What Does Mark 3:9 Mean in the King James?
And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
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 crowd’s need becomes literal pressure, and the small boat keeps space around Jesus so he can remain present without being engulfed.
THE MEANING
Many needs can close around a person until closeness becomes pressure. The small boat stays ready beside Jesus, making room for his presence when the crowd threatens to press in.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that being present means allowing unlimited access. The boat is already there as room when closeness threatens to become crushing.
THE ROOT
θλίβωσιν
thlibōsin
GROWS FROM
θλιβ-
thlib-
To press or squeeze; figuratively, to oppress or afflict.
“throng” in this verse is thlibōsin. The Greek verb makes the crowd’s movement feel like bodily force, not just a large number of people. Its word family also names affliction as pressure, so the small boat creates room against a force that can close in.
ALSO GROWS
thlipsis: Pressure, affliction.
θλῖψις
This noun names affliction as pressure, showing how the same word family reaches from physical crowding to distress.
thlibomenoi: Being pressed, afflicted.
θλιβόμενοι
This form appears in 2 Corinthians 4:8, where people are pressed on every side yet not confined.
THE PATTERN
When need crowds the work, space or shared capacity keeps presence from becoming crushing.
And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.THE THREAD
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;The Greek word for “throng” here and the word rendered “troubled” there come from the same root of pressing. In Mark, the pressure is a crowd pressing against a body; in Corinthians, the same image describes affliction pressing in without fully confining.
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