What Does Mark 8:38 Mean in the King James?

Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Mark 8:38 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

The shame you risk for Jesus and his words is answered by the Son of Man’s own response when the Father’s weight comes into view.

You encounter this verse within a generation it names as adulterous and missing: your response to Jesus and his words stands beside the Son of Man’s response when he comes in the Father’s weight with the set-apart messengers. The shame shown now does not have the last word; the verse locates final recognition in his coming.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that publicly disowning your connection to Jesus has no consequence beyond the moment of social pressure.

ἐπαισχυνθῇ

epaischynthē

GROWS FROM

αἰσχύνω

aischynō

To shame or disgrace; in the middle and passive forms, to feel shame.

The same shame-verb appears twice: first for your shame of Jesus and his words, then for the Son of Man’s response to you. English repeats “ashamed,” but the shared Greek verb makes the correspondence explicit.

ALSO GROWS

epaischynomai: To be ashamed of or to shrink back from something.

ἐπαισχύνομαι

Romans 1:16 uses this same verb when its speaker says he is not ashamed of the gospel.

aischynē: Shame or disgrace.

αἰσχύνη

This related noun shows the same word-family naming the exposure carried by shame.

δόξῃ

doxē

GROWS FROM

δοξ-

dox-

Weight; honor or substance made evident.

“glory” in this verse is doxē. The coming scene is described in terms of the Father’s weight, the reality and honor that carries authority. The verse shifts the scale of public recognition from this generation to what the Father makes manifest.

ALSO GROWS

doxazō: To honor or glorify.

δοξάζω

This related verb shows the word-family describing honor made visible.

endoxos: Honorable or renowned.

ἔνδοξος

This branch connects the Father’s weight with the standing that becomes evident in the coming scene.

ἁμαρτωλῷ

hamartōlō

GROWS FROM

ἁμαρτάνω

hamartanō

To miss, fail to reach, or go wrong.

The generation is named as adulterous and marked by missing. The word behind “sinful” also carries the concrete image of being off the mark, giving the verse’s description a sense of direction as well as conduct.

ALSO GROWS

hamartia: Missing, failure, or wrongdoing.

ἁμαρτία

This related noun carries the same image of falling short or missing the mark.

hamartōlos: One marked by missing or wrongdoing.

ἁμαρτωλός

This is the adjective’s lexical form and connects the generation’s description to the language of missing.

What is confessed or disowned under public pressure becomes visible in the encounter with God’s judgment and recognition.

Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
Psalm 69:6 · KJVThe speaker’s public suffering and shame are bound to the standing of those who seek God.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16 · KJVThe same shame-word names a public refusal to hide the gospel and its power to deliver.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
2 Timothy 2:12 · KJVThe reciprocal response echoes Mark’s warning that denial now meets denial at the coming disclosure.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16 · KJV

Romans uses the same Greek shame-verb as Mark: both passages place a public stance toward Jesus and his message under pressure. Romans names the gospel as God’s power to deliver; Mark shows the answering disclosure when the Son of Man comes.

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Mark 8:38 KJV Meaning