I’m sick of pastors drawing erroneous insights from texts due to bad exegesis. Looking a word up in a Strong’s Dictionary does not constitute being an exegetical scholar. This is seen frequently in the writings of many major evangelical leaders today. I just stumbled upon another faulty translation (and teaching) by Rob Bell. In one of his Nooma videos, Store, he totally botches up Mark 3:5. Bell says:

And then, the Bible says [in Mark 3:5] that Jesus looked around at them in anger. Jesus gets angry. Now this story was first told in the Greek language, and there’s a subtle nuance to this word “anger” in the Greek language. It’s in what’s called the aorist tense, which is a technical way of saying that Jesus’ anger is a temporary feeling. It comes on him, and then it leaves him.

Many thanks to Andy Naselli for this competent response:

Response:

1. “Anger” is a noun, not a verb, in Mark 3:5. The participle περιβλεψάμενος (”After looking around at”) is aorist.
   • καὶ περιβλεψάμενος αὐτοὺς μετ᾽ ὀργῆς, συλλυπούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ• ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρα.
   • NET: After looking around at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
2. Even if Bell had correctly parsed the word he was highlighting, his point is still guilty of the aorist tense fallacy. The aorist tense is not “subtle” or “technical.” It’s the default tense that communicates the very least about a particular action. (See, e.g., D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies [2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996), 67–73.)

This is not an isolated example. When Bell talks about ancient history, customs, language, etc., he not infrequently undermines his credibility. See also Bell’s faulty interpretations of Hebrew concerning the supposed feminine nature of God.

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1. Mark Driscoll – 4 Lanes of the Emerging Church
2. Tithing is biblical, but not Christian
3. Recycling = Biblical Stewardship?
4. Biblical Leadership?