What Does Mark 9:7 Mean in the King James?
And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear 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 cloud’s covering does not end the revelation; it shifts attention from what the eye sees to the Son the voice names and commands the witnesses to hear.
THE MEANING
Even when the scene before you is clouded, the voice names what is true: the Son is beloved, and hearing him is the point of the moment. Recognition here comes through the voice’s witness, not through mastering everything in view.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that you must see everything clearly before you can recognize what is true: the cloud remains, while the voice identifies the beloved Son.
THE ROOT
ἀκούετε
akouete
GROWS FROM
ἀκούω
akouō
To hear or listen.
The Greek form is a direct command to hear him. Its word family reaches from hearing itself to heeding, so the verse makes listening the response to the clouded scene.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: Hearing or a report received.
ἀκοή
The related noun names what reaches the hearer, making hearing the point of contact with the message.
hypakouō: To heed or obey.
ὑπακούω
This compound shares the hearing word and shows how listening can extend into response.
ἀγαπητός
agapētos
GROWS FROM
ἀγαπάω
agapaō
To love or cherish.
The voice identifies the Son through relationship: he is the beloved one. The command to hear him follows that declaration, placing his words within the voice’s naming of him.
ALSO GROWS
agapaō: To love or cherish.
ἀγαπάω
The verb names the act expressed in the Son’s description as beloved.
agapē: Love.
ἀγάπη
The related noun names the love that underlies the word for beloved.
ἐπισκιάζουσα
episkiazousa
GROWS FROM
σκιά
skia
Shadow; the related verb ἐπισκιάζω (episkiazō) means to overshadow or cover with a shadow.
“overshadowed” in this verse is episkiazousa. The Greek verb presents the cloud as actively covering them with shadow. The same verb describes the Highest’s power overshadowing Mary (Luke 1:35), where the covering accompanies a disclosure about the Son.
ALSO GROWS
skia: A shadow.
σκιά
The noun makes the image within the verb clear: the cloud’s action is shadowing.
episkiazō: To overshadow or cover with a shadow.
ἐπισκιάζω
Luke 1:35 uses this same verb for the Highest’s power overshadowing Mary, linking the two scenes through their language of covering.
THE PATTERN
Recognition of the one sent by God comes with a call to heed his voice.
The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:THE THREAD
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.The Greek verb for the cloud overshadowing the disciples is the same verb used here for the Highest’s power overshadowing Mary. In both scenes, covering accompanies a disclosure about the Son.
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