The Meaning of Mark 9:10 Explained

Mark 9:10

KJV: And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.

YLT: and the thing they kept to themselves, questioning together what the rising out of the dead is.

Darby: And they kept that saying, questioning among themselves, what rising from among the dead was.

ASV: And they kept the saying, questioning among themselves what the rising again from the dead should mean.

What is the context of Mark 9:10?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  they kept  that saying  with  themselves,  questioning one with another  what  the rising  from  the dead  should mean. 

What does Mark 9:10 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Old Testament taught a resurrection of the dead ( Psalm 16; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2; cf. John 11:24), but the disciples could not harmonize that revelation with Jesus" statement that He would rise three days after He died ( Mark 8:31). The whole idea of Messiah dying was incomprehensible to them.

Context Summary

Mark 9:2-29 - Rapture And Service
The Apostles had been gladdened by the promise of the coming Kingdom. The transfiguring light that shone from our Lord's face differed from the shining of Moses' face. With Moses the light was from without, and faded; but with Christ the light shone from within. Surely at that moment He might have stepped back into heaven by the open door, through which the representatives of the Law and the prophets had come; but He turned His back on the joy of the Father's home, and set His face to endure the cross, that He might become, not the example only, but the Redeemer of men. What a contrast between that scene on Hermon's slopes, where the glory of Jesus was brighter than the glistening snows about Him, and that below, where the demoniac child writhed in pain! Raphael does well to group these two incidents in one picture, for we are shown here that the duty of the Church is not to build tabernacles on the mount of vision, but to take her way into the haunts of crime and misery and cope with the power of Satan. Faith is the channel through which the divine power passes. Its quantity is of less importance than its quality. It may be minute as a mustard seed, but, like it, must contain the principle of life. [source]

Chapter Summary: Mark 9

1  Jesus is transfigured
11  He instructs his disciples concerning the coming of Elijah;
14  casts forth a deaf and mute spirit;
30  foretells his death and resurrection;
33  exhorts his disciples to humility;
38  bidding them not to prohibit such as are not against them,
42  nor to give offense to any of the faithful

Greek Commentary for Mark 9:10

They kept the saying [ton logon ekratēsan)]
Now they notice his allusion to rising from the dead which had escaped them before (Mark 8:31). [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 9:10

Matthew 17:9 Until [εως ου]
This conjunction is common with the subjunctive for a future event as his Resurrection (εγερτηι — egerthēi) was. Again (Mark 9:10) they were puzzled over his meaning. Jesus evidently hopes that this vision of Moses and Elijah and his own glory might stand them in good stead at his death. [source]
Mark 9:32 But they understood not the saying [hoi de ēgnooun to rhēma)]
An old word. Chiefly in Paul‘s Epistles in the N.T. Imperfect tense. They continued not to understand. They were agnostics on the subject of the death and resurrection even after the Transfiguration experience. As they came down from the mountain they were puzzled again over the Master‘s allusion to his resurrection (Mark 9:10). Matthew 17:23 notes that “they were exceeding sorry” to hear Jesus talk this way again, but Mark adds that they “were afraid to ask him” Continued to be afraid (imperfect tense), perhaps with a bitter memory of the term “Satan” hurled at Peter when he protested the other time when Jesus spoke of his death (Mark 8:33; Matthew 16:23). Luke 9:45 explains that “it was concealed from them,” probably partly by their own preconceived ideas and prejudices. [source]

What do the individual words in Mark 9:10 mean?

And that saying they kept among themselves questioning what it is - out from the dead to rise
καὶ τὸν λόγον ἐκράτησαν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς συζητοῦντες τί ἐστιν τὸ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆναι

τὸν  that 
Parse: Article, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
λόγον  saying 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: λόγος  
Sense: of speech.
ἐκράτησαν  they  kept 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: κρατέω  
Sense: to have power, be powerful.
ἑαυτοὺς  themselves 
Parse: Reflexive Pronoun, Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἑαυτοῦ  
Sense: himself, herself, itself, themselves.
συζητοῦντες  questioning 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: συζητέω  
Sense: to seek or examine together.
ἐστιν  it  is 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
τὸ  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἐκ  out  from 
Parse: Preposition
Root: ἐκ 
Sense: out of, from, by, away from.
νεκρῶν  the  dead 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: νεκρός  
Sense: properly.
ἀναστῆναι  to  rise 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active
Root: ἀναπηδάω 
Sense: to cause to rise up, raise up.