What Does Mark 9:45 Mean in the King James?

And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

Mark 9:45 · 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 KEY

The foot that carries you can itself become a snare, making bodily intactness the lesser good.

THE MEANING

The verse sets before you a violent choice: the ensnaring foot is cut away, because entering life maimed is better than keeping both feet and being cast into hell’s unquenched fire. Bodily intactness is not the highest good when it carries you toward that end.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It overturns the belief that keeping every part intact guarantees wholeness: here, intactness can accompany destruction, while entering life maimed is better.

THE ROOT

σκανδαλίζῃ

skandalizē

GROWS FROM

σκανδαλ-

skandal-

A snare or stumbling block; something that catches and brings a fall.

The Greek verb can mean to cause someone to stumble or to ensnare; “offend” can sound like giving insult, but the word pictures a trap. The foot is a means of movement that has become a snare, and the verse measures it by where it carries you.

ALSO GROWS

skandalon: A snare, trap, or stumbling block.

σκάνδαλον

The related noun names the trap behind the verb: the foot is not merely unpleasant but can become what catches and brings a fall.

skandalizō: To ensnare or cause to stumble.

σκανδαλίζω

This is the verb family of the word translated “offend,” showing that the verse is about a fall-producing trap.

skandalismos: A stumbling or occasion of stumbling.

σκανδαλισμός

This related noun names the stumble or stumbling occasion that follows when something becomes a snare.

THE PATTERN

The text treats removing what entangles the path as better than carrying it intact toward ruin.

Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

Proverbs 4:27 · KJVThe foot is withdrawn from the path that leads into evil.

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Matthew 5:29 · KJVThe same stark comparison places removal of what causes a fall above preserving bodily completeness.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Hebrews 12:1 · KJVWhat entangles the path is laid aside so the race can continue.

THE THREAD

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

Mark 9:43 · KJV

The hand and foot share the same verb for ensnaring, so the danger is not confined to one body part: whatever becomes the occasion of a fall enters the same stark comparison. The repeated phrase “enter into life” weighs that outcome against bodily completeness.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us