Mark 9
Mark 9 | |
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Book | Gospel of Mark |
Category | Gospel |
Christian Bible part | New Testament |
Order in the Christian part | 2 |
Mark 9 is the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It begins with Jesus' prediction that "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the
Text
The original text was written in
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
- Codex Vaticanus (325-350; complete)
- Codex Sinaiticus (330-360; complete)
- Codex Bezae (~400; complete)
- Codex Alexandrinus (400-440; complete)
- Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; complete)
Locations
The events recorded in this chapter take place on "a high mountain" (traditionally understood to be Mount Tabor), in a nearby town, around Galilee and back in Capernaum. From Mount Tabor to Capernaum is about 41 kilometres (25 mi) along modern Highway 65.[3]
Verse 1
- There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with (or in) power.[4]
Anglican biblical scholar Edward Plumptre argues that this verse should be read with the final section of Mark 8 and suggests that the present arrangement may have been made with a view of connecting it with the Transfiguration as the fulfilment of the promise in this verse.[5] This verse is numbered as Mark 8:39 in the Vulgate and its Douai-Rheims translation, and Irish commentator John Macevilly notes that "the Vulgate arrangement ... is preferable".[6]
The Transfiguration
Gospel of Mark |
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Six days pass and then Jesus takes
On the way down the mountain, Jesus tells them to keep what had happened to themselves until the
In possibly a separate discussion,[7] Peter, James and John then ask Jesus about the coming of Elijah (Elias), and he says:
- ... 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. But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him. (Mark 9:12-13) KJV
It was commonly believed that Elijah would reappear before the coming of the
This whole passage has echoes of
The original Greek uses the word metamorphothe which was translated into Latin as Trans Figura, the changing of appearance or of the body itself.
The Possessed Boy
They arrive back and find the rest of the disciples arguing with several teachers of the law surrounded by a crowd. As Jesus returns, the crowd are "amazed" at him: the New Revised Standard Version translates as "they were ... overcome with awe",[10] suggesting that his appearance "still retained traces of His transfiguration-glory".[11]
Jesus asks the crowd "What are you arguing about?" (verse 16) and a man says he brought his possessed boy for Jesus to heal. The boy has a mute spirit and "foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid" - symptoms of epilepsy, which Matthew states to be the case. The man says the boy has been made to fall both into water and fire by the demon. Jesus' disciples could not heal him. Jesus says "You faithless generation" (v 19). He commands the boy be brought to him. The father begs Jesus to help the boy if he can, to which Jesus replies "Everything is possible for him who believes", and the man says "I believe. Help my unbelief!" (verse 24, only in Mark's account).
Jesus heals the boy: when asked by the disciples privately why they could not cast it out, he replies "This kind can come out only through prayer and fasting" (verse 29). Some early manuscripts and modern versions omit the reference to fasting.[12]
Predictions about the crucifixion
Jesus tells his entire group again that the
Jesus' disciples still do not understand what he means but they are afraid to ask him to clarify himself. William Robertson Nicoll notes that "they had heard the statement before, and had not forgotten the fact, and their Master had spoken too explicitly for them to be in any doubt as to His meaning. What they were ignorant of was the why".[9] Skeptics dismiss these predictions as not actually made by the real Jesus but regard them as an example of vaticinium ex eventu.[citation needed] Scholars such as Raymond E. Brown believe, however, that "the difficulty in dismissing all these predictions as totally postJesus creations is exemplified in 9:31 where many scholars recognize Semitic features and old tradition." (140)
Teaching in Capernaum
They go back to Capernaum and in the house, Jesus asks what the disciples were discussing or arguing about on the road. They do not answer, because they had been arguing about who was, or who would be, the greatest disciple, possibly because Jesus only took three of them with him up the mountain [15] and the remaining nine could not cure the boy. In Matthew's account, the subject was introduced by the disciples themselves, who came and asked Jesus who should be greatest.[16] Jesus already knows what they had been talking about, however, and he summons the twelve, sits down with them (καθίσας, kathisas, indicating that Jesus takes His seat in a deliberate attempt to school the disciples) [9] and instructs them:
- If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.[17]
He takes a child (verse 36, but verse 35 in the Vulgate arrangement) in his arms and says
John says some other group of people have been healing people in Jesus' name even though they were not part of the group, but Jesus is pleased and says "... For he who is not against us is for us." (9:40). In Matthew 12:30 and Luke 11:23 Jesus says: "He who is not with Me is against Me"; see also
He then gives one of the most forceful condemnations of sin in the Bible (see Stumbling block):
- And 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. And 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: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And 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: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And 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: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt 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. (42-50) KJV
The text quotes the
- "And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind".[18]
The Pulpit Commentary observes that the bodies cast into hell "could not be at the same time burnt with fire and eaten by worms".[19]
The original manuscripts use the term "τὴν γέενναν" (tēn geennan) Gehenna for Hell. Gehenna was a trash dump next to Jerusalem in the Hinnom valley, where the dead bodies of criminals as well as trash were burned. The valley was named after a man named Hinnom who had owned it. It had at one time been used as a place to sacrifice live children to Pagan Gods.[citation needed]
What exactly the "salt" Jesus was referring to was is unclear. Jesus relates it to
Connections across the New Testament
Luke 9 has almost the entire chapter of Mark 9 contained verbatim with the notable exception of the speech about sin which is partly contained in
References
- ^ Mark 9:1: New International Version
- ^ Mark 9: Vulgate and Douai-Rheims versions
- ^ Source: Google Maps
- NRSV
- ^ Plumptre, E., Ellicott's Commentary for Modern Readers on Mark 9, accessed 13 June 2017
- ^ a b MacEvilly, J. (1898), An Exposition Of The Gospels by The Most Rev. John Macevilly D.D., Mark 8, accessed 13 March 2023
- ^ a b c d Tuckett, C. M., 57. Mark in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary Archived 2017-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, p. 904
- ^ Mark 9:10: Evangelical Heritage Version
- ^ a b c d Nicoll, W. R., Expositor's Greek Testament on Mark 9, accessed 27 November 2017
- ^ Mark 9:15
- ^ Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary on Mark 9, accessed 28 November 2017
- ^ See Mark 9:15 and Mark 9:15 in the New American Standard Bible and New Catholic Bible
- ^ Mark 9:31; cf. Mark 8:31–32
- ^ Vincent, M., Vincent's Word Studies on Mark 9, accessed 29 November 2017
- ^ Maclear, G. F., Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Mark 9, accessed 16 June 2017
- ^ Matthew 18:1
- ^ Mark 9:35
- ^ Isaiah 66:24
- ^ Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 66, accessed 30 November 2017
- ^ Longenecker, Richard. N. (2005). Contours of Christology in the New Testament, pages 280-281
Further reading
- Brown, Raymond E., An Introduction to the New Testament, Doubleday 1997 ISBN 0-385-24767-2
- Kilgallen, John J., A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Paulist Press 1989 ISBN 0-8091-3059-9
- Miller, Robert J. Editor, The Complete Gospels, Polebridge Press 1994 ISBN 0-06-065587-9
External links
- Mark 9 King James Bible - Wikisource
- English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
- Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
- Multiple bible versions at Bible Gateway (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)
Preceded by Mark 8 |
Chapters of the Bible Gospel of Mark |
Succeeded by Mark 10 |