But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
Parallel translations
- WEB But they didn’t understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
- KJV But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
- NKJV But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.
- NASB But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.
- NLT They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
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
The disciples do not understand and are afraid to ask. Their fear and confusion show how foreign a suffering Messiah was to their expectations.
Overview
Mark candidly records the disciples' incomprehension, a recurring theme that highlights human dullness to God's saving purpose. Their fear to ask may reflect both confusion and reluctance to face a hard truth. Only after the resurrection and the gift of the Spirit would they truly grasp that the cross was God's wisdom and power for salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Luke 2:50But they did not understand the statement He was making to them.
- John 16:19Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’?
- Luke 18:34But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.
- Luke 9:45But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
- John 12:16At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him.
- Mark 9:10So they kept this matter to themselves, discussing what it meant to rise from the dead.
- Mark 8:17–18Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts?
- Mark 7:18“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,
- John 4:27Just then His disciples returned and were surprised that He was speaking with a woman. But no one asked Him, “What do You want from her?” or “Why are You talking with her?”
- Mark 8:33But Jesus, turning and looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
- Mark 16:14Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
- Luke 24:45Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
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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 9:32 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.