What Does Mark 14:9 Mean in the King James?
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
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 gospel carries this woman’s act inside its own announcement, so her remembrance travels wherever the good news goes.
THE MEANING
Wherever the good message is announced, this woman’s act is spoken alongside it. She remains unnamed, yet what she does is carried into the present telling of the message.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the idea that only a named person can be remembered: she remains unnamed, yet her act is joined to the message wherever it is proclaimed.
THE ROOT
μνημόσυνον
mnēmosynon
GROWS FROM
μνημ-
mnēm-
Memory; remembrance.
The Greek word means a memorial or remembrance and belongs to the word family of remembering. Here the woman’s act is not kept apart from the message: it is remembered wherever that message is announced.
ALSO GROWS
mnēmē: Memory; remembrance.
μνήμη
This shares the memory word family and reveals the root beneath “memorial.”
mimnēskomai: To remember; to recall.
μιμνῄσκομαι
This verb makes the remembering in “memorial” active: her deed is recalled as the message is spoken.
εὐαγγέλιον
euangelion
GROWS FROM
ἀγγελ-
angel-
Message; announcement.
“gospel” in this verse is euangelion. The Greek word names good news as an announcement. This verse says the woman’s deed is spoken with that announcement, so her remembrance travels wherever the message travels.
ALSO GROWS
angelos: Messenger.
ἄγγελος
The message is something carried and announced, not merely held privately.
euangelizomai: To announce good news.
εὐαγγελίζομαι
This related verb shows the action of proclaiming the good message that carries her story.
THE PATTERN
A defining act can be carried into remembrance beyond the moment in which it happens.
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.THE THREAD
And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.Acts uses the same Greek word, μνημόσυνον (mnēmosynon, memorial or remembrance), for prayers and acts of giving. Its use here opens Mark’s verse further: the woman’s deed is remembered as a concrete act, carried into the telling of the good message.
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