The Meaning of Mark 9:9 Explained

Mark 9:9

KJV: And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.

YLT: And as they are coming down from the mount, he charged them that they may declare to no one the things that they saw, except when the Son of Man may rise out of the dead;

Darby: And as they descended from the mountain, he charged them that they should relate to no one what they had seen, unless when the Son of man should be risen from among the dead.

ASV: And as they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, save when the Son of man should have risen again from the dead.

What is the context of Mark 9:9?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  as they  came down  from  the mountain,  he charged  them  that  they should tell  no man  what things  they had seen,  till  the Son  of man  were risen  from  the dead. 

What does Mark 9:9 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jesus again commanded secrecy (cf. Mark 1:34; Mark 1:43-44; Mark 3:11-12; Mark 5:43; Mark 7:36; Mark 8:30). William Wrede developed the view that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah and that the early church originated that idea. [1] Mark , he argued, invented incidents in which Jesus commanded secrecy about His messiahship to resolve this contradiction. Most conservative scholars have rejected this theory because the evidence for Jesus" messiahship is pervasive in all the Gospels.
If the multitudes heard about this demonstration of Jesus" glory, it would only fuel the fires of popular messianic expectation that created pressure for Jesus to depart from God"s will. This is the last command to maintain secrecy in this Gospel. It is also the only one with a time limit. The people the disciples would tell the transfiguration story to would only understand it after Jesus arose from the dead. With His resurrection behind them, they could appreciate the fact that He would return in glory to establish the messianic kingdom.

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 9:9

Save when [ei mē hotan)]
Matthew has “until” (heōs hou). [source]
Should have risen [anastēi)]
Second aorist active subjunctive. More exactly, “should rise” (punctiliar aorist and futuristic, not with any idea of perfect tense). Luke 9:36 merely says that they told no man any of these things. It was a high and holy secret experience that the chosen three had had for their future good and for the good of all. [source]
Tell [διηγήσωνται]
Mark's word is more graphic than Matthew's εἴπητε . The word is from διά , through, and ἡγέομαι , to lead the way. Hence to lead one through a series of events: to narrate. [source]
Questioning []
Wyc., asking. Tynd., disputing. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 9:9

Matthew 4:5 Taketh [παραλαμβάνει]
The preposition παρά (with, by the side of )implies taketh along with himself, or conducteth. It is the same word which all three evangelists use of our Lord's taking his chosen apostles to the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1; Mark 9:9; Luke 9:28). [source]
Luke 9:36 Alone [μονος]
Same adjective in Mark 9:8; Matthew 17:8 translated “only.” Should be rendered “alone” there also.They held their peace (εσιγησαν — esigēsan). Ingressive aorist active of common verb σιγαω — sigaō became silent. In Mark 9:9; Matthew 17:9, Jesus commanded them not to tell till His Resurrection from the dead. Luke notes that they in awe obeyed that command and it turns out that they finally forgot the lesson of this night‘s great experience. By and by they will be able to tell them, but not “in those days.”Which they had seen Attraction of the relative α — ha into the case of the unexpressed antecedent τουτων — toutōn Perfect active indicative εωρακαν — heōrakan with Koiné (papyri) form for the ancient εωρακασιν — heōrakāsin changed by analogy to the first aorist ending in -αν — an instead of -ασιν — asin f0). [source]
Luke 9:36 They held their peace [εσιγησαν]
Ingressive aorist active of common verb σιγαω — sigaō became silent. In Mark 9:9; Matthew 17:9, Jesus commanded them not to tell till His Resurrection from the dead. Luke notes that they in awe obeyed that command and it turns out that they finally forgot the lesson of this night‘s great experience. By and by they will be able to tell them, but not “in those days.” [source]
Hebrews 11:32 To tell [διηγούμενον]
Lit. the time will fail me telling: if I tell. See on Mark 9:9, and comp. Mark 5:16; Luke 8:39; Luke 9:10; Acts 9:27, and διήγησις narrative(A.V. declaration ), Luke 1:1. Gideon, etc. These names of the four judges are not enumerated in chronological order. Samuel is closely connected with David as in the history, but with τε καὶ as introducing the new order of the prophets. [source]

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

And descending of them from the mountain He instructed them that to no one what they had seen they should tell if not until the Son - of Man out from [the] dead had risen
Καὶ καταβαινόντων αὐτῶν ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους διεστείλατο αὐτοῖς ἵνα μηδενὶ εἶδον διηγήσωνται εἰ μὴ ὅταν Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῇ

καταβαινόντων  descending 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: καταβαίνω  
Sense: to go down, come down, descend.
αὐτῶν  of  them 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
ὄρους  mountain 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Singular
Root: ὄρος  
Sense: a mountain.
διεστείλατο  He  instructed 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: διαστέλλω  
Sense: to draw asunder, divide, distinguish, dispose, order.
ἵνα  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
μηδενὶ  to  no  one 
Parse: Adjective, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: μηδείς 
Sense: nobody, no one, nothing.
εἶδον  they  had  seen 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: εἶδον 
Sense: to see with the eyes.
διηγήσωνται  they  should  tell 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Middle, 3rd Person Plural
Root: διηγέομαι  
Sense: to lead or carry a narration through to the end.
ὅταν  until 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅταν  
Sense: when, whenever, as long as, as soon as.
Υἱὸς  Son 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: υἱός  
Sense: a son.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἀνθρώπου  of  Man 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: ἄνθρωπος  
Sense: a human being, whether male or female.
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.
ἀναστῇ  had  risen 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀναπηδάω 
Sense: to cause to rise up, raise up.