What Does Mark 14:29 Mean?
But Peter said to him, Even if all stumble, I will not.
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 Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.THE KEY
Peter hears that everyone may lose their footing, yet mistakes the strength of his resolve for proof that he alone will stand.
THE MEANING
The verse meets the reader in the confident thought, “Everyone else may stumble, but I will not.” Resolve can feel like proof of endurance before pressure has tested it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that sincerity guarantees endurance: a person can mean “I will not” and still not know how they will respond under pressure.
THE ROOT
σκανδαλισθήσονται
skandalisthēsontai
GROWS FROM
σκανδαλ-
Greek lexical stem
A trap or stumbling block that catches the foot and makes someone lose their footing.
“stumble” in this verse is skandalisthēsontai. The verb carries an image of stumbling or being caught off balance, not merely of feeling hurt. Peter’s claim sets his own footing apart from everyone else’s before it has been tested.
ALSO GROWS
skándalon: Trap or stumbling block.
σκάνδαλον
The noun preserves the concrete image behind the verse’s word for stumbling.
skandalízō: To cause someone to stumble, ensnare, or give offense.
σκανδαλίζω
This verb family links taking offense with losing one’s footing.
THE PATTERN
A declaration of unshakable standing can be overturned when the speaker meets the limits of their own strength.
And in my ease I said, I will never totter for the ages.Swelling goes before breaking, and a breath lifted high goes before a stumbling.So let the one who thinks he stands watch, lest he fall.THE THREAD
And Jesus said to them, All of you will stumble because of me this night, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.The same Greek verb for stumbling appears first in Jesus’ warning to all, then in Peter’s reply that he is the exception. Its repetition makes the gap clear: Peter hears the warning but claims his own footing is secure.
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