Mark 9:43

Translations

Modern

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.

Traditional

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

Literal

And if your hand may cause you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life crippled than, having two hands, to go away into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.

Latin

Et si scandalizaverit te manus tua, abscide illam: bonum est tibi debilem introire in vitam, quam duas manus habentem ire in gehennam, in ignem inextinguibilem,

Interlinear

Greek

English

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.

Notes

Mark 9:43

hell: The Greek word Gehenna refers to the Valley of Hinnom, located southwest of Jerusalem. It became a picture of hell because some Israelites had sacrificed their children there to false gods (Jeremiah 32:35).

Mark 9:43–48

Some Bible versions include verses 44 and 46 here, but these two verses are absent from most of the earliest and best manuscripts. These two verses were almost certainly copied from 9:48 and were not in the original text of Mark.

Mark 9:42–50

If anyone causes … sin: The repeated warning about causing sin connects these verses (9:42–43, 45, 47). Jesus did not mean that people should take these words literally. Cutting off a body part would not stop sin (see Matthew 15:10–20). Instead, Jesus warns that no sin is worth the punishment of hell. It is better to repent (turn away from sin), even when repentance is very painful, than to face hell.

Mark 9:33–50

The disciples did not understand the prediction Jesus made about his suffering. Because of this, they could not see what it meant for their own lives.

Mark 9:30–10:31

This section is the second cycle (see study note on 8:27–9:1) containing:

a prediction about the suffering of Jesus (9:30–32),
an error by the disciples (9:33–34), and
teaching about discipleship (9:35–10:31).

Theme notes and profiles

Following Jesus

Events

Teachings on Humility/Temptation/Reconciliationc. AD 29

Related verses

Matthew 5:29–30
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Matthew 18:8–9
If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.
Matthew 25:41
Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.
Matthew 5:22
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.
Matthew 3:12
His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Romans 8:13
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Titus 2:12
It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
Galatians 5:24
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
Luke 14:13
But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind,
1 Corinthians 9:27
No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Mark 9:43

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