What Does Mark 13:9 Mean?
But watch yourselves, for they will hand you over to councils, and in the synagogues you will be beaten; and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as a witness against them.
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
But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.THE KEY
Being handed over is not separate from the testimony; the witness is carried into the place that judges it.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks to your exposure before power: you are handed over to councils, beaten in synagogues, and brought before rulers and kings because of Jesus. That exposure itself stands as testimony before those who judge you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that testimony only counts when you control the room: here, witness takes shape while the hearer holds power to question and punish.
THE ROOT
παραδώσουσιν
paradōsousin
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
To give or grant; in this compound, to hand over.
“hand you over” in this verse is paradōsousin. The verb παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi, hand over) is built on δίδωμι (didōmi, give), so “deliver you up” carries the sense of being given over into another’s hands. That transfer places you before the councils, and the verse says your presence there becomes testimony.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: To give or grant.
δίδωμι
The base verb makes the transfer in “deliver you up” visible: you are given over to the authorities.
paradosis: A handing down; a tradition.
παράδοσις
This related word carries the sense of something passed on, echoing how what is handed over in this verse moves into the authorities’ presence.
μαρτύριον
martyrion
GROWS FROM
μαρτυρ-
martyr-
Witness or attestation.
The Greek phrase εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς (eis martyrion autois) presents the encounter as testimony to them; its force can be accusatory, which the KJV brings forward with “against them.” The witness is carried into the authorities’ presence, where their treatment of you becomes part of what is seen.
ALSO GROWS
martys: A witness.
μάρτυς
This names the person whose presence and account make the event a testimony.
martyreō: To bear witness or testify.
μαρτυρέω
This verb shows the action inside the noun: the testimony is the act of witnessing before those in power.
THE PATTERN
When allegiance meets authority, the encounter itself becomes testimony.
I speak of your witnesses in sight of kings, and I am not put to shame.For we cannot keep from speaking what we have perceived and heard.But set apart the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you for a word about the hope within you, with gentleness and fear.THE THREAD
And you also bear witness, because from the beginning you have been with me.John uses the same μαρτυρ- (martyr-) word family: bearing witness grows from having been with Jesus. Mark shows that this witness remains testimony even when others take control of the setting.
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