Mark 9

And he said to them, "I tell you the truth: some of the people standing here will not die before they see the kingdom of God arrive with power."

1And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

Note"The kingdom of God" in this book means God's active rule breaking into the world, not a territory or a place people go after death. "Taste of death" is a Semitic idiom for simply dying.

2Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain, away from everyone else. There his appearance was changed in front of them.

2And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.

NoteKJV "transfigured" translates a Greek verb meaning to be changed in form; it is the word behind the English "metamorphosis". Mark never names the mountain.

3His clothes became bright, whiter than white, whiter than anyone on earth who cleans cloth for a living could ever make them.

3And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

NoteA "fuller" was a tradesman who cleaned, thickened and whitened newly woven wool, working it in water with alkaline earth and stale urine. Producing a brilliant white was skilled, costly work, so "no fuller on earth" is the strongest comparison available.

4And Elijah appeared to them, along with Moses, and the two of them were talking with Jesus.

4And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

NoteKJV "Elias" is just the Greek spelling of the Hebrew name Elijah; the KJV keeps Greek forms of older names throughout the New Testament. Moses led Israel out of Egypt and received the law; Elijah was a prophet who confronted Israel's kings centuries later and, in 2 Kings 2, was taken up to heaven without dying.

5Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Teacher, it is good that we are here. Let us put up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

5And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

NoteThe word behind KJV "Master" here is "Rabbi", a respectful title for a teacher. KJV "tabernacles" does not mean buildings: the Greek word means temporary shelters of branches, like those Israelites built to live in during the week-long Feast of Booths.

6He said this because he did not know what to say, since the three of them were terrified.

6For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.

NoteKJV "wist" is an old past tense meaning knew. "Sore afraid" means badly frightened; "sore" here means severely.

7Then a cloud came and covered them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him."

7And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

NoteIn the Hebrew scriptures a cloud repeatedly marks God's presence, as at Sinai and over the tent of meeting. The words spoken here largely repeat what the voice said at Jesus's baptism in Mark 1:11.

8Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone else. Only Jesus was there with them.

8And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.

9As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

9And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.

Note"Son of man" is the title Jesus uses of himself throughout Mark. In ordinary Hebrew and Aramaic the phrase can mean simply "a human being", and it also recalls the figure "like the Son of man" who is given authority in Daniel 7. Mark leaves both senses in play.

10So they kept the matter to themselves, but they argued back and forth about what "rising from the dead" could mean.

10And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.

11And they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"

11And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?

Note"Scribes" were the trained experts in the written law: professional copyists, students and teachers of scripture. The expectation they taught comes from Malachi 4:5, the closing lines of the Hebrew prophets, which promise that Elijah will be sent before the day of the LORD.

12He answered them, "Elijah does come first, and he puts everything back in order. And how is it written about the Son of Man? That he must suffer many things and be treated as worthless.

12And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.

NoteThe Greek can be punctuated as either a statement or a question here, so translations differ on whether Jesus is asserting something about the Son of Man or asking the disciples about it. KJV "set at nought" means treated as worth nothing.

13But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and people did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him."

13But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

NoteKJV "whatsoever they listed" means whatever they wanted; in 1611 to "list" was to choose or to please. Mark has already told the story of John the Baptist's arrest and execution (6:17-29). No surviving scripture explicitly predicts that fate, and what "as it is written of him" points to has been debated since antiquity.

14When Jesus came back to the other disciples, he saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them.

14And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.

15As soon as all the people saw him, they were filled with amazement, and they ran up to greet him.

15And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.

16He asked the scribes, "What are you arguing with them about?"

16And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?

17A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son. He has a spirit in him that keeps him from speaking.

17And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;

Note"Dumb" in 1611 meant unable to speak. It carried none of the modern sense of stupid.

18Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes stiff. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not do it."

18And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

NoteKJV "pineth away" renders a Greek verb meaning dries up or goes rigid; it describes the boy stiffening, not slowly wasting. The cluster of symptoms listed, sudden seizure, foaming, grinding teeth and rigidity, matches what is now called epilepsy; in the ancient world such seizures were commonly attributed to a spirit.

19Jesus answered him, "You people of this generation have no faith. How long must I stay with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."

19He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.

20So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a violent fit. He fell on the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

20And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

21Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has this been happening to him?" The father said, "Since he was a small child.

21And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.

22Many times it has thrown him into the fire and into the water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."

22And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

23Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, everything is possible for the person who believes."

23Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

NoteThe manuscripts differ here. The oldest ones have Jesus throwing the father's own words back at him, roughly "If you can!", before answering; the manuscripts behind the KJV read "If thou canst believe", making it a condition laid on the father. The rendering follows the KJV.

24At once the boy's father cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe. Help me where I do not believe."

24And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

25When Jesus saw that people were running up to join the crowd, he spoke sharply to the unclean spirit and said, "You spirit that makes him unable to speak or hear, I command you: come out of him and never go into him again."

25When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

NoteKJV "foul spirit" and the commoner "unclean spirit" translate the same phrase. "Unclean" is a ritual term, marking something as outside the sphere of the holy and unfit to approach it. It does not mean physically dirty.

26The spirit shrieked, shook the boy violently, and came out of him. The boy looked like a dead body, so that many people said, "He is dead."

26And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he stood up.

27But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.

28When Jesus had gone into the house, his disciples asked him in private, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

28And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?

29He said to them, "This kind can only be driven out by prayer and fasting."

29And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

NoteFasting is deliberately going without food for a set period as a religious discipline. The earliest manuscripts of Mark read only "by prayer"; "and fasting" appears in later copies, including the ones the KJV translators worked from.

30They left that place and traveled through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were,

30And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it.

31because he was teaching his disciples. He told them, "The Son of Man is being handed over to men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later."

31For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.

Note"Delivered into the hands of men" uses a verb that also means handed over or betrayed, and it is passive, leaving unsaid who does the handing over. KJV's "the third day" and the Greek's "after three days" describe the same span in ancient reckoning, where any part of a day counted as a whole day.

32But they did not understand what he was saying, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

32But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

33Then he came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?"

33And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?

NoteCapernaum was a fishing town on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. In Mark it functions as Jesus's home base.

34But they said nothing, because on the road they had been arguing with each other about which of them was the greatest.

34But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.

35He sat down, called the twelve to him, and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and the servant of all."

35And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

Note"The twelve" are the twelve followers Jesus appointed and named in Mark 3:13-19; the number matches the twelve tribes of Israel. The word behind "servant" is the ordinary term for someone who waits on a table, a household job of low status.

36Then he took a child and stood him in the middle of them. He took the child in his arms and said to them,

36And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them,

NoteIn that society a child had no legal standing, no property and no social weight, which makes a child a natural example of someone who can give nothing back in return. KJV "in the midst" simply means in among them.

37"Whoever welcomes one child like this because of me is welcoming me. And whoever welcomes me is not only welcoming me, but the One who sent me."

37Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.

Note"In my name" is a Semitic idiom rather than a spoken formula. It means on my account, on the strength of my authority, or because of a person's connection to me.

38John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons using your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not go around with us."

38And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.

NoteKJV renders the Greek word daimonia as "devils"; modern translations say "demons" and keep "the devil" for Satan alone. Exorcists in the ancient world routinely invoked a powerful name as the source of their authority, which is what this man is doing with Jesus's name.

39But Jesus said, "Do not stop him. No one who does a miracle in my name can turn right around and speak evil of me.

39But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.

NoteKJV "lightly" here means quickly or readily, not casually or carelessly.

40Anyone who is not against us is on our side.

40For he that is not against us is on our part.

41In fact, if anyone gives you a cup of water to drink in my name because you belong to Christ, I tell you the truth: he will not lose his reward.

41For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

Note"Christ" is a title, not a surname. It is the Greek word for "anointed one", translating the Hebrew word that gives us "Messiah". "Belong to Christ" means being counted as one of his people.

42And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall into sin, it would be better for him to have a heavy grinding stone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea.

42And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

NoteKJV "offend" translates a Greek verb meaning to trip someone up or make them fall. It has nothing to do with the modern sense of hurting someone's feelings. A millstone is one of the stone disks used to grind grain, and the word here specifies the larger kind turned by a donkey, weighing hundreds of pounds, so the image is of certain drowning.

43If your hand makes you sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life with part of your body missing than to have two hands and go into hell, into the fire that is never put out,

43And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

Note"Hell" here translates "Gehenna", the name of an actual place: the Valley of Hinnom, the ravine along the south side of Jerusalem. It had a grim history as a site of child sacrifice under earlier kings, and by this period its name was used as an image for the place of final punishment. It is a different word from "Hades", which means the general realm of the dead. KJV "maimed" means with a limb missing.

44where the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is never put out.

44Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

ManuscriptsMost modern translations leave this verse out. It is in the Greek text the King James translators worked from, but not in the older manuscripts found since, so scholars generally take it as a copyist’s addition rather than part of the original.

NoteVerses 44 and 46 are absent from the earliest manuscripts of Mark. They repeat verse 48 word for word and were most likely added by later copyists who wanted the refrain after each saying. That is why many modern Bibles print verse 43, then verse 45, and skip these numbers.

45And if your foot makes you sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life unable to walk well than to have two feet and be thrown into hell, into the fire that is never put out,

45And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

NoteKJV "halt" means lame, unable to walk properly.

46where the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is never put out.

46Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

ManuscriptsMost modern translations leave this verse out. It is in the Greek text the King James translators worked from, but not in the older manuscripts found since, so scholars generally take it as a copyist’s addition rather than part of the original.

NoteSee the note at verse 44: this line is missing from the earliest manuscripts and repeats verse 48.

47And if your eye makes you sin, pull it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell,

47And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

48where the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is never put out.

48Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

NoteThese words quote Isaiah 66:24, the last line of that book, which pictures people looking out at the unburied corpses of the rebellious outside Jerusalem. "Their worm" means the maggots feeding on the dead, the standard ancient image of a body denied proper burial.

49Everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt.

49For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

NoteThis is one of the most obscure sentences in Mark, and the manuscripts vary considerably here; the second half, about every sacrifice being salted, is missing from the earliest copies. It alludes to Leviticus 2:13, which requires salt on every grain offering brought to the altar. What "salted with fire" means has never been settled.

50Salt is good. But if salt loses its saltiness, what will you use to make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

50Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

NoteSalt in that region was not refined. It was gathered from deposits around the Dead Sea and came mixed with gypsum and other minerals, so the salt itself could dissolve away and leave a residue that still looked like salt but had no taste. Salt also preserved food and was used in sealing agreements, so "have salt in yourselves" can carry more than one sense.