Mark 6:5

He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people, and healed them.

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Other translations

WEBBE

He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

BSB

So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them.

KJV

And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

ASV

And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

BBE

And he was unable to do any work of power there, but only to put his hands on one or two persons who were ill, and make them well.

Original Greek

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The early church

(ubi sup.) Not as if He Who knows all things before they are done, wonders at what He did not expect or look forward to, but knowing the hidden things of the heart, and wishing to intimate to men that it was wonderful, He openly shows that He wonders. And indeed the blindness of the Jews is wonderful, for they neither believed what their prophets said of Christ, nor would in their own persons believe on Christ, Who was born amongst them. Mystically again; Christ is despised in His own house and country, that is, amongst the people of the Jews, and therefore He worked few miracles there, lest they should become altogether inexcusable. But He performs greater miracles every day amongst the Gentiles, not so much in the healing of their bodies, as in the salvation of their souls.
Bede · d. 735Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)
There follows, And he could there do no mighty work, &c. What, however, is here expressed by He could not, we must take to mean, He did not choose, because it was not that He was weak, but that they were faithless; He does not therefore work any miracles there, for he spared them, lest they should be worthy of greater blame, if they believed not, even with miracles before their eyes. Or else, for the working of miracles, not only the power of the Worker is necessary, but the faith of the recipient, which was wanting in this case: therefore Jesus did not choose to work any signs there. There follows, And he marvelled at their unbelief.
Theophylact of Ohrid · d. 1107Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 1–6

Our Lord's countrymen tried to prejudice the minds of people against him. Is not this the carpenter? Our Lord Jesus probably had worked in that business with his father. He thus put honour upon mechanics, and encouraged all persons who eat by the labour of their hands. It becomes the followers of Christ to content themselves with the satisfaction of doing good, although they are denied the praise of it. How much did these Nazarenes lose by obstinate prejudices against Jesus! May Divine grace deliver us from that unbelief, which renders Christ a savour of death, rather than of life to the soul. Let us, like our Master, go and teach cottages and peasants the way of salvation.

Read Matthew Henry on Mark 6 →

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Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.