sg.). |
| ὡς ἡ ἄλλη | Comp. particle + nom. fem. sg. article + adj. | Standard of comparison | “As the other [hand]” — nominative to match the subject under comparison. |
Agreement Patterns that Tell the Story
- ἡ χείρ … ὑγιής: nominative feminine singular noun + predicate adjective = restoration stated as a fact, not merely a process.
- ὡς ἡ ἄλλη: article + adjective in nominative supplies an implied noun (“hand”), a classic example of the article turning an adjective into a substantive by agreement and context.
- Possessive chains (σου, αὐτοῦ, αὐτῶν) carefully keep persons distinct: the crowd’s heart, the man’s hand, your (sing.) hand commanded.
Case Functions as Windows into Emotion and Ethics
Genitives (ὀργῆς, τῆς καρδίας, αὐτῶν) map moral ownership: anger belongs to Jesus’ righteous response; the hardened heart belongs to “them.”
Datives (ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει, τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ) carry cause and care: grief “on account of” their hardening; speech directed “to the man.”
Accusatives (αὐτούς, τὴν χεῖρά) mark those looked upon and the object to be moved—the hand that becomes the stage of healing.
Morphology, Mercy, and the Message
Even the prepositions preach: μετ’ ὀργῆς (with anger) preserves moral clarity; ἐπί with the dative marks the cause of grief; the nominative-predicate frame (ἡ χείρ … ὑγιής) announces wholeness by grammatical agreement. Declensions keep the actors straight and the affections clean—righteous anger toward hardness, tender address toward the sufferer, and precise reportage of a hand made whole.
Declensions That Preach
In Mark 3:5, the cases carry the compassion: genitives diagnose the hardness, the dative directs grace to a person, and the nominative-predicate proclaims restoration. Grammar does not merely narrate the miracle—it lets mercy take grammatical form.
