What Does Mark 1:38 Mean?
And he said to them, "Let us go into the neighboring towns, so that I may herald there also, for this is why I came out."
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 he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.THE KEY
The purpose Jesus names is not to hold the crowd, but to carry the proclamation outward until it reaches other towns.
THE MEANING
Jesus names his purpose as moving toward neighboring towns so he can proclaim there too. The proclamation does not end with the crowd already gathered; its reach extends into the next place. The verse meets you now with a message whose movement outward belongs to its meaning.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that a sacred encounter is complete when one crowd has heard; Jesus’ own words carry the proclamation onward to those who are elsewhere.
THE ROOT
κηρύξω
kēryxō
GROWS FROM
κηρυκ-
kēryk-
Herald; the stem behind κῆρυξ (kēryx), a public messenger who announces.
The Greek verb carries the image of a herald making a public announcement. “Preach” can sound like speech confined to a pulpit, but this word points to a message proclaimed beyond the gathered crowd.
ALSO GROWS
kēryx: Herald; public announcer.
κῆρυξ
This related word makes the public, outward character of the proclamation visible.
kērygma: Proclamation; an announced message.
κήρυγμα
The message is something voiced and carried outward, not merely held as a private thought.
ἐξῆλθον
exēlthon
GROWS FROM
ἔρχομαι (erchomai), with ἐξ- (ex-, out)
Ἔρχομαι (erchomai) means come or go; ἐξ- (ex-) adds the sense of coming or going out.
“came out” in this verse is exēlthon. The phrase keeps the image of coming out, and the next clause turns that movement toward other towns. Purpose and outward movement sit together in the verse: the proclamation reaches beyond the place where Jesus is.
ALSO GROWS
exerchomai: To come or go out.
ἐξέρχομαι
This is the compound verb behind “came I forth,” making the movement out of a place explicit.
exelthōn: Having come out; going out.
ἐξελθών
The same verb appears in this participle at Mark 1:45, preserving the image of movement out from a place.
THE PATTERN
Proclamation travels beyond its first gathering, reaching people across places.
Recount his weight among the nations; his wonders among all peoples.And Jesus went around all the cities and villages, teaching in their gatherings, heralding the good news of the governance, and healing every sickness and every weakness among the people.So those who were scattered passed through every place, bringing the good news of the word.THE THREAD
After John was handed over, Jesus came into Galilee, heralding the good news of the governance of God,Mark 1:14 uses the same verb for Jesus’ preaching. Read beside this verse, proclamation and movement belong together: the message is announced as Jesus goes from one place toward another.
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