What Does Mark 10:26 Mean?
They were astonished beyond measure and said among themselves, Then who can be delivered?
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 they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?THE KEY
The question asks who can be brought out at all once human advantage stops looking like a guarantee.
THE MEANING
The verse brings you to the point where visible advantage offers no guarantee: who, then, can be delivered? The astonishment rises when rescue seems beyond any human capacity. The question remains open here, preparing the answer in the next line.
THE ROOT
σωθῆναι
sōthēnai
GROWS FROM
σῴζω
sōzō
To deliver, rescue, or bring safely out.
The Greek σωθῆναι (sōthēnai, “to be delivered”) comes from σῴζω (sōzō, “to deliver or rescue”). Its word family points to being brought out of danger, sharpening the question: who can carry out that rescue?
ALSO GROWS
sōtēr: Deliverer, rescuer.
σωτήρ
This branch names the one who carries out the rescue the question asks about.
sōtēria: Deliverance, rescue.
σωτηρία
This branch names the rescue itself, matching the scale of the question: who can be brought out?
THE PATTERN
Deliverance that exceeds human capacity remains within God’s power.
Is any word too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will turn back to you, at this season of life, and Sarah will have a son.Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great strength and outstretched arm, and nothing is too hard for you.For with God nothing will be impossible.THE THREAD
Jesus looked at them and said, With humankind it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible.The next verse answers the question without diminishing its force: deliverance is impossible by human measure, but possible with God. The question marks the edge of human capacity; the answer opens beyond it.
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