What Does Mark 10:29 Mean in the King James?
And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The decisive phrase is not “left” but “for my sake, and the gospel’s”: release has a direction here.
THE MEANING
Your allegiance to Jesus and the good news reaches into the ties most bound up with identity: home, kin, marriage, children, and land. The Greek verb for “left” also carries the sense of letting go or releasing. The verse names the cost plainly and gives that release its direction.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that following Jesus leaves every prior tie and possession untouched: this verse names home, family, and land among what may be relinquished for him and the good news.
THE ROOT
ἀφῆκεν
aphēken
GROWS FROM
ἵημι
hiēmi
To send or let go; joined with ἀπό (away), it forms a verb meaning to send away or release.
The verse’s verb belongs to the ἀφίημι family, which can mean leaving or letting go, and can also describe forgiving or releasing a debt. That range lets “left” carry the sense of a loosening, while “for my sake, and the gospel’s” names what that release is directed toward.
ALSO GROWS
aphiēmi: To let go, leave, send away, or forgive.
ἀφίημι
The same verb family holds both physical leaving and the release of a claim.
aphesis: Release, remission, or forgiveness.
ἄφεσις
This related noun makes the family’s release sense visible: what is held can be let go.
εὐαγγελίου
euangeliou
GROWS FROM
ἀγγελ-
angel-
To announce or report; εὐαγγέλιον joins this message-root with εὖ (good).
The “gospel” is a good announcement, not merely an inward conviction. Its word-family includes the messenger and the act of proclaiming, so the leaving in this verse is oriented toward a message that is carried outward.
ALSO GROWS
angelos: A messenger.
ἄγγελος
The shared root links the good announcement to the one who carries a message.
angelia: A report or message.
ἀγγελία
This branch shows the announcement at the heart of “gospel.”
euangelizō: To announce or proclaim good news.
εὐαγγελίζω
The message becomes an act of telling, giving the verse’s “gospel” an outward movement.
THE PATTERN
When a divine call becomes the center, familiar securities can be left or revalued.
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,THE THREAD
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,Luke uses the same Greek verb for “left,” ἀφῆκεν (aphēken), tying the release to a divine purpose. Where Mark says “for my sake, and the gospel’s,” Luke names the same movement as being for the kingdom of God’s sake.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us