What Does Mark 9:31 Mean?
For he taught his disciples, and said to them, The Son of Man is handed over into the hands of humankind, and they will kill him, and after he is killed, on the third day he will stand up.
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
For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.THE KEY
The verse names both the reach and the limit of human power: Jesus is handed over to human hands, killed, and then stands up from death.
THE MEANING
Jesus is handed over into human hands, killed, and rises on the third day. The verse holds the violence and the return to life together: human hands take him, but death does not keep him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that death has the final authority over Jesus is undone here: he is killed, and he rises on the third day.
THE ROOT
παραδίδοται
paradidotai
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
To give, grant, or put into another’s hands.
“is handed over” in this verse is paradidotai. The word translated “delivered” grows from the ordinary verb “give.” With “into the hands of men” immediately after it, the verse makes that giving concrete as a handing over; the same root appears in words for sharing and giving back.
ALSO GROWS
apodidōmi: Give back, return, or repay.
ἀποδίδωμι
It shows the root’s range: giving can be a return of what was received.
metadidōmi: Share or impart.
μεταδίδωμι
It shows that the same root for handing Jesus over can also describe giving something to another to share.
ἀναστήσεται
anastēsetai
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
To stand or set in place.
“he will stand up” in this verse is anastēsetai. The verb translated “rise” is built on the word for “stand,” with ἀνά (ana, up or again) added. It pictures Jesus standing up again after the verse has plainly named his death.
ALSO GROWS
anastasis: A rising or resurrection.
ἀνάστασις
This noun shares the same “stand up” root and names the return to life the verse describes.
stasis: A standing or position.
στάσις
It preserves the root’s image of standing beneath the English word “rise.”
THE PATTERN
A passage through death does not end in death; life emerges on the other side.
For you do not leave my living soul to Sheol; you do not give your faithful one to see the pit.Truly, truly, I say to you. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.God raised him up, having loosed the labor pangs of death, for it was not possible for him to be held by it.THE THREAD
Who was handed over for our stumbles, and raised for our alignment.The word rendered “delivered” here is παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi, to hand over), the same Greek verb behind “is delivered” in Mark. Romans places that handing over beside being raised, bringing the two movements together in one line.
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