What Does Mark 6:9 Mean?
But bind sandals beneath your feet, and do not put on two tunics.
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 be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.THE KEY
The Greek word for being shod carries the sense of binding sandals beneath the feet: the body is fitted for the road, while a second tunic is left behind.
THE MEANING
You are sent equipped to walk, with sandals on and one tunic. The verse sets a boundary on what your body carries: the road is provided for, without a second tunic.
THE ROOT
ὑποδεδεμένους
hypodedemenous
GROWS FROM
δέω
deō
to bind, tie, or fasten
“bind sandals beneath your feet” in this verse is hypodedemenous. The word for being shod is built from the sense of binding beneath: sandals are fastened under the feet. That same root appears in words for bonds and ligaments, joining attachment with support as the feet are secured for movement.
ALSO GROWS
hypodeō: to put on footwear; literally, to bind beneath
ὑποδέω
This is the verb behind “be shod,” making the sandals a fastening for the journey.
desmos: a bond or fetter
δεσμός
It carries the same root sense of binding, showing the fastening held in the sandal word.
syndesmos: a bond or ligament
σύνδεσμος
This word names what binds parts together, extending the root’s sense of fastening into bodily support.
THE PATTERN
The text marks sufficiency through provision for bodily need and limits what is carried beyond it.
And he said to them, Take nothing for the road, neither staff, nor bag, neither bread, neither silver; neither have two tunics each.He answered and said to them, Whoever has two tunics, let him give a share to the one who has none; and whoever has food, let him do likewise.And having food and covering, let these be enough for us.THE THREAD
He answered and said to them, Whoever has two tunics, let him give a share to the one who has none; and whoever has food, let him do likewise.The “two coats” here translate the same Greek word, χιτῶνας (chitōnas), as in Mark. Mark limits what the traveler wears; Luke shows the second tunic as a garment that can cover someone who has none.
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