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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Mark 9:42 - 9:48
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_9:42-48
42"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, 44[where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] 45If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, 46[where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] 47If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, 48where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."
Mar_9:42 "'Whoever causes one of these little ones'" This refers theologically to new believers. However, there may be a contextual relationship to the lesson just taught from the possessed boy. God loves children and does not want anyone to take advantage of them.
▣ "'who believe'" This is a present active participle, which emphasizes continuing belief.
Some ancient Greek manuscripts add "in Me" (cf. MSS A, B, C2, L, W, and the Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic translations). This seems to be a scribal addition from the parallel in Mat_18:6 because these words are absent in MSS à and C. See Special Topic at Mar_1:15.
▣ "'to stumble'" This is literally used of a baited animal trap.
▣ "'if'" This is a first class conditional sentence. This is a strong warning to Christian leaders. The Great Shepherd cares about all the sheep, especially the new and vulnerable ones, so should they!
This is a hyperbole (cf. Mat_5:29-30; Mat_5:38-46; Mat_6:2-4; Mat_7:3-5; Mat_23:23-24; Mat_10:24-25). Jesus is speaking in metaphorical language of eternal judgment. These Oriental overstatements have confused western believers for generations. Our love for the Bible and our desire to follow Jesus have caused western believers to miss the eastern genres and metaphors of the Bible.
▣ "'a heavy millstone'" This refers to the round upper part of a large animal-drawn millstone. This is another Oriental overstatement, used to accentuate His message.
▣ "'cast into the sea'" This is a perfect passive indicative, which denotes a permanent state. This was a powerful metaphor of judgment. Being desert people, the Jews were afraid of water.
Mar_9:43-47 This is metaphorical (i.e., hyperbolic) language, but it shows the radical commitment required by Jesus (cf. Robert H. Stein, The Method and Message of Jesus' Teachings, pp. 8-11).
These verses are a good example of Hebrew poetic, synonymous parallelism, so common in the OT (cf. Mar_2:21-22; Mar_3:4; Mar_3:24-25; Mar_3:28; Mar_4:22; Mar_4:30; Mar_8:17-18; Mar_9:43-47; Mar_10:38; Mar_10:43-44; Mar_13:24-25). Some examples in Mark of antithetical parallelism are Mar_2:19-20; Mar_3:28-29; Mar_4:25; Mar_7:8; Mar_7:15; Mar_8:35 (cf. Stein, pp. 27-29).
Mar_9:43 "If" This is a third class conditional sentence, which speaks of potential action.
▣ "'enter life'" There are two words for life in the NT: (1) bios (i.e., earthly life) and (2) zoç (i.e., spiritual life). Jesus is talking about entering the spiritual realm (i.e., eternal life). This is paralleled by the phrase "the Kingdom of God" in Mar_9:47. Believers can enter the kingdom now and, in some sense, even experience heaven now (cf. Eph_2:5-6).
There are several ways this is depicted in the NT.
1. the world to come, eternal life (Mar_10:17; Mar_10:30)
2. saving. . .losing life (Mar_8:35; Mat_10:39; Luk_17:33)
3. enter life (Mar_9:43; Mat_25:46)
4. enter the joy of the Lord (Mat_25:21; Mat_25:23)
▣ "'hell'" This is Gehenna (cf. Jer_7:31). This was the location of the worship of the Phoenician fertility fire god, Molech, in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, just south of Jerusalem. This was where the firstborn children were sacrificed to the Canaanite fertility god (cf. Lev_18:21; Lev_20:2-5; Deu_12:31; Deu_18:10; 2Ki_21:6; 2Ch_28:3; 2Ch_33:6; Jer_2:23; Jer_7:32; Jer_32:35). The Jews were so ashamed of their ancestors' idolatry that they turned this area into the landfill, or garbage dump of Jerusalem. Jesus' metaphors for eternal separation from the Father's love (fire, worm, stench) are drawn from this garbage dump.
This term is used by Jesus many times, but only once by any other NT author (Jas_3:6). Hell is as much a biblical reality as heaven (cf. Mat_25:46). See Special Topic below, II., B.
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Mar_9:44; Mar_9:46 Mar_9:44; Mar_9:46 are the same as Mar_9:48. Neither are found in the ancient Greek uncial manuscripts à , B, CL, or W. It seems that an ancient scribe took the words from Mar_9:48 and inserted them into Mar_9:44; Mar_9:46.
Mar_9:48 "'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched'" This is a quote from Isa_66:24. The Jews were so shocked that their ancestors burned their children (2Ki_21:6) that they turned this location into the garbage dump of Jerusalem. It is from this site that Jesus draws His metaphorical language about eternal separation from God—Hell. The same term, eternal, used of heaven in Mat_25:46, is also used in the same verse of judgment.