What Does Mark 8:9 Mean in the King James?

And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

Mark 8:9 · 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 crowd is fed and then released: the verb translated “sent away” carries the deeper sense of loosening people back into their own movement.

THE MEANING

The people eat, and then they are let go. Their need is met, and they remain free to continue on their way.

THE ROOT

ἀπέλυσεν

apelysen

GROWS FROM

λύω

lyō

To loosen, untie, or release.

“sent them away” in this verse is apelysen. English “sent away” can sound like simple movement, but ⁨ἀπολύω⁩ also means to release or dismiss, from ⁨λύω⁩, to loosen. The crowd’s meal ends with their release back into their own way.

ALSO GROWS

apolysis: Release or dismissal.

ἀπόλυσις

This noun makes explicit the release carried within the verb used for the crowd.

lysis: Loosening or release.

λύσις

It shares the root idea of loosening, opening the sense of “sent away” beyond mere departure.

THE PATTERN

Provision meets hunger and makes continued movement possible.

And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

Genesis 18:5 · KJVBread is offered to the travelers, who are then free to pass on.

And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

1 Kings 19:8 · KJVFood gives Elijah strength for the journey ahead.

And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people.

Mark 6:45 · KJVAfter the crowd has eaten, Jesus releases them and the movement continues.

THE THREAD

And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.

Mark 8:3 · KJV

Both verses use forms of ⁨ἀπολύω⁩, meaning to release or dismiss. In verse 3, releasing the hungry crowd risks their collapse; here, after they have eaten, that same release follows their need being met.

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