What Does Mark 2:20 Mean in the King James?
But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
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 Greek verb carries the image of the bridegroom being lifted away, making fasting the bodily shape of his absence.
THE MEANING
The verse holds presence and absence together: while the bridegroom is with them, fasting does not fit; when he is taken from them, their days change. Their response changes with the relationship, not with a fixed measure of devotion.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A fast is not automatically proof of greater devotion; here its meaning depends on whether the bridegroom is present or taken away.
THE ROOT
ἀπαρθῇ
aparthē
GROWS FROM
αἴρω
airō
to lift, carry, or take away
“taken away” in this verse is aparthē. The verb pictures the bridegroom as lifted out from among them, not simply as someone they happen to miss. The same root can describe lifting something up or carrying it away, so the verse gives absence a sense of removal.
ALSO GROWS
airō: to lift, carry, or take away
αἴρω
This is the base verb beneath the word translated “taken away,” showing the movement hidden inside the phrase.
epairō: to raise or lift up
ἐπαίρω
This related form keeps the image of lifting, illuminating the force of the bridegroom being removed from their midst.
νυμφίος
nymphios
GROWS FROM
νυμφ-
nymph-
bride; bridal relationship
The word names the bridegroom through his bond with the bride. That relationship makes the fast here an answer to a person’s absence, rather than a bare rule about meals.
ALSO GROWS
nymphē: bride
νύμφη
The bridegroom’s name carries the bride within it; the verse’s focus is a relationship, not an isolated religious practice.
nymphōn: bridal chamber
νυμφών
This related word evokes the shared setting of a wedding, making the contrast between presence and absence especially vivid.
THE PATTERN
The bridegroom’s presence awakens rejoicing, while his absence makes fasting a fitting expression of grief.
For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.THE THREAD
And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.Mark’s verb for the bridegroom being taken away and John’s verb for someone taking joy share the same root of lifting or carrying away. Mark names the sorrow of removal; John places that sorrow beside a joy that cannot be taken away.
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