The Meaning of Mark 9:44 Explained

Mark 9:44

KJV: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

YLT: where their worm is not dying, and the fire is not being quenched.

Darby: where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.

ASV: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the fire  is  not  quenched. 

What does Mark 9:44 Mean?

Context Summary

Mark 9:30-50 - The Path To Greatness
Such were the hopes awakened by the Transfiguration and the following miracles that the disciples were led to speculate upon their relative position in the Kingdom. Jesus therefore took a little child for His text, and preached to them a sermon on humility. How constantly the Master speaks of the little ones! He says that we must be converted to become like them; that to cause them to stumble will involve terrible penalties; that they are not to be despised; that each has an angel of the Father's presence-chamber appointed to his charge; that to seek and to save one He is prepared as the shepherd to traverse the mountains; that it is not the Father's will that one of them should perish. How infinitely tender and humble was His love for them!
Let us strive to cut off whatever causes us to stumble. It may be a friendship, a pastime, a pursuit, a course of reading; but there must be no quarter given, no excuse accepted. As soon as the soul dares to make this supreme renunciation, there is an accession of life. Whenever the body loses the use of one member, such as the eye, there is an accession of vigor in others; so, to deny the lower is to open the door to the higher, and, though maimed, to enter into life. Mark 9:44-48 evidently refer to the valley of Hinnom, where fires were kept burning to consume waste. [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 9:44

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The oldest and best manuscripts do not give these two verses. They came in from the Western and Syrian (Byzantine) classes. They are a mere repetition of Mark 9:48 . Hence we lose the numbering Mark 9:44 and Mark 9:46 in our verses which are not genuine. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 9:44

Mark 9:44  []
The oldest and best manuscripts do not give these two verses. They came in from the Western and Syrian (Byzantine) classes. They are a mere repetition of Mark 9:48 . Hence we lose the numbering Mark 9:44 and Mark 9:46 in our verses which are not genuine. [source]
Mark 9:46  []
See Mark 9:44 [source]
James 5:3 Rust [ιος]
Poison in James 3:8; Romans 3:13 (only N.T. examples of old word). Silver does corrode and gold will tarnish. Dioscorides (V.91) tells about gold being rusted by chemicals. Modern chemists can even transmute metals as the alchemists claimed.For a testimony (εις μαρτυριον — eis marturion). Common idiom as in Matthew 8:4 (use of εις — eis with accusative in predicate).Against you Dative of disadvantage as in Mark 6:11 Future middle (late form from επαγον — ephagon) of defective verb εστιω — esthiō to eat.Your flesh The plural is used for the fleshy parts of the body like pieces of flesh (Revelation 17:16; Revelation 19:18, Revelation 19:21). Rust eats like a canker, like cancer in the body.As fire (ως πυρ — hōs pur). Editors differ here whether to connect this phrase with παγεται — phagetai just before (as Mayor), for fire eats up more rapidly than rust, or with the following, as Westcott and Hort and Ropes, that is the eternal fire of Gehenna which awaits them (Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:44). This interpretation makes a more vivid picture for ετησαυρισατε — ethēsaurisate (ye have laid up, first aorist active indicative of τησαυριζω — thēsaurizō Matthew 6:19 and see Proverbs 16:27), but it is more natural to take it with παγεται — phagetai f0). [source]
James 5:3 Against you [υμιν]
Dative of disadvantage as in Mark 6:11 Future middle (late form from επαγον — ephagon) of defective verb εστιω — esthiō to eat.Your flesh The plural is used for the fleshy parts of the body like pieces of flesh (Revelation 17:16; Revelation 19:18, Revelation 19:21). Rust eats like a canker, like cancer in the body.As fire (ως πυρ — hōs pur). Editors differ here whether to connect this phrase with παγεται — phagetai just before (as Mayor), for fire eats up more rapidly than rust, or with the following, as Westcott and Hort and Ropes, that is the eternal fire of Gehenna which awaits them (Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:44). This interpretation makes a more vivid picture for ετησαυρισατε — ethēsaurisate (ye have laid up, first aorist active indicative of τησαυριζω — thēsaurizō Matthew 6:19 and see Proverbs 16:27), but it is more natural to take it with παγεται — phagetai f0). [source]
James 5:3 Your flesh [τας σαρκας]
The plural is used for the fleshy parts of the body like pieces of flesh (Revelation 17:16; Revelation 19:18, Revelation 19:21). Rust eats like a canker, like cancer in the body.As fire (ως πυρ — hōs pur). Editors differ here whether to connect this phrase with παγεται — phagetai just before (as Mayor), for fire eats up more rapidly than rust, or with the following, as Westcott and Hort and Ropes, that is the eternal fire of Gehenna which awaits them (Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:44). This interpretation makes a more vivid picture for ετησαυρισατε — ethēsaurisate (ye have laid up, first aorist active indicative of τησαυριζω — thēsaurizō Matthew 6:19 and see Proverbs 16:27), but it is more natural to take it with παγεται — phagetai f0). [source]
James 5:3 As fire [ως πυρ]
Editors differ here whether to connect this phrase with παγεται — phagetai just before (as Mayor), for fire eats up more rapidly than rust, or with the following, as Westcott and Hort and Ropes, that is the eternal fire of Gehenna which awaits them (Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:44). This interpretation makes a more vivid picture for ετησαυρισατε — ethēsaurisate (ye have laid up, first aorist active indicative of τησαυριζω — thēsaurizō Matthew 6:19 and see Proverbs 16:27), but it is more natural to take it with παγεται — phagetai f0). [source]

What do the individual words in Mark 9:44 mean?

where the worm of them not dies and the fire is quenched
⧼ὅπου σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτᾷ καὶ τὸ πῦρ σβέννυται⧽

⧼ὅπου  where 
Parse: Adverb
Root: ὅπου  
Sense: where, whereas.
σκώληξ  worm 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: σκώληξ  
Sense: a worm, spec.
αὐτῶν  of  them 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
τελευτᾷ  dies 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: τελευτάω  
Sense: to finish, bring to and end, close.
πῦρ  fire 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: πῦρ  
Sense: fire.
σβέννυται⧽  is  quenched 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ζβέννυμι 
Sense: to extinguish, quench.

What are the major concepts related to Mark 9:44?

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