The Meaning of Mark 9:47 Explained

Mark 9:47

KJV: And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

YLT: And if thine eye may cause thee to stumble, cast it out; it is better for thee one-eyed to enter into the reign of God, than having two eyes, to be cast to the gehenna of the fire --

Darby: And if thine eye serve as a snare to thee, cast it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire,

ASV: And if thine eye cause thee to stumble, cast it out: it is good for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  if  thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out:  it is  better  for thee  to enter  into  the kingdom  of God  with one eye,  than  having  two  eyes  to be cast  into  hell  fire: 

What does Mark 9:47 Mean?

Study Notes

hell
"gehenna."
hell fire
Gr. "Geenna" = Gehenna, the place in the valley of Hinnom where, anciently, human sacrifices were offered. 2 Chronicles 33:6 ; Jeremiah 7:31 The word occurs,; Matthew 5:22 ; Matthew 5:29 ; Matthew 5:30 ; Matthew 10:28 ; Matthew 18:9 ; Matthew 23:15 ; Matthew 23:33 ; Mark 9:43 ; Mark 9:45 ; Mark 9:47 ; Luke 12:5 ; James 3:6 . In every instance except the last the word comes from the lips of Jesus Christ in most solemn warning of the consequences of sin. He describes it as the place where "their" worm never dies and of fire never to be quenched. The expression is identical in meaning with "lake of fire".; Revelation 19:20 ; Revelation 20:10 ; Revelation 20:14 ; Revelation 20:15 .
See "Death, the second" ( John 8:24 ; Revelation 21:8 ); also (See Scofield " Revelation 21:8 ") See Scofield " Luke 16:23 ".

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 9:47

With one eye [monophthalmon)]
Literally one-eyed. See also Matthew 18:9. Vernacular Koiné and condemned by the Atticists. See note on Matthew 18:8. Mark has here “kingdom of God” where Matthew 18:9 has “life.” [source]
With one eye [μονόφθαλμον]
Lit., one-eyed. One of Mark's words which is branded as slang. Wyc. oddly renders goggle-eyed. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 9:47

Matthew 18:8  []
In Matthew 18:8 and Matthew 18:9 we have one of the dualities or doublets in Matthew ( Matthew 5:29-30 ). Jesus repeated his pungent sayings many times. Instead of εις γεενναν — eis geennan ( Matthew 5:29 ) we have εις το πυρ το αιωνιον — eis to pur to aiōnion and at the end of Matthew 18:9 του πυρος — tou puros is added to την γεενναν — tēn geennan This is the first use in Matthew of αιωνιος — aiōnios We have it again in Matthew 19:16 , Matthew 19:29 with ζοη — zoē in Matthew 25:41 with πυρ — pur in Matthew 25:46 with κολασιν — kolasin and ζοην — zoēn The word means ageless, without beginning or end as of God ( Romans 16:26 ), without beginning as in Romans 16:25 , without end as here and often. The effort to make it mean “ αεονιαν — aeonian ” fire will make it mean “ αεονιαν — aeonian ” life also. If the punishment is limited, ipso facto the life is shortened. In Matthew 18:9 also μονοπταλμον — monophthalmon occurs. It is an Ionic compound in Herodotus that is condemned by the Atticists, but it is revived in the vernacular Koiné . Literally one-eyed. Here only and Mark 9:47 in the New Testament. [source]
Luke 6:20 Kingdom of God [ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ]
Matthew has kingdom of heaven, or of the heavens ( τῶν οὐρανῶν )a phrase used by him only, and most frequently employed by Christ himself to describe the kingdom; though Matthew also uses, less frequently, kingdom of God. The two are substantially equivalent terms, though the pre-eminent title was kingdom of God, since it was expected to be fully realized in the Messianic era, when God should take upon himself the kingdom by a visible representative. Compare Isaiah 40:9, “Behold your God. ” The phrase kingdom of Heaven was common in the Rabbinical writings, and had a double signification: the historical kingdom and the spiritual and moral kingdom. They very often understood by it divine worship; adoration of God; the sum of religious duties; but also the Messianic kingdom. The kingdom of God is, essentially, the absolute dominion of God in the universe, both in a physical and a spiritual sense. It is “an organic commonwealth which has the principle of its existence in the will of God” (Tholuck). It was foreshadowed in the Jewish theocracy. The idea of the kingdom advanced toward clearer definition from Jacob's prophecy of the Prince out of Judah (Genesis 49:10), through David's prophecy of the everlasting kingdom and the king of righteousness and peace (Daniel 7:14-27; Daniel 4:25; Daniel 2:44). In this sense it was apprehended by John the Baptist. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The ideal kingdom is to be realized in the absolute rule of the eternal Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things are made and consist (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-20), whose life of perfect obedience to God and whose sacrificial offering of love upon the cross reveal to men their true relation to God, and whose spirit works to bring them into this relation. The ultimate idea of the kingdom is that of “a redeemed humanity, with its divinely revealed destiny manifesting itself in a religious communion, or the Church; asocial communion, or the state; and an aesthetic communion, expressing itself in forms of knowledge and art.”-DIVIDER-
This kingdom is both present (Matthew 11:12; Matthew 12:28; Matthew 16:19; Luke 11:20; Luke 16:16; Luke 17:21; see, also, the parables of the Sower, the Tares, the Leaven, and the Drag-net; and compare the expression “theirs, or yours, is the kingdom,” Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20) and future (Daniel 7:27; Matthew 13:43; Matthew 19:28; Matthew 25:34; Matthew 26:29; Mark 9:47; 2 Peter 1:11; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Revelation 20:1-15 sq.). As a present kingdom it is incomplete and in process of development. It is expanding in society like the grain of mustard seed (Matthew 13:31, Matthew 13:32); working toward the pervasion of society like the leaven in the lump (Matthew 13:33). God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and the Gospel of Christ is the great instrument in that process (2 Corinthians 5:19, 2 Corinthians 5:20). The kingdom develops from within outward under the power of its essential divine energy and law of growth, which insures its progress and final triumph against all obstacles. Similarly, its work in reconciling and subjecting the world to God begins at the fountain-head of man's life, by implanting in his heart its own divine potency, and thus giving a divine impulse and direction to the whole man, rather than by moulding him from without by a moral code. The law is written in his heart. In like manner the State and the Church are shaped, not by external pressure, like the Roman empire and the Roxnish hierarchy, but by the evolution of holy character in men. The kingdom of God in its present development is not identical with the Church. It is a larger movement which includes the Church. The Church is identified with the kingdom to the degree in which it is under the power of the spirit of Christ. “As the Old Testament kingdom of God was perfected and completed when it ceased to be external, and became internal by being enthroned in the heart, so, on the other hand, the perfection of the New Testament kingdom will consist in its complete incarnation and externalization; that is, when it shall attain an outward manifestation, adequately expressing, exactly corresponding to its internal principle” (Tholuck). The consummation is described in Revelation 21,22. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

John 10:11 The good shepherd [ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς]
Literally, the shepherd the good (shepherd). Καλὸς , though not of frequent occurrence in John, is more common than ἀγαθός , good, which occurs but four times and three times out of the four in the neuter gender, a good thing, or that which is good. Καλὸς in John is applied to wine (John 2:10), three times to the shepherd in this chapter, and twice to works (John 10:32, John 10:33). In classical usage, originally as descriptive of outward form, beautiful; of usefulness, as a fair haven, a fair wind. Auspicious, as sacrifices. Morally beautiful, noble; hence virtue is called τὸ καλὸν . The New Testament usage is similar. Outwardly fair, as the stones of the temple (Luke 21:5): well adapted to its purpose, as salt (Mark 9:50): competent for an office, as deacons (1 Timothy 4:6); a steward (1 Peter 4:10); a soldier (2 Timothy 2:3): expedient, wholesome (Mark 9:43, Mark 9:45, Mark 9:47): morally good, noble, as works (Matthew 5:16); conscience (Hebrews 13:18). The phrase it is good, i.e., a good or proper thing (Romans 14:21). In the Septuagint καλὸς is the most usual word for good as opposed to evil (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 24:50; Isaiah 5:20). In Luke 8:15, καλὸς and ἀγαθός are found together as epithets of the heart; honest (or virtuous, noble) and good. The epithet καλὸς , applied here to the shepherd, points to the essential goodness as nobly realized, and appealing to admiring respect and affection. As Canon Westcott observes, “in the fulfillment of His work, the Good Shepherd claims the admiration of all that is generous in man.” [source]

What do the individual words in Mark 9:47 mean?

And if the eye of you should cause to stumble you cast out it better for you it is with one eye to enter into the kingdom - of God than two eyes having to be cast - hell
καὶ ἐὰν ὀφθαλμός σου σκανδαλίζῃ σε ἔκβαλε αὐτόν καλόν σέ ἐστιν μονόφθαλμον εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ δύο ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα βληθῆναι τὴν γέενναν

ὀφθαλμός  eye 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ὀφθαλμός  
Sense: the eye.
σου  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
σκανδαλίζῃ  should  cause  to  stumble 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: σκανδαλίζω  
Sense: to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaph. to offend.
ἔκβαλε  cast  out 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: ἐκβάλλω  
Sense: to cast out, drive out, to send out.
καλόν  better 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: καλός  
Sense: beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing, precious, useful, suitable, commendable, admirable.
σέ  for  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative 2nd Person Singular
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
ἐστιν  it  is 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
μονόφθαλμον  with  one  eye 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: μονόφθαλμος  
Sense: deprived of one eye, having one eye.
εἰσελθεῖν  to  enter 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active
Root: εἰσέρχομαι  
Sense: to go out or come in: to enter.
εἰς  into 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἰς  
Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
βασιλείαν  kingdom 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: βασιλεία  
Sense: royal power, kingship, dominion, rule.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεοῦ  of  God 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
  than 
Parse: Conjunction
Root:  
Sense: either, or, than.
δύο  two 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Masculine Plural
Root: δύο 
Sense: the two, the twain.
ὀφθαλμοὺς  eyes 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Plural
Root: ὀφθαλμός  
Sense: the eye.
βληθῆναι  to  be  cast 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Passive
Root: βάλλω 
Sense: to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls.
τὴν  - 
Parse: Article, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
γέενναν  hell 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: γέεννα  
Sense: Hell is the place of the future punishment call “Gehenna” or “Gehenna of fire”.