What Does Mark 8:33 Mean?
But when he had turned and looked upon his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Step behind me, Adversary, for you do not set your mind on the things of God, but on the things of humankind.
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 when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.THE KEY
The rebuke names Peter’s way of thinking as adversarial: opposition to God can arrive through a human concern that feels reasonable.
THE MEANING
This verse names what happens now when the mind settles on human priorities and mistakes them for God’s concerns: that orientation becomes opposition. The rebuke exposes the allegiance beneath a judgment that may seem reasonable on its surface.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A reasonable or sincere human judgment is not automatically aligned with God’s concerns.
THE ROOT
φρονεῖς
phroneis
GROWS FROM
φρον-
Mind, thought, or a settled disposition; to set the mind toward something.
“set your mind on” in this verse is phroneis. The Greek φρον- family points to the direction of the mind, not a passing opinion. Peter’s mind is set on human concerns, revealing how a person can oppose what is of God without seeing that opposition in their own reasoning.
ALSO GROWS
phronēma: Mindset or disposition.
φρόνημα
This related form makes clear that the verse concerns a governing orientation, not one isolated thought.
sōphronēō: To be of sound mind or think with good judgment.
σωφρονέω
The same φρον- family appears in language for sound judgment, underscoring that what governs the mind shapes how events are perceived.
שָׂטָן
śāṭān
GROWS FROM
שׂטן
To oppose or act as an adversary.
“Satan” in this verse is śāṭān. The Hebrew word behind the Greek title names an adversarial role. Here, the rebuke identifies Peter’s stance as opposing what is of God; it names the opposition at work in the moment, not Peter’s permanent identity.
ALSO GROWS
śāṭan: To oppose or act as an adversary.
שָׂטַן
The verb carries the action contained in the title: Peter’s human-centered stance is functioning as opposition.
haśśāṭān: The adversary.
הַשָּׂטָן
The definite form presents an adversary as a role, illuminating how the verse names opposition by what it does.
στραφείς
strapheis
GROWS FROM
στρεφ-
To turn, twist, or change direction.
“turned about” in this verse is strapheis. The verse first shows Jesus turning toward the disciples, then exposes the direction of Peter’s mind. The physical turn and the inward orientation are distinct, but the scene brings them into sharp view.
ALSO GROWS
epistrephō: To turn back or return.
ἐπιστρέφω
This form extends the same turn-root into a change of direction, echoing the verse’s focus on where attention is directed.
anastrephō: To turn around; to conduct oneself.
ἀναστρέφω
The branch can describe both turning and one’s manner of life, linking outward direction with the orientation revealed in conduct.
THE PATTERN
The mind takes its orientation from the concerns it attends to, and that orientation shapes how a person sees what is good.
For my plans are not your plans, nor are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.For those who are after the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are after the breath set their minds on the things of the breath.Let this mind be in you, which was also in Jesus the Anointed One.THE THREAD
For those who are after the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are after the breath set their minds on the things of the breath.The Greek verb behind “savourest” in Mark belongs to the same φρον- family as “mind” here. Both verses reveal that the mind’s orientation is visible in the concerns it takes up.
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