The Meaning of Mark 8:12 Explained

Mark 8:12

KJV: And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.

YLT: and having sighed deeply in his spirit, he saith, 'Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.'

Darby: And groaning in his spirit, he says, Why does this generation seek a sign? Verily I say unto you, A sign shall in no wise be given to this generation.

ASV: And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  he sighed deeply  in his  spirit,  and saith,  Why  doth  this  generation  seek after  a sign?  verily  I say  unto you,  There shall no  sign  be given  unto this  generation. 

What does Mark 8:12 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Greek word translated "sighing deeply" is anastenazo.
"It describes Jesus" grief and disappointment when faced with the unbelief of those who, because of their spiritual privileges, ought to have been more responsive to him." [1]
The spirit was Jesus" human spirit. The contemporary Jews who opposed Jesus constituted the generation to which He referred. He refused to give the type of sign they requested because the evidence that He had presented was more than adequate to convince an open-minded person. Jesus distinguished between miracles (Gr. dynamis) and signs (Gr. semeion) by using the second word here. He had given plenty of miracles to bolster faith. He would not give a sign to those bent on disbelieving. From this Mark"s readers were to learn that Jesus" miracles were ample proof of His deity.

Context Summary

Mark 8:1-21 - The Demand For Signs Rebuked
Notice the Master's tender considerateness, Mark 8:1-9. He would not have the people faint on their way home. There are distinct differences between this miracle and the feeding of the five thousand. Most of these are evident to the English reader, but that between the baskets used for the fragments is clear only from the original-those used in the case of the five thousand being quite different from the large ones used here, Mark 8:20; Matthew 15:37. Our Lord never repeats His work.
The Savior sighed in the previous chapter over physical need; here He sighs over moral obtuseness, Mark 8:10-21. The language is very strong, and gives a glimpse into the Redeemer's heart. Had the Pharisees been as willing to discern the signs of the age as to read the weather, they must have been able to recognize Him and His claims; but their foolish heart was darkened. Having sighed over the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees, might He not equally have done so over the obtuseness of the Twelve? They thought that He was referring to their carelessness in omitting to take bread. How little they realized that the cause lay far deeper! Let us be quick to read the divine intention in very simple incidents, and to learn that all God's past dealings contain lessons for the present! [source]

Chapter Summary: Mark 8

1  Jesus feeds the people miraculously;
10  refuses to give a sign to the Pharisees;
14  admonishes his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod;
22  gives a blind man his sight;
27  acknowledges that he is the Jesus who should suffer and rise again;
34  and exhorts to patience in persecution for the profession of the gospel

Greek Commentary for Mark 8:12

He sighed deeply in his spirit [αναστεναχας τωι πνευματι]
The only instance of this compound in the N.T. though in the lxx. The uncompounded form occurs in Mark 7:34 and it is common enough. The preposition ανα — anȧ intensifies the meaning of the verb (perfective use). “The sigh seemed to come, as we say, from the bottom of his heart, the Lord‘s human spirit was stirred to its depths” (Swete). Jesus resented the settled prejudice of the Pharisees (and now Sadducees also) against him and his work. [source]
There shall no sign be given unto this generation [ει δοτησεται τηι γενεαι ταυτηι σημειον]
Matthew 16:4 has simply ου δοτησεται — ou dothēsetai plain negative with the future passive indicative. Mark has ει — ei instead of ου — ou which is technically a conditional clause with the conclusion unexpressed (Robertson, Grammar, p. 1024), really aposiopesis in imitation of the Hebrew use of ιμ — im This is the only instance in the N.T. except in quotations from the lxx (Hebrews 3:11; Hebrews 4:3, Hebrews 4:5). It is very common in the lxx. The rabbis were splitting hairs over the miracles of Jesus as having a possible natural explanation (as some critics do today) even if by the power of Beelzebub, and those not of the sky (from heaven) which would be manifested from God. So they put up this fantastic test to Jesus which he deeply resents. Matthew 16:4 adds “but the sign of Jonah” mentioned already by Jesus on a previous occasion (Matthew 12:39-41) at more length and to be mentioned again (Luke 11:32). But the mention of the sign of Jonah was “an absolute refusal of signs in their sense” (Bruce). And when he did rise from the dead on the third day, the Sanhedrin refused to be convinced (see Acts 3 to 5). [source]
Sighed deeply in his spirit []
Peculiar to Mark. [source]
There shall no sign be given [εἰ δοθήσεται σημεῖον]
Lit., if a sign shall be given. The expression is elliptical. It is a Hebrew idiom, and is really, at bottom, a form of imprecation. If I do not thus or so, may some judgment overtake me. Compare Hebrews 3:11. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 8:12

John 11:33 He groaned in the spirit [ἐνεβριμήσατο τῷ πνεύματι]
See on Mark 1:43. The word for groaned occurs three times elsewhere: Matthew 9:30; Mark 1:43; Mark 14:5. In every case it expresses a charge, or remonstrance, accompanied with a feeling of displeasure. On this passage there are two lines of interpretation, both of them assuming the meaning just stated. (1) Τῷ πνευ.ματι , the spirit, is regarded as the object of Jesus' inward charge or remonstrance. This is explained variously: as that Jesus sternly rebuked the natural shrinking of His human spirit, and summoned it to the decisive conflict with death; or that He checked its impulse to put forth His divine energy at once. (2) Takes in the spirit, as representing the sphere of feeling, as John 13:21; Mark 8:12; Luke 10:21. Some explain the feeling as indignation at the hypocritical mourning of the Jews, or at their unbelief and the sisters' misapprehension; others as indignation at the temporary triumph of Satan, who had the power of death. The interpretation which explains τῷ πνεύματι as the sphere of feeling is to be preferred. Comp. John 11:38, in himself. The nature of the particular emotion of Jesus must remain largely a matter of conjecture. Rev. renders, in margin, was moved with indignation in the spirit. [source]
Hebrews 3:11 They shall not enter into my rest [εἰ ἐλεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν μου]
Lit. if they shall enter, etc. A common Hebraistic formula in oaths. Where God is speaking, as here, the ellipsis is “may I not be Jehovah if they shall enter.” Where man is speaking, “so may God punish me if ”; or “God do so to me and more if.” Comp. Mark 8:12: lxx, Genesis 14:23; Deuteronomy 1:35; 1 Kings 1:51; 1 Kings 2:8. Sometimes the ellipsis is filled out, as 1 Samuel 3:17; 2 Samuel 3:35. Κατάπαυσιν restonly in Hebrews, and Acts 7:49. The verb καταπαύειν tolay to rest also only in Acts and Hebrews. In Class. the verb sometimes means to kill or to depose from power. In the original citation the reference is to Canaan. Paul uses κληρονομία inheritancein a similar sense. [source]

What do the individual words in Mark 8:12 mean?

And having sighed deeply in the spirit of Him He says Why the generation this seeks a sign Truly I say to you if there will be given to the generation this a sign
Καὶ ἀναστενάξας τῷ πνεύματι αὐτοῦ λέγει Τί γενεὰ αὕτη ζητεῖ σημεῖον ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν εἰ δοθήσεται τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ σημεῖον

ἀναστενάξας  having  sighed  deeply 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀναστενάζω  
Sense: to draw up deep sighs from the bottom of the breast, to sigh deeply.
τῷ  in  the 
Parse: Article, Dative Neuter Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
πνεύματι  spirit 
Parse: Noun, Dative Neuter Singular
Root: πνεῦμα  
Sense: a movement of air (a gentle blast.
αὐτοῦ  of  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
λέγει  He  says 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: λέγω 
Sense: to say, to speak.
Τί  Why 
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: τίς  
Sense: who, which, what.
γενεὰ  generation 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: γενεά  
Sense: fathered, birth, nativity.
αὕτη  this 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
ζητεῖ  seeks 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ζητέω  
Sense: to seek in order to find.
σημεῖον  a  sign 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: σημεῖον  
Sense: a sign, mark, token.
ἀμὴν  Truly 
Parse: Hebrew Word
Root: ἀμήν  
Sense: firm.
λέγω  I  say 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: λέγω 
Sense: to say, to speak.
ὑμῖν  to  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
δοθήσεται  there  will  be  given 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: διδῶ 
Sense: to give.
τῇ  to  the 
Parse: Article, Dative Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
γενεᾷ  generation 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: γενεά  
Sense: fathered, birth, nativity.
ταύτῃ  this 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
σημεῖον  a  sign 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: σημεῖον  
Sense: a sign, mark, token.