What Does Mark 1:39 Mean?
And he heralded in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and threw out demons.
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 preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.THE KEY
The proclamation moves through Galilee together with the expulsion of what torments people.
THE MEANING
The verse shows a public message reaching people where they gather, while devils are driven out. The proclamation and the removal of what afflicts people stand side by side.
THE ROOT
ἐκβάλλων
ekballōn
GROWS FROM
βάλλω (ballō), with ἐκ (ek, out of)
βάλλω means to throw or cast; with ἐκ, the compound means to throw out or drive out.
“threw out demons” in this verse is ekballōn. The verb pictures an active displacement: what is cast out is made to leave. Here that removal accompanies the proclamation as it reaches gathering places across Galilee.
ALSO GROWS
ekballō: To drive or cast out.
ἐκβάλλω
The same verb appears in Mark 1:34, linking this region-wide account to the earlier casting out described there.
ekbolē: The act of casting something out; in Acts 27:18, throwing cargo out to lighten a ship.
ἐκβολή
The related word names a concrete removal that changes what a vessel carries, giving the root’s force of expulsion a physical image.
κηρύσσων
kērussōn
GROWS FROM
κηρύσσω
kērussō
To announce publicly, as a herald.
“heralded” in this verse is kērussōn. English “preached” can sound like a speech confined to a religious setting, while this verb carries the sense of public heralding. Paired with “throughout all Galilee,” it presents an announcement moving through shared spaces.
ALSO GROWS
kēryx: A public announcer or herald.
κῆρυξ
The related noun points to the public character of the announcement in the verse.
kērygma: A message publicly announced.
κήρυγμα
This related noun names the proclaimed message as an announcement carried outward.
THE PATTERN
A word sent or proclaimed reaches people alongside healing and release from what afflicts them.
He sends his word and heals them, and slips them free from their pits.The breath of the LORD is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the emptied. He has sent me to heal the shattered in heart, to herald release to the captives, and the return of sight for the blind, to send the crushed away into release.And they cast out many demons, and rubbed with oil many who were without strength, and healed them.THE THREAD
And he healed many who were sick with various sicknesses, and threw out many demons. He did not let the demons speak, because they knew him.The verb ἐκβάλλω (ekballō, “drive out”) appears in both verses. Mark 1:34 joins it with healing; Mark 1:39 carries the same act through Galilee’s synagogues.
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