What Does Mark 9:42 Mean in the King James?
And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
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 word translated “offend” pictures setting a trap in the path of someone whose trust rests on Jesus.
THE MEANING
This verse gives present weight to the harm done when someone causes one of the little ones trusting in Jesus to fall. The millstone and sea hold the violence without softening it: drowning is named as preferable to becoming the cause of that harm. The vulnerable person’s trust is the measure around which the warning turns.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a little one’s stumbling is minor or acceptable collateral damage.
THE ROOT
σκανδαλίσῃ
skandalisē
GROWS FROM
σκάνδαλ-
skandal-
A trap or snare; something that catches and causes a fall.
“offend” in this verse is skandalisē. The verse’s word for causing offense belongs to the same word family as a trap or stumbling block. The harm is pictured as placing an obstacle in the path of someone trusting Jesus, not merely causing irritation.
ALSO GROWS
skandalon: A trap, snare, or stumbling block
σκάνδαλον
It gives the warning a concrete image: someone’s path is made dangerous by what another sets before them.
skandalizō: To ensnare or cause to stumble
σκανδαλίζω
This is the verb family behind “offend”; it describes making another person fall.
skandalizomai: To be caught, tripped, or caused to stumble
σκανδαλίζομαι
The passive form brings the focus to the person caught by the obstacle.
πιστευόντων
pisteuontōn
GROWS FROM
πιστεύω (pisteuō; related to πίστις, pistis)
To trust or entrust; to place confidence in.
“believe” in this verse is pisteuontōn. The little ones are described as trusting in Jesus. That trust is relational weight placed on him, which makes the image of someone setting a trap in their path especially sharp.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust; leaning your full weight on
πίστις
It names the trust the little ones place in Jesus, the very trust the warning protects.
pistos: Firm, steady; trustworthy
πιστός
It echoes the steadiness that makes trust possible and shows what the trap disrupts.
THE PATTERN
When power can shape another person’s path, Scripture measures it by the vulnerable person’s safety and holds the powerful to account.
To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.THE THREAD
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.Matthew uses the same Greek verb, σκανδαλίζω (skandalizō), meaning to ensnare or cause to stumble. The repeated millstone image makes the warning unmistakable: causing a trusting little one to fall carries a grave weight.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us