What Does Mark 16:20 Mean?
And they went out and heralded everywhere, the Lord working alongside them and steadying the word with the signs that followed. Amen.
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 went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.THE KEY
The signs follow the word: the Lord works alongside its bearers, and the evidence comes after the message goes out.
THE MEANING
The word moves outward with the Lord at work alongside those who carry it. Signs follow as confirmation, joining the spoken message with visible evidence.
THE ROOT
ἐπακολουθούντων
epakolouthountōn
GROWS FROM
ἀκολουθέω
akoloutheō
To follow after or accompany.
“following” in this verse is epakolouthountōn. The signs are described as coming after the word, giving the verse a clear order: proclamation goes out, and signs follow. The English phrase holds that sequence in a single word.
ALSO GROWS
akoloutheō: To follow or accompany.
ἀκολουθέω
The same verb family makes the signs’ role one of following alongside what has already been proclaimed.
akolouthos: A follower or attendant.
ἀκόλουθος
This related noun names one who follows, echoing the verse’s picture of signs as attendants to the word.
συνεργοῦντος
synergeuntos
GROWS FROM
συνεργέω
synergeō
To work together or work alongside.
“working alongside” in this verse is synergeuntos. The Lord’s work is joined to the work of those who go out; the wording presents shared labor, not a message left to its bearers alone. The same root combines working with the sense of being together.
ALSO GROWS
synergos: A fellow worker or co-worker.
συνεργός
This related word names someone who shares the work, bringing the verse’s image of the Lord working alongside them into focus.
ergon: Work or deed.
ἔργον
This word is the work element within the related verb, making its shared labor explicit.
βεβαιοῦντος
bebaiountos
GROWS FROM
βεβαιόω
bebaioō
To make firm, establish, or confirm.
“steadying” in this verse is bebaiountos. Confirming carries the sense of giving something firm footing. The signs do not replace the word; they establish it as the message goes out.
ALSO GROWS
bebaioō: To establish or make firm.
βεβαιόω
This is the verb behind “confirming,” showing the action as strengthening the word’s standing.
bebaiōsis: Confirmation or guarantee.
βεβαίωσις
This related noun describes the result of making something firm, matching the signs’ confirming role.
THE PATTERN
A spoken word is accompanied and confirmed by acts that bear witness to it.
And it shall come to pass, if they will not lean their weight on you, nor hear and respond to the voice of the first sign, that they will lean their weight on the voice of the latter sign.Therefore they lingered a long time, speaking openly in the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his favor and gave signs and wonders to come about through their hands.God also bearing witness alongside them, with signs and wonders, and with many-colored powers, and portions of the Set-Apart Breath, according to his own will.THE THREAD
And we know that all things work together toward the good for those who love God, for those who are called according to what he has placed before them.The phrase “work together” uses the same Greek verb family as “working with” here. In Mark, the Lord works alongside the messengers; in Romans, things work together for good.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us