Mark 9:48

never dies … never quenched: These phrases emphasize the eternal nature of hell (see 9:43). Hell is a place of everlasting fire, decay, and corruption, where worms endlessly consume everything. This acts as a strong warning for people to repent to avoid hell's punishment.

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.

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.

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.

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).