What Does Mark 2:24 Mean in the King James?

And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

Mark 2:24 · KJV

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 accusers turn a day named for cessation into a boundary test of what may be done.

THE MEANING

The accusation measures their action against what is permitted on the Sabbath. The Greek phrase ⁨οὐκ ἔξεστιν⁩ (ouk exestin) means “it is not permitted,” making permission the hinge of the question. The verse shows how a practice of rest can become a test of compliance.

THE ROOT

σάββασιν

sabbasin

GROWS FROM

⁨σαββατ-⁩ / ⁨σαββασ-⁩

Sabbath, the day of cessation and rest; the Greek loanword stem ⁨σαββατ-⁩ has the form ⁨σαββασ-⁩ in this verse.

“sabbath day” in this verse is sabbasin. The Greek ⁨σάββασιν⁩ (sabbasin, “Sabbath”) is a declined form in the ⁨σαββατ-⁩ / ⁨σαββασ-⁩ word family. English presents Sabbath as a rule-name, while its root carries cessation and rest into the very day the Pharisees make a boundary for judging action.

ALSO GROWS

sabbatizō: keep the Sabbath; rest on the Sabbath

σαββατίζω

This verb shares the ⁨σαββατ-⁩ family and shows Sabbath as an enacted cessation.

sabbatismos: Sabbath-rest

σαββατισμός

This noun shares the same family and names rest as the substance of Sabbath.

THE PATTERN

Sabbath rest is structured as shared relief for living beings, yet can be recast as a test of permitted behavior.

Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

Exodus 23:12 · KJVRest extends beyond the person keeping Sabbath to those who work and even to the animals, making relief part of the day’s design.

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

Deuteronomy 5:14 · KJVThe command defines the day by rest shared across the household and community.

And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

Mark 2:27 · KJVThe answer to the accusation names the Sabbath’s human purpose directly.

THE THREAD

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Hebrews 4:9 · KJV

The Greek word here for “rest” is ⁨σαββατισμός⁩ (sabbatismos), from the same ⁨σαββατ-⁩ family as the Sabbath in Mark’s question. The challenged day and the rest that remains are joined by one word-family.

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