What Does Mark 1:36 Mean?
And Simon and those with him pursued him.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Simon and they that were with him followed after him.THE KEY
The Greek verb behind “followed after” means “pursue,” so this is an urgent search, not casual trailing.
THE MEANING
Seeking Jesus takes the form of movement: Simon and the others pursue him. What they seek draws them forward, making their desire visible in their direction.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that seeking can remain merely inward: here it takes the form of pursuit.
THE ROOT
καταδιώκω
katadiōkō
GROWS FROM
διώκω
diōkō
Pursue, chase, press after.
“followed after” in this verse is katadiōkō. The Greek word is καταδιώκω (katadiōkō, “pursue”), built on διώκω (diōkō, “pursue”). Its word family also names persecution: the core is pressing after someone, while the purpose and direction determine what that pursuit means.
ALSO GROWS
diōgmos: A chase or persecution.
διωγμός
The same pursuit-family can describe hostile pressure, showing that the verb itself names the force of chasing; its object and aim give that force its direction.
diōktēs: One who pursues or persecutes.
διώκτης
This branch makes the active pursuer explicit and sharpens the force of Simon and his companions pressing after Jesus.
שִׁמְעוֹן
Shim'on
GROWS FROM
שמע
shama
Hear, listen, respond.
Simon is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Shim’on, associated with the שמע (shama, “hear”) family. The verse places the “hearing” name beside a verb of pursuit: what is heard becomes movement toward the one they seek.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear with a response.
שְׁמַע
This branch opens hearing beyond sound alone: it can carry a response, echoed here in Simon’s movement toward Jesus.
shemuah: Something heard; a report.
שְׁמוּעָה
A report is what reaches the ear; the name Shim’on links hearing to the active pursuit in this verse.
THE PATTERN
Pursuit turns what matters into a direction of movement, whether the object is a person, peace, or the prize.
Turn aside from evil and do good; seek wholeness and pursue it.Not that I have already taken hold, or have already been made complete. But I pursue, if somehow I may seize that for which I was also seized by Jesus the Anointed One.So then let us pursue the things that move toward wholeness, and the things that build one another up.THE THREAD
Not that I have already taken hold, or have already been made complete. But I pursue, if somehow I may seize that for which I was also seized by Jesus the Anointed One.Mark’s “followed after” and Philippians’ “follow after” share καταδιώκω (katadiōkō, “pursue”) and διώκω (diōkō, “pursue”). The force remains active pursuit; what changes is its object, Simon seeks Jesus, while Paul presses toward what has taken hold of him.
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