The Fallible Study Bible

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Mark9:33–41

The Greatest in the Kingdom

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Mark 9:33–41 — The Greatest in the Kingdom. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

33

Then they came to Capernaum. While Jesus was in the house, He asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai ēlthon eis Kapharnaoum Kai genomenos en tē oikia epērōta autous Ti dielogizesthe en tē hodō

Word by word16 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἦλθονēlthonthey cameG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
ΚαφαρναούμKapharnaoumCapernaumG2584
√ Καπερναούμ — Capernaum (iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
Capernaum, the base of the Galilean ministry. Gill and Maclaren both take the house to be Simon Peter's, Gill noting it was “of Simon and Andrew, very likely where he used to be when at Capernaum,” and the Geneva gloss reads the article the same way: the house “where he was accustomed to make his home.”
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
γενόμενοςgenomenosWhile [Jesus] wasG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Participle MiddleNominative Masculine Singular
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῇtētheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
οἰκίᾳoikiahouseG3614
√ οἰκία — properly, residence (abstractly), but usually (concretely) an abode (literally or figuratively)NounDative Feminine Singular
ἐπηρώταepērōtaHe askedG1905
√ ἐπερωτάω — to ask for, iVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἐπερωτάω: to ask for, to inquire of The imperfect makes this a sustained interrogation rather than a single question, and Mark's placement makes it a diagnostic one. Maclaren: Christ “knew what the wrangle had been about,” so the question exists not to gather information but to bring the thing into the light where it can be treated. The Pulpit Commentary notes the words “among yourselves” of the Authorized Version are absent from the best authorities, which sharpens the question to the bare “What were you reckoning on the way?”
αὐτούςautousthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ΤίTiWhatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
διελογίζεσθεdielogizesthewere you discussingG1260
√ διαλογίζομαι — to reckon thoroughly, iVerbImperfect Indicative Middle or Passive2nd Person Plural
διαλογίζομαι: to reckon thoroughly, to deliberate The root is that of accounting, and its middle voice keeps the reckoning internal to the Twelve. Mark uses the same verb of the scribes reasoning in their hearts (Mark 2:6, 2:8) and of the disciples reasoning about bread (Mark 8:16), always of a calculation that cannot survive being spoken aloud in front of Jesus. That is precisely what happens next: they are silent.
ἐνenonG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῇtētheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
ὁδῷhodōwayG3598
√ ὁδός — a roadNounDative Feminine Singular
ὁδός: a road, a way In Mark's central section the road is the theological location: on it Jesus announces his death three times and the disciples misunderstand three times. That the ranking argument happened on the road is the point, not the setting. Maclaren: “Was it not a strange time to squabble when they had just been told of His death?”
34

But they were silent, for on the way they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de hoi esiōpōn gar en tē hodō dielechthēsan pros allēlous tis meizōn

Word by word12 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
οἱhoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ἐσιώπωνesiōpōnthey were silentG4623
√ σιωπάω — properly, muteness, iVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
σιωπάω: to be silent, to hold one's peace A comparatively rare verb (10 verses). Mark uses it of the sea stilled at Christ's word (Mark 4:39) and of Jesus himself silent before the high priest (Mark 14:61). Here it is the silence of men caught: they can neither defend the argument nor confess it. Maclaren: the tongues “that had been so loud on the road were dumb in the house-silenced by conscience.”
γὰρgarforG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἐνenonG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῇtētheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
ὁδῷhodōwayG3598
√ ὁδός — a roadNounDative Feminine Singular
διελέχθησανdielechthēsanthey had been arguing aboutG1256
√ διαλέγομαι — to say thoroughly, iVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
διαλέγομαι: to dispute, to reason out The verb of formal argument, used later of Paul reasoning in the synagogue and the school of Tyrannus (Acts 17:2, 19:9). Applied to a squabble about precedence it is faintly absurd, and Mark seems to intend the deflation: apostolic debate expended on rank.
πρὸςpros. . .G4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
ἀλλήλουςallēlous. . .G240
√ ἀλλήλων — one anotherPersonal / Reciprocal PronounAccusative Masculine Plural
τίςtiswhich [of them was]G5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounNominative Masculine Singular
μείζωνmeizōn[the] greatestG3173
√ μέγας — big (literally or figuratively, in a very wide application)AdjectiveNominative Masculine SingularComparative
μέγας: great (comparative μείζων) The comparative is the hinge of the whole unit. Jesus does not deny that there is a greater; he relocates it, and his answer in v. 35 answers the comparative with two superlatives of the opposite kind, last of all and servant of all. Cambridge suggests the jealousy was concrete: the preference shown on the mount to Peter, James and John.
35

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai kathisas ephōnēsen tous dōdeka kai legei autois Ei tis thelei einai prōtos estai eschatos pantōn kai diakonos pantōn

Word by word19 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
καθίσαςkathisasSitting downG2523
√ καθίζω — to seat down, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
καθίζω: to seat down, to sit as one in authority The judicial and rabbinic posture. Mark frames the saying as a formal ruling handed down, with the whole Twelve summoned to stand and hear, so that (as Benson notes) even those not party to the quarrel receive the judgment.
ἐφώνησενephōnēsen[Jesus] calledG5455
√ φωνέω — to emit a sound (animal, human or instrumental)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
τοὺςtoustheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
δώδεκαdōdekaTwelveG1427
√ δώδεκα — two and ten, iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
λέγειlegeisaidG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ΕἴEiIfG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
τιςtisanyoneG5100
√ τὶς — some or any person or objectInterrogative / Indefinite PronounNominative Masculine Singular
θέλειtheleiwantsG2309
√ θέλω — to determine (as an active option from subjective impulseVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
εἶναιeinaito beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Infinitive Active
πρῶτοςprōtosfirstG4413
√ πρῶτος — foremost (in time, place, order or importance)AdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
πρῶτος: foremost in time, place, order or importance The word covers rank, precedence and priority at once, which is why the reversal bites: whatever kind of first they were arguing for, the same word governs the verdict. It is the term Jesus will use again at Mark 10:44 in answer to the identical ambition from James and John.
ἔσταιestaihe must beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
ἔσχατοςeschatos[the] lastG2078
√ ἔσχατος — farthest, final (of place or time)AdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἔσχατος: farthest, final, last Paired with πρῶτος it forms the kingdom's standing inversion, stated again at Mark 10:31. Poole understands it of valuation, “the least valuable in the eyes of God”; Gill of humiliation, that the ambitious man “shall be debased.” The text itself gives no route to first except through last.
πάντωνpantōnof allG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
διάκονοςdiakonos[the] servantG1249
√ διάκονος — an attendant, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
διάκονος: an attendant, a servant who waits Not δοῦλος (slave by status) but the servant defined by the act of serving. Twice here it is qualified by πάντων, “of all,” with no limit of party, rank or worthiness, which is exactly the limit John is about to try to impose in v. 38. Mark 10:45 will ground the command in the person of the one who gives it.
πάντωνpantōnof allG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
πάντων (G3956) repeated: last of all and servant of all. The repetition, not the nouns, carries the weight.
36

Then He had a little child stand among them. Taking the child in His arms, He said to them,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai labōn estēsen paidion auto en mesō autōn kai enankalisamenos auto eipen autois

Word by word13 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
λαβὼνlabōnvvvG2983
√ λαμβάνω — while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent, to seize or remove))VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἔστησενestēsenHe hadG2476
√ ἵστημι — to stand (transitively or intransitively), used in various applications (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
παιδίονpaidiona little child {stand}G3813
√ παιδίον — a childling (of either sex), iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
παιδίον: a little child, a childling In the first century the child is chosen not as an emblem of innocence primarily but as the household member with no claim, no rank and no leverage. Benson lists what he takes the emblem to be (“simplicity, sincerity, humility, teachableness, and innocence”); the argument of the passage needs only the first and third. Mark will use the same noun again in the blessing of the children, Mark 10:13-16.
αὐτὸautoG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Neuter 3rd Person Singular
ἐνenvvvG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
μέσῳmesōamongG3319
√ μέσος — middle (as an adjective or (neuter) noun)AdjectiveDative Neuter Singular
μέσος (G3319), the middle: the centre of the circle, the place the disputants had been trying to occupy.
αὐτῶνautōnthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐναγκαλισάμενοςenankalisamenosTaking [the child] in His armsG1723
√ ἐναγκαλίζομαι — to take in one's arms, iVerbAorist Participle MiddleNominative Masculine Singular
ἐναγκαλίζομαι: to take into one's arms, to embrace A rare verb, found only here and Mark 10:16 in the whole New Testament, and preserved in this scene by Mark alone. JFB calls it a trait no other evangelist reports. The gesture converts the lesson from illustration to affection: the object lesson is held, not merely pointed at, and Gill reads the embrace as shown “to humility, and humble persons.”
αὐτὸauto. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Neuter 3rd Person Singular
εἶπενeipenHe saidG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisto themG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
37

“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes not only Me, but the One who sent Me.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Hos an dexētai hen tōn toioutōn paidiōn epi mou tō onomati dechetai eme kai hos an dechētai eme dechetai ouk eme alla ton aposteilanta me

Word by word25 · parsed
ὋςHosWhoeverG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ἂνan. . .G302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
δέξηταιdexētaiwelcomesG1209
√ δέχομαι — to receive (in various applications, literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Subjunctive Middle3rd Person Singular
δέχομαι: to receive, to welcome The verb of hospitality, and the hinge of the verse's four-fold chain. In the ancient household, to receive a person was to take responsibility for them. Applied to the child it costs nothing in status and gains nothing in return, which is exactly why it measures the disciple. Gill reads the object as “any believer, who is like to such a child for humility, meekness, and lowliness of mind,” citing the Syriac “one like to this child.”
ἓνhenoneG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
τῶνtōnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Plural
τοιούτωνtoioutōnof theseG5108
√ τοιοῦτος — truly this, iDemonstrative PronounGenitive Neuter Plural
τοιοῦτος: such a one, of this kind The demonstrative widens the reference from this child to the whole class “such as this,” which is what licenses the commentators (Gill, Pulpit, Poole) to read it of lowly disciples as well as of literal children. The Greek supports both at once, and the unit needs both: v. 37 answers the ranking dispute and v. 41 will answer it again with a cup of water.
παιδίωνpaidiōnlittle childrenG3813
√ παιδίον — a childling (of either sex), iNounGenitive Neuter Plural
ἐπὶepiinG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
μουmouMyG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
τῷtōG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
ὀνόματίonomatinameG3686
√ ὄνομα — a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority, character)NounDative Neuter Singular
ὄνομα: a name, and so authority and character The keyword of the rest of the unit: it returns at v. 38 (the exorcist acting in that name), v. 39 (the miracle worked upon it) and v. 41 (the cup given because you bear it). Each time the name is the ground of the act, and each time the name is more inclusive than the Twelve had assumed.
δέχεταιdechetaiwelcomesG1209
√ δέχομαι — to receive (in various applications, literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
ἐμὲemeMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὃςhoswhoeverG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ἂνan. . .G302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
δέχηταιdechētaiwelcomesG1209
√ δέχομαι — to receive (in various applications, literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Subjunctive Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
ἐμὲemeMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
δέχεταιdechetaiwelcomesG1209
√ δέχομαι — to receive (in various applications, literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
οὐκouknot onlyG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἐμὲemeMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
ἀλλὰallabutG235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
τὸνtonthe [One]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἀποστείλαντάaposteilantawho sentG649
√ ἀποστέλλω — set apart, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveAccusative Masculine Singular
ἀποστέλλω: to set apart and send out The participle makes the Father knowable through the sending. Ellicott traces the climax to its end: to receive one who is one with the Father is to “enter into fellowship with Him who is the Supreme and Eternal Love,” comparing John 14:10 and 14:23. The logic is the same as John 13:20.
μεmeMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
38

John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone else driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

ho Iōannēs Ephē autō Didaskale eidomen tina hos ouk akolouthei hēmin ekballonta daimonia en sou tō onomati kai ekōlyomen auton hoti ouk ēkolouthei hēmin

Word by word24 · parsed
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸωάννηςIōannēsJohnG2491
√ Ἰωάννης — Joannes (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἜφηEphēsaidG5346
√ φημί — to show or make known one's thoughts, iVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτῷautōto HimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ΔιδάσκαλεDidaskaleTeacherG1320
√ διδάσκαλος — an instructor (genitive case or specially)NounVocative Masculine Singular
διδάσκαλος: an instructor, teacher The vocative of address, and a deliberately respectful one; Gill notes the Syriac renders it “Rabbi.” The irony is structural: John appeals to the authority of the Teacher in order to have a ruling he has already made confirmed, having (as the Pulpit Commentary observes) forbidden the man “without having first taken counsel of their Master.” He expects commendation and receives correction, which is the second time in nine verses that bringing a matter to Jesus exposes rather than vindicates the one who brings it.
εἴδομένeidomenwe sawG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Indicative Active1st Person Plural
τιναtinasomeoneG5100
√ τὶς — some or any person or objectInterrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Masculine Singular
ὃςhoselseG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
οὐκouk. . .G3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἀκολουθεῖakolouthei. . .G190
√ ἀκολουθέω — properly, to be in the same way with, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἡμῖνhēmin. . .G1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounDative 1st Person Plural
ἐκβάλλονταekballontadriving outG1544
√ ἐκβάλλω — to eject (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Participle ActiveAccusative Masculine Singular
δαιμόνιαdaimoniademonsG1140
√ δαιμόνιον — a dæmonic beingNounAccusative Neuter Plural
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
σουsouYourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
τῷtōG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
ὀνόματίonomatinameG3686
√ ὄνομα — a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority, character)NounDative Neuter Singular
ὄνομα: a name, and so authority The catchword that triggers the whole episode. JFB reconstructs the mental link plainly: the words “in My name” in v. 37 reminded John of something they had done, and he asks whether it was right. The unnamed exorcist used the same name the Twelve had just been told is the ground of every welcome.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐκωλύομενekōlyomenwe tried to stopG2967
√ κωλύω — to estop, iVerbImperfect Indicative Active1st Person Plural
κωλύω: to hinder, to cut off, to forbid The verb that Jesus will pick up and negate in v. 39, and the same verb Peter uses when he asks who can forbid water for baptism (Acts 10:47). Both times the instinct is to guard a boundary God has already crossed. Poole names the two faults precisely: “Envying for Christ's sake, as Joshua did for Moses's sake,” and “Limiting the grace of Christ to that congregation which followed Christ, and the twelve.”
αὐτόνautonhimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ὅτιhotibecauseG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
οὐκouk. . .G3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἠκολούθειēkoloutheihe does not accompanyG190
√ ἀκολουθέω — properly, to be in the same way with, iVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἀκολουθέω: to follow, to be in the same way with The imperfect makes it a settled state, not a single refusal. Whether the man was a disciple of John the Baptist (the guess of Benson and of Gill, reporting Lightfoot) or simply an outsider moved by Christ's influence (Cambridge, citing Meyer) the text does not say, and neither should we.
ἡμῖνhēminusG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounDative 1st Person Plural
39

“Do not stop him,” Jesus replied. “For no one who performs a miracle in My name can turn around and speak evil of Me.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Mē kōlyete auton de Ho Iēsous eipen gar estin oudeis hos poiēsei dynamin epi mou tō onomati dynēsetai tachy kai kakologēsai me

Word by word22 · parsed
ΜὴMē{Do} notG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
κωλύετεkōlyetestopG2967
√ κωλύω — to estop, iVerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
κωλύω: to hinder, to forbid Jesus takes John's own verb and negates it. The imperative is present and plural: a standing order to the whole apostolic company about how to treat work done in his name outside their supervision. JFB compresses the exchange to its bones: “Were we right, or were we wrong?” Answer, “Ye were wrong.”
αὐτόνautonhimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
εἶπενeipenrepliedG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
γάρgarForG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἐστινestinG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
οὐδεὶςoudeisno oneG3762
√ οὐδείς — not even one (man, woman or thing), iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
ὃςhoswhoG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ποιήσειpoiēseiperformsG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
δύναμινdynamina miracleG1411
√ δύναμις — force (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Feminine Singular
δύναμις: force, power, a mighty work The same noun Mark uses for the mighty works done through Jesus at Nazareth (Mark 6:2, 6:5). By calling the exorcism a δύναμις Jesus concedes that real power was at work, which is the premise of the argument that follows: a man cannot draw on that power and immediately revile its source.
ἐπὶepiinG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
μουmouMyG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
τῷtōG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
ὀνόματίonomatinameG3686
√ ὄνομα — a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority, character)NounDative Neuter Singular
δυνήσεταιdynēsetaicanG1410
√ δύναμαι — to be able or possibleVerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
ταχὺtachyturn aroundG5035
√ ταχύ — shortly, iAdverb
ταχύ: quickly, shortly A relatively uncommon adverb (12 verses), and it is the hinge of the logic. Barnes reads the whole verse from it: the man “to whom God gave the power of working a miracle, by that gave evidence that he could not be found among the enemies of Jesus.” The claim is about probability and conscience, not about final perseverance, and Gill is careful to add that “there must be some time before such an one apostatizes, if he ever does.”
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
κακολογῆσαίkakologēsaispeak evil ofG2551
√ κακολογέω — to revileVerbAorist Infinitive Active
κακολογέω: to revile, to speak evil of A rare verb (4 verses) whose other principal use is the Decalogue's sanction against reviling parents, quoted at Mark 7:10. Gill connects the saying to 1 Corinthians 12:3, that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed. The test Jesus gives is not institutional membership but whether a man's mouth can curse the name his hands invoke.
μεmeMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
40

For whoever is not against us is for us.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar hos estin ouk kath’ hēmōn estin hyper hēmōn

Word by word9 · parsed
γὰρgarForG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ὃςhoswhoeverG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ὅς with ἄν implied: “whoever,” the same open relative as vv. 37 and 41. Three times in this unit the door is opened by an indefinite pronoun.
ἔστινestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
οὐκouknotG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
καθ’kath’againstG2596
√ κατά — (prepositionally) down (in place or time), in varied relations (according to the case (genitive, dative or accusative) with which it is joined)Preposition
κατά: down upon, against The preposition sets the standard of exclusion at active hostility, which is a far higher bar than the one John had applied (not following us). Nothing in the verse says the outsider was right to stay outside; it says only that he was not an enemy.
ἡμῶνhēmōnusG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Plural
ἐστινestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ὑπὲρhyperforG5228
√ ὑπέρ — "over", iPreposition
ὑπέρ: over, on behalf of The counterpart preposition. The Pulpit Commentary sets this saying beside its apparent opposite at Matthew 12:30 (“He that is not with me is against me”), and quotes Morison's resolution: apply the stringent form to yourself, the generous form to others. That is a rule of judgment, not a softening of the two texts, and it is a fallible harmonisation, though a sober one.
ἡμῶνhēmōnusG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Plural
41

Indeed, if anyone gives you even a cup of water because you bear the name of Christ, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar Hos an potisē hymas potērion hydatos hoti este en onomati Christou amēn legō hymin hoti ou mē apolesē autou ton misthon

Word by word22 · parsed
γὰρgarIndeedG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ὋςHosif anyoneG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ἂνan. . .G302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
ποτίσῃpotisēgivesG4222
√ ποτίζω — to furnish drink, irrigateVerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
ποτίζω: to give to drink, to irrigate The smallest imaginable service, named deliberately. Cambridge notes that a cup of water is what “all gave readily in those sultry lands,” which is the point: the reward is attached to an act that costs the giver nothing and confers no status. Barnes draws the consequence: “How easy it is to be a Christian!” in this one respect, that none are too poor to do it.
ὑμᾶςhymasyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Plural
ποτήριονpotērion[even] a cupG4221
√ ποτήριον — a drinking-vesselNounAccusative Neuter Singular
ὕδατοςhydatosof waterG5204
√ ὕδωρ — water (as if rainy) literally or figurativelyNounGenitive Neuter Singular
ὅτιhotibecauseG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ἐστεesteyou bearG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
ἐνen. . .G1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ὀνόματιonomatithe nameG3686
√ ὄνομα — a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority, character)NounDative Neuter Singular
ΧριστοῦChristouof ChristG5547
√ Χριστός — anointed, iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
Χριστός: anointed, the Christ The saying grounds the reward in the disciple's belonging, not in the giver's estimate. Gill glosses the Syriac, “on account that ye are Christ's,” and lists what that belonging means: called by his name, loved by him, given to him, redeemed by him. This is the same logic as v. 37 (the child received on the ground of the name) now applied to the disciples themselves.
ἀμὴνamēntrulyG281
√ ἀμήν — properly, firm, iHebrew Word
ἀμήν: firm, truly (a Hebrew word carried into Greek) The interlinear marks it a Hebrew word, and it is: Jesus' distinctive formula of self-authorising assertion, “amen I say to you,” with no appeal to a higher authority. It is used here to guarantee a promise about the smallest act in the unit, which is itself an argument about scale.
λέγωlegōI tellG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
οὐouvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
ἀπολέσῃapolesēhe will never loseG622
√ ἀπόλλυμι — to destroy fully (reflexively, to perish, or lose), literally or figurativelyVerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
ἀπόλλυμι: to destroy fully, to lose A strong verb under the strongest denial Greek can make, οὐ μή with the aorist subjunctive: not that the reward is likely, but that its loss is impossible. The same verb carries Mark 8:35 a few paragraphs earlier, where whoever would save his life shall lose it and whoever loses it for Christ's sake shall save it, and it is the verb of perishing throughout the New Testament (the lost sheep, the ones who should not perish). Mark thus closes the unit with the one loss that cannot happen, set against the losses the disciples have just been warned they are courting.
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
μισθὸνmisthonrewardG3408
√ μισθός — pay for service (literally or figuratively), good or badNounAccusative Masculine Singular
μισθός: pay for service, wages A commercial word, “pay for service, good or bad.” It closes a unit that opened with men competing for rank: the kingdom does have wages, but they attach to a cup of water given to a nobody, not to precedence won on the road. Benson notes that Jesus here “resumes the discourse, which was broken off at Mark 9:37,” so the promise answers the original dispute, not only John's question.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The road and the house — Mark 9:33-34

⚙ Mark builds the scene on two locations and one verb. The road (ὁδῷ, G3598) is where Jesus has just said he will be killed; the house is where he asks what they were reckoning on it. Maclaren puts the outrage of the juxtaposition first: “Was it not a strange time to squabble when they had just been told of His death?” and then reads the imperfect ἐπηρώτα as therapy rather than trap, since the question “is not to rebuke, but to heal.” The answer is a held silence, ἐσιώπων (G4623, imperfect), which JFB describes from the inside: now that they were all together in the house, He questions them, “and they are put to the blush.” Mark escalates his own vocabulary between the two verses, from the private reckoning of G1260 to the open dispute of G1256, and Ellicott corrects the English on the object of that dispute: the Greek μείζων is a comparative, so read “who was the greatest,” each man against the man beside him. The Pulpit Commentary observes what it costs the evangelists to record this at all: the dispute “might easily have been suppressed as scarcely creditable to them,” and its preservation is evidence of their honesty. Poole and Cambridge each supply a motive (a misread political messiahship, jealousy over the three taken up the mountain); both are inference, and Mark supplies neither.

ii. The ruling and the child — Mark 9:35-37

⚙ Jesus answers a comparative with two absolutes. He sits, which Gill reads as the posture of authority, “as their master, as one having authority,” and Cambridge counts as the first of four graphic touches (sits, calls, sets the child, takes it up). The ruling turns on a verb of desire, not of office, and Poole catches the precision: “our Lord doth not say, he that is the first, but he who desireth to be first.” Maclaren refuses to let the two halves collapse into one, insisting that “‘last of all’ is not the same as ‘servant of all.’ The one phrase expresses humility; the other, ministry,” and that an indolent humility which does nothing for others is as incomplete as an unhumble service. The Pulpit Commentary weighs the two readings of the flat future ἔσται, penalty for ambition or path to real greatness, and prefers the second: “it is surely far more natural to regard them as pointing out the way to real greatness, namely, by humble service for Christ's sake.” Then the object lesson: a παιδίον (G3813) stood in the very middle the disputants had been claiming, and folded in his arms by a verb (ἐναγκαλίζομαι, G1723) that occurs only twice in the New Testament. Ellicott notes the rarity; JFB notes that Mark alone preserves the gesture. Ellicott then carries the chain to its end: to receive the child for Christ's sake is to be a sharer in his spirit, and to receive him is to enter fellowship with the Father who sent him.

iii. John's boundary and the name that will not hold it — Mark 9:38-40

⚙ The catchword “in my name” trips John into a confession he mistakes for a report. JFB reconstructs the moment: the phrase “reminds me of something that we have just done, and we should like to know if we did right,” with the answer coming back flat, “Ye were wrong.” Cambridge locates the fault in one pronoun: the ground of the rebuke was “because he followeth not us,” not “because he followeth not Thee,” which Cambridge calls the utterance of excited party feeling. Poole names two errors, envying for Christ's sake as Joshua did for Moses's, and “Limiting the grace of Christ to that congregation which followed Christ, and the twelve.” Ellicott reaches for the same Numbers passage, where Moses answered Joshua's request that Eldad and Medad be forbidden, and adds Paul rejoicing that Christ was preached every way. Jesus takes John's own verb κωλύω and negates it in the plural present, then gives a reason that is modest and psychological rather than absolute: ταχὺ means quickly, and Barnes and Gill both keep the claim at that size, that such a man cannot readily turn and revile the name his hands invoke. Gill ties it to 1 Corinthians 12:3. Benson sets the two proverbs side by side, “He that is not with me is against me” and the generous form here, and draws the rule the Pulpit Commentary later quotes from Morison: rigorous in judging ourselves, candid in judging each other. Barnes applies it to his own denominational century; that application is his, not Mark's.

iv. The cup of water, and the answer to the original question — Mark 9:41

⚙ Benson sees the structure: here “our Lord resumes the discourse, which was broken off at Mark 9:37.” The unit does not end with John's rebuke but with the smallest conceivable service, a cup of water, which Cambridge notes was the one thing “all gave readily in those sultry lands.” The ground is again the name: the awkward Greek, which the Pulpit Commentary renders literally “in name, that ye are Christ's,” makes the recipient's belonging to Christ, not the giver's sentiment, the reason the act counts, and Poole reads Mark as expounding Matthew's “in the name of a disciple” by this very clause. The guarantee is Jesus' own ἀμήν and an emphatic double negative: οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσῃ, he shall by no means ever lose it. Barnes draws the pastoral consequence without inflating it: “None are so humble in his kingdom as not to be able to do good.” So the unit closes by answering the question it opened with. They asked who was greater; they are told that greatness is measured in μισθός (G3408), wages, and that the wages attach to the cup nobody counted.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested. Read the unit as one argument about the word “name,” and the seam between the ranking dispute and John's complaint stops looking like an interruption. In v. 37 the name is the ground on which a nobody is welcomed; in v. 38 the Twelve use the same name as a property line; in v. 39 Jesus makes it the ground of a stranger's power; in v. 41 it is the ground of a stranger's reward. The Twelve keep trying to convert the name into a rank and Jesus keeps converting it back into a door. Notice too what the answer of v. 35 is not: it is not a promise that the humble will later be promoted to the first place they wanted. πρῶτος and ἔσχατος are not stages in a career; the sentence says that the road to being first runs through being last of all and servant of all, and gives no exit from that road. Maclaren's distinction should be held here: humility alone is not the answer, and service alone is not either. And the whole thing is grounded, in Mark's own telling, not in an ethic but in a person: at Mark 10:45 the same evangelist will say that the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and the argument of this unit has no other foundation than that. Where this reading may be wrong: it presses the fourfold “name” harder than the commentators do, and the Greek of v. 41 is genuinely difficult, so a reader should weigh the Pulpit Commentary's literal rendering against the BSB's smooth one before leaning on the point.

They asked which of them was greater, and were handed a child, a stranger, and a cup of water. (This line is the tool's fallible synthesis, not Scripture.)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The arms that folded a child, and folded them again verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ The participle ἐναγκαλισάμενος (enankalizomai, G1723) is one of the rarest verbs in the Gospels: the Verifier finds it in only two verses in the whole New Testament, here and at Mark 10:16, where Jesus takes the children in his arms and blesses them. Ellicott records the fact plainly, that the act “is expressed in the Greek by a single participle which occurs only here and in Mark 10:16,” and judges the sense to be arms folded round the child rather than the child lifted up. JFB notes that Mark alone preserves the gesture in this scene. Mark is evidently marking the two passages as a pair: a rare word used twice, both times of Jesus embracing a child, both times in answer to disciples who were sorting people by rank or worth.

Mark 10:16

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G1723 ἐναγκαλίζομαι, found in only 2 verses in the New Testament (Mark 9:36 and Mark 10:16). A rare-lexeme verbal link within one Gospel, Greek to Greek; not a quotation, the tier records the shared vocabulary.

The verb for reviling, and the commandment it usually carries verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ κακολογῆσαί (kakologeō, G2551, “to revile”) is rare: the Verifier finds it in four verses. Two of the other three are the same citation of the law, Mark 7:10 and Matthew 15:4, where Jesus quotes “he who reviles father or mother must be put to death” against the Corban evasion. The overlap sets the register of Mark 9:39. The word Jesus chooses for what the unnamed exorcist cannot quickly do is the word the law attaches to a capital offence against a parent, which suggests the saying is not about mild criticism but about cursing the source of one's own power. Gill reaches the same place by a different route, through 1 Corinthians 12:3.

Mark 7:10 · Matthew 15:4

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G2551 κακολογέω, found in only 4 verses (in 4 vv). A rare shared lexeme, Greek to Greek across Mark and Matthew. The link is the vocabulary; the doctrinal inference from it is ⚙ synthesis.

The same cup, promised twice structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The promise of v. 41 stands almost word for word at Matthew 10:42, where it closes the mission discourse and the giving is “in the name of a disciple.” Poole treats Mark's clause as the exposition of Matthew's: “there the phrase is, in the name of a disciple; here it is expounded, because ye belong to Christ.” Ellicott takes the doubling as evidence of method rather than of duplicate sources, reading “the reproduction of the promise in so different a context” as an instance of Jesus reiterating words of blessing until they were fixed in the hearers' minds. The Verifier's shared lexemes here (G1520 εἷς, G3686 ὄνομα) are common words, so the link rests on the shared saying and setting, not on rare vocabulary.

Matthew 10:42

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G1520 εἷς (in 288 vv) and G3686 ὄνομα (in 214 vv), both common, so no rare-lexeme verbal claim is warranted. The real basis is the shared dominical saying (cup of water, name, reward not lost) in two settings, which is a structural parallel, not a quotation of one text by the other.

Luke's parallel, and the pronoun both evangelists preserve structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Luke 9:49-50 reports John's complaint in the same sequence, and the Verifier registers the overlap through G3686 ὄνομα, G2491 Ἰωάννης and G190 ἀκολουθέω, the three words the episode turns on: the name used, the apostle who objects, the following he demands. Ellicott notes that Matthew omits the incident entirely while Luke keeps it “in the same connection,” and the Pulpit Commentary observes that Luke's opening (“John answered and said”) differs from the better-attested reading in Mark. The agreement that matters is that both evangelists preserve the damning pronoun: he does not follow us.

Luke 9:49

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3686 ὄνομα (in 214 vv), G2491 Ἰωάννης (in 132 vv), G190 ἀκολουθέω (in 86 vv), all common words. Synoptic parallel of the same incident, Greek to Greek; tiered structural because common vocabulary in a shared narrative is not a rare-lexeme verbal link.

The child set in the midst, and the children forbidden structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The Verifier pairs this unit with Mark 10:14, Matthew 19:14 and Luke 18:16 on παιδίον (G3813) with τοιοῦτος (G5108), the exact pairing of Mark 9:37, “one of such little children.” In the later scene the disciples repeat the mistake of this one: they hinder (Mark uses κωλύω there too, the verb of v. 38 and v. 39) those who bring children, and Jesus says the kingdom belongs “to such as these.” The class-forming demonstrative is the shared hinge, and it is what licenses Gill, Poole and the Pulpit Commentary to read v. 37 of lowly disciples as well as of literal children.

Mark 10:14 · Matthew 19:14 · Luke 18:16

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3813 παιδίον (in 49 vv) and G5108 τοιοῦτος (in 55 vv), moderately common, appearing in the same collocation. Greek to Greek within the Synoptics; a shared motif and idiom rather than a quotation, so structural.

Silent disciples, silent Lord structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ σιωπάω (G4623) is uncommon, appearing in ten verses, and the Verifier pairs Mark 9:33-34 with Mark 14:61 through it together with ἐπερωτάω (G1905, the questioning verb of v. 33). In this unit the Twelve are questioned and keep silence out of shame. At Mark 14:61 Jesus is questioned by the high priest and keeps silence, then breaks it to confess who he is. Mark's own use of the verb elsewhere is of the sea told to be still (Mark 4:39). ⚙ We name the pattern as Mark's and go no further: the evangelist repeats a rare verb at three moments of confrontation, and the reader may weigh whether the echo is designed.

Mark 14:61 · Mark 4:39

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4623 σιωπάω (in 10 vv) with G1905 ἐπερωτάω (in 56 vv) for Mark 14:61, and G4623 σιωπάω with G3173 μέγας for Mark 4:39. σιωπάω is relatively uncommon, but the connection claimed here is a narrative pattern within one Gospel, not a quotation, so the tier is kept at structural rather than verbal.

The LORD who raises the poor from the dust structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The reversal of first and last in v. 35 states in one sentence what the Hebrew Scriptures repeat as a settled way of God: Hannah sings that the LORD makes poor and makes rich, brings low and lifts up, raising the poor from the dust to seat them with princes (1 Samuel 2:7-8); Proverbs puts humility before honour and pride before the fall (Proverbs 15:33, 16:18-19, 29:23); Isaiah has the high and lofty One dwelling with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit (Isaiah 57:15). Mark records no citation here and Jesus quotes nothing. No verbal link can be claimed, because a Greek text and a Hebrew text share no Strong's numbers, and the Verifier offers no basis for this pairing. What can be said is that the saying assumes this pattern as already revealed and applies it to rank among the Twelve.

1 Samuel 2:7-8 · Proverbs 15:33 · Proverbs 16:18-19 · Proverbs 29:23 · Isaiah 57:15

basis: Cross-Testament, Greek to Hebrew: shared Strong's numbers are impossible in principle, so no verbal tier is available. The Verifier returned no candidate for these references. The recorded basis is the shared pattern of divine reversal (the low exalted, the proud brought down) which the Gospel saying presupposes without quoting.

A cup of water, and the loan made to the LORD structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The promise of v. 41 works on the same principle Proverbs states twice: whoever is kind to the needy honours his Maker, and he who is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, who will repay him (Proverbs 14:31, 19:17). Jesus makes the identification tighter and personal, since the one honoured is not the Maker in general but himself and the Father who sent him, and the reward is guaranteed by his own “amen” rather than inferred from providence. There is no quotation and no shared vocabulary available across the language barrier; the link is the shape of the principle.

Proverbs 14:31 · Proverbs 19:17

basis: Cross-Testament, Greek to Hebrew: no shared Strong's lexemes are possible, and the Verifier lists no candidate. Basis recorded as a shared principle (kindness shown to the lowly is credited to God and repaid by God), applied in Mark to the disciple's bearing of Christ's name. No citation is claimed.

Reward and the quickly coming Judge structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The Verifier links v. 41 to Revelation 22:12 through two words at once, μισθός (G3408, “wages”) and ταχύ (G5035, “quickly”), the second of which is also the pivot of v. 39. In Mark the adverb measures how soon a man could turn and revile; in Revelation it measures how soon the Lord comes with his wages to render to each as his work is. ⚙ The pairing is the Verifier's, and we record it without claiming that either author had the other in view.

Revelation 22:12

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G5035 ταχύ (in 12 vv) and G3408 μισθός (in 28 vv). Both are uncommon but neither is rare enough, nor the collocation distinctive enough, to justify a verbal or quotation claim between Mark and Revelation; recorded as a thematic link on reward.

Who can forbid? The apostolic instinct corrected twice structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The verb John uses of the exorcist, κωλύω (G2967, “to hinder, to cut off”), is the verb Peter uses at Acts 10:47 when the Spirit falls on Cornelius and his household: “Can anyone forbid water?” The Verifier registers the shared lexeme (in 23 verses), together with G2983 λαμβάνω. In both scenes an apostle confronts God at work outside the boundary the apostles had drawn, and in both the boundary is the thing that gives way. Poole reaches the same conclusion from this passage alone when he names the second fault as “Limiting the grace of Christ to that congregation which followed Christ, and the twelve; a thing that good men are too prone unto.”

Acts 10:47

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G2967 κωλύω (in 23 vv) and G2983 λαμβάνω (in 243 vv), Greek to Greek across Mark and Acts. κωλύω is moderately uncommon but not rare, and no quotation is involved, so the tier is structural; the parallel claimed is a repeated narrative pattern, not a literary dependence.

Would God that all the LORD's people were prophets typological

⚙ Two commentators independently take Numbers 11:26-29 as the governing precedent for John's mistake. Cambridge sets the texts side by side, Joshua saying “My lord Moses, forbid them” and Moses answering “Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets.” Ellicott makes the same connection and adds Paul at Philippians 1:18. Poole names it as the first of John's two errors, “Envying for Christ's sake, as Joshua did for Moses's sake.” ⚙ We record this as the commentators' reading and as a figural one: Mark does not cite Numbers, and no verbal link is possible across the languages. Its strength is that the two scenes match at four points (an unauthorised prophetic act, a young zealous lieutenant, a request to forbid, a superior who refuses), and its weakness is that the correspondence is supplied by readers, however early and however many.

Numbers 11:26-29 · Philippians 1:18

basis: Figural reading, cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and the Verifier offers none. Widely held rather than novel: Ellicott, Cambridge and Poole all read Mark 9:38-39 against Numbers 11:26-29 independently. Mark makes no citation, and the typological tier records that the correspondence is the readers', not the text's own claim.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The servant of all who was himself the Servant ancient/widely-held

⚙ The rule of v. 35 is not free-standing ethics. Mark states the same law twice and grounds it the second time in a person: at Mark 10:43-45, answering the identical ambition from James and John, Jesus says whoever would be first among you shall be slave of all, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” The word διάκονος (G1249) in our verse and the ransom saying belong to one argument. And the ransom saying is itself drawn from the fourth Servant Song, where by his knowledge the righteous servant justifies many and bears their iniquities (Isaiah 53:11). So the man who takes the last place is not imitating a principle but following the only one who ever occupied it by right and descended to it by choice. JFB points forward to Mark 10:42-45 at this very verse. Maclaren presses the same order when he says the two paradoxes may be turned round, that the highest is the lowest and the chief is the servant, because that is how things look “when seen from the centre by His eye.” ⚙ This reading is ours in its wording; its substance is the ancient apostolic one (compare Philippians 2:5-8, where the mind that empties itself is set before the church as the pattern precisely because it was Christ's).

Mark 10:43-45 · Isaiah 53:11 · Philippians 2:5-8

The chain of receiving: child, Son, Father ancient/widely-held

⚙ Verse 37 builds a chain in which each link is the whole of the next: receive the child and you receive Christ; receive Christ and you receive the One who sent him. It works because of who Christ is, and for no other reason. Ellicott traces the climax exactly: when we love a little child in the name of Christ we are sharers in his spirit, and when we receive him who was one with the Father we enter fellowship with the Supreme and Eternal Love, comparing John 14:10 and 14:23. The Geneva note puts the second link with Reformation bluntness, that he “not only receives me, but also him that sent me.” Gill works the same logic in reverse, from the Father down: showing respect to Christ is showing respect to his Father, “from whence he came, by whom he was sent, in whose name he acted.” John records the identical saying in his own idiom, that whoever receives anyone he sends receives him, and whoever receives him receives the Father (John 13:20). ⚙ The reading is the ancient one, and it is the ground of Matthew 25:40 as well: what is done to the least is done to him.

John 13:20 · John 14:10 · Matthew 25:40

The Name that works outside the camp ancient/widely-held

⚙ Four times in this unit an act is grounded on the name (v. 37 the child received upon it, v. 38 the demons cast out in it, v. 39 the mighty work done upon it, v. 41 the cup given because you bear it). The name is not a formula but a person, and what Jesus defends in v. 39 is the efficacy of his own name in hands he has not personally commissioned. The Pulpit Commentary reports Justin Martyr's evidence that Jewish exorcism often failed while exorcism “by the name of the Son of God, who was born of a virgin and crucified under Pontius Pilate” succeeded, which is second-century testimony to the same conviction. Peter will make the claim absolute at Acts 4:12, that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved, and Philippians 2:9-11 gives the name above every name to the one who took the last place, which is the very connection this unit makes between v. 35 and v. 39. ⚙ That the sayings of vv. 37-41 pivot deliberately on the single word ὄνομα is our own structural reading of Mark's composition and should be tested; the Christology it lands on is not novel.

Acts 4:12 · Philippians 2:9-11

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (c. 1905)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text and translation. The base text is the BSB (CC0) with the Berean interlinear and Strong's numbers; the Greek surface forms, parses and glosses in the notes and divergences above are taken from that interlinear and not from our own parsing. Several interlinear cells are marked with dots or “vvv” where the BSB reorders or absorbs a Greek word (Mark 9:34 πρὸς ἀλλήλους, Mark 9:38 the relative clause about following); we have flagged those rather than pretend the English has an equivalent.

Known textual questions in this unit. At Mark 9:33 the Pulpit Commentary notes that “among yourselves” of the Authorized Version is absent from the best authorities. At Mark 9:38 the same commentary notes that the best authorities read simply “John said unto him,” not “answered.” At Mark 9:40 Gill records manuscripts reading “he that is not against you, is for you” instead of “us.” At Mark 9:35 Gill and Benson record copies and versions reading an imperative, “let him be last,” against the flat future ἔσται of the text before us. We report these; we have not adjudicated them.

Sources. All ✦ material is verbatim public-domain commentary resolved from anchors into the brief's raw text: Ellicott (1878), Maclaren (c. 1905), Benson (1810s), Matthew Henry's Concise (1706), Barnes (1834), Jamieson Fausset and Brown (1871), Poole (1685), Gill (1746 to 1763), the Geneva marginal notes (1599), Cambridge Bible for Schools (1880s) and the Pulpit Commentary (1880s). Two of the quoted passages are themselves quotations: Cambridge relaying Meyer, and the Pulpit Commentary relaying Morison. Both are flagged in the editorial notes. One quoted sentence from JFB contains the printer's error “out Evangelist” for “our Evangelist”; we quote it uncorrected and say so. Barnes's entries for Mark 9:33, 9:34, 9:35, 9:36 and 9:37 are nothing but a cross reference to Matthew 18:1-5, and Matthew Henry's entry is a single block covering Mark 9:30-40, so neither author can be quoted verse by verse in the first half of this unit; that is a limitation of the sources, not a judgment about them.

What is uncertain. The identity and standing of the exorcist of v. 38 is unknown: Benson and Gill (following Lightfoot) guess a disciple of John the Baptist, Barnes allows one of the seventy, Cambridge (with Meyer) sees a stranger stirred by Christ's influence, and Poole canvasses several options. Mark does not say, and neither do we. The motive behind the ranking dispute is likewise inference in Poole and Cambridge, not text. Every cross-Testament thread in this unit is tiered structural or typological, because Greek and Hebrew texts share no Strong's numbers and no verbal link can be computed across them; the bases above say so in each case. The Verifier returned no candidate at all for the Old Testament pairings, which are recorded on the strength of shared pattern only. The four-fold reading of ὄνομα as the unit's organising word, and the reading of Mark 9:35 as a road rather than a career ladder, are ⚙ synthesis, fallible, and offered to be tested against the text.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)