What Does Mark 13:29 Mean?
So also you, when you see these things coming to be, know that it is near, even at the doors.
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
So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.THE KEY
The visible unfolding itself makes what is coming recognizable as already at the threshold.
THE MEANING
When these things unfold before you, you recognize that what is coming is near, already at the doors. Seeing and knowing meet in the present: nearness becomes perceptible in what is happening around you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
You can know that something is near only by calculating a date, not by recognizing its approach as it unfolds.
THE ROOT
γινώσκετε
ginōskete
GROWS FROM
γινώσκω
ginōskō
to know or recognize through encounter
“know” in this verse is ginōskete. The verse uses the knowing that comes through perception and encounter. It joins that knowing to seeing these things unfold, so nearness is recognized in what is happening, not held as an abstract conclusion.
ALSO GROWS
gnōsis: knowledge, recognition
γνῶσις
This related word keeps knowing connected to recognition: the verse describes perceiving nearness as events unfold.
gnōstos: known, familiar
γνωστός
The word family carries the sense of something becoming known; here, what is near becomes recognizable through what you see.
ἐγγύς
engys
GROWS FROM
ἐγγύς
engys
near, close at hand
“nigh” in this verse is engys. This word names proximity, and the image “at the doors” makes that closeness spatial: what is coming stands at the threshold. Nearness is presented as something you can recognize as arrival presses close.
ALSO GROWS
engizō: draw near, approach
ἐγγίζω
This verb shows the movement toward the threshold that the verse describes as already near.
engyteron: nearer
ἐγγύτερον
The comparative form makes nearness a matter of approach; the verse places what is coming at the point of entry.
THE PATTERN
What is drawing near becomes recognizable when its approach enters the visible present.
Thus says the LORD, Guard the judgment and do alignment, for my deliverance is near to come, and my alignment to be uncovered.And this, seeing the moment, that it is already the hour for us to rise out of sleep. For now our deliverance is nearer than when we trusted.You also, be slow to heat, and steady your hearts, for the arrival of the LORD has drawn near.THE THREAD
So also you, when you see these things come to be, know that the governance of God is at hand.Luke’s parallel names what Mark leaves implicit: the governance of God is near. It repeats the same see–know–near sequence, opening the doorway image as recognition that God’s reign is already close.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us