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And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?
Mark 12:24 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Jesus answered them, “Isn’t this because you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God?
  • BSB Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
  • NKJV Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?
  • NASB Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God?
  • NLT Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jesus says they are mistaken because they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

Overview

Jesus diagnoses two roots of their error: ignorance of Scripture and of God's power. They wrongly assume resurrection life merely extends present marriage, and they doubt God's ability to raise the dead. His rebuke calls all readers to know God's Word rightly and to trust His mighty power.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 23

  • 2 Tim 3:15–17And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
  • John 20:9For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
  • Matt 22:29Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
  • Eph 1:19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
  • Isa 25:8He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
  • Hos 6:2After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
  • Jer 32:17Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
  • Acts 17:11These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
  • Rom 15:4For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
  • Phil 3:21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
  • Mark 10:27And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
  • Hos 6:6For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
  • Hos 13:14I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
  • Isa 26:19Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
  • John 5:39Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
  • Luke 1:37For with God nothing shall be impossible.
  • Jer 8:7–9Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.
  • Job 19:25–27For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
  • Dan 12:2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
  • Isa 8:20To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
  • Ezek 37:1–14The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
  • Gen 18:14Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
  • Hos 8:12I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Mark videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Mark 12:24YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MarkMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

How Mark 12:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.