1
καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι εἰσίν τινες ⸂τῶν ὧδε⸃ ἑστηκότων οἵτινες οὐ μὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου ἕως ἂν ἴδωσιν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐληλυθυῖαν ἐν δυνάμει.
And he was saying to them, “Amen I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”
2
Καὶ μετὰ ἡμέρας ἓξ παραλαμβάνει ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τὸν Ἰάκωβον ⸀καὶ Ἰωάννην, καὶ ἀναφέρει αὐτοὺς εἰς ὄρος ὑψηλὸν κατ’ ἰδίαν μόνους. καὶ μετεμορφώθη ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν,
And after six days Jesus takes along Peter and James and John, and brings them up into a high mountain, alone by themselves. And he was transformed before them,
3
καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ ⸀ἐγένετο στίλβοντα λευκὰ ⸀λίαν οἷα γναφεὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς οὐ δύναται ⸀οὕτως λευκᾶναι.
and his garments became glittering, exceedingly white — such as no fuller on earth can whiten them.
Why this rendering
Mark.9.3 Observation
Syntactic observation
Verse 2 says only μετεμορφώθη, he was transformed; this verse is the one that describes anything visible — and what it describes is neither face nor body but ἱμάτια, the outer garments. And the measure of their whiteness is a γναφεύς: the tradesman who trod, beat and lyed cloth white — a fuller. Divine glory gauged by the laundry trade: no fuller on earth can get it that white. The three words of this verse — γναφεύς, στίλβω to glitter, λευκαίνω to whiten — each occur only here in this corpus (Mark and John). The sentence ends in a negative comparison: rather than raising the degree of whiteness, it draws the ceiling of what a man can whiten and says only that this is above it. (Glossing γναφεύς as a fuller is the standard lexical explanation, and the versions compared agree — fuller, launderer, 빨래하는 자.) SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἐγένετο ⸀λίαν ⸀οὕτως).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “such as no fuller on earth can whiten them”
Basis Keeps the man and his trade in the sentence. That the comparison is to a person is the point.
“as no one on earth could bleach them”
Basis Replaces the trade with a general pronoun.
Rejected Lose the fuller and you lose the scale — Mark does not summon just anyone but the man whose trade is whiteness, and sets the garments above the limit of the best in that field.
Lost in translation
the labour of the fuller Treading, beating, steeping in lye — a whole harsh process folded into one word. Fuller carries the trade, not the work of the hands.
4
καὶ ὤφθη αὐτοῖς Ἠλίας σὺν Μωϋσεῖ, καὶ ἦσαν συλλαλοῦντες τῷ Ἰησοῦ.
And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
5
καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Πέτρος λέγει τῷ Ἰησοῦ· Ῥαββί, καλόν ἐστιν ἡμᾶς ὧδε εἶναι, καὶ ποιήσωμεν ⸂τρεῖς σκηνάς⸃, σοὶ μίαν καὶ Μωϋσεῖ μίαν καὶ Ἠλίᾳ μίαν.
And answering, Peter says to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three shelters — one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
6
οὐ γὰρ ᾔδει τί ⸀ἀποκριθῇ, ⸂ἔκφοβοι γὰρ ἐγένοντο⸃.
For he did not know what to answer; for they had become terrified.
7
καὶ ἐγένετο νεφέλη ἐπισκιάζουσα αὐτοῖς, καὶ ⸀ἐγένετο φωνὴ ἐκ τῆς νεφέλης· Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ⸂ἀκούετε αὐτοῦ⸃.
And a cloud came, overshadowing them; and a voice came out of the cloud: “This is my Son, the beloved. Hear him.”
8
καὶ ἐξάπινα περιβλεψάμενοι οὐκέτι οὐδένα εἶδον ⸂ἀλλὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν μόνον μεθ’ ἑαυτῶν⸃.
And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with themselves.
9
⸂Καὶ καταβαινόντων⸃ αὐτῶν ⸀ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους διεστείλατο αὐτοῖς ἵνα μηδενὶ ⸂ἃ εἶδον διηγήσωνται⸃, εἰ μὴ ὅταν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῇ.
And as they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, except when the Son of Man should rise from the dead.
10
καὶ τὸν λόγον ἐκράτησαν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς συζητοῦντες τί ἐστιν τὸ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆναι.
And they held on to the word among themselves, disputing what rising from the dead is.
11
καὶ ἐπηρώτων αὐτὸν λέγοντες· Ὅτι λέγουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς ὅτι Ἠλίαν δεῖ ἐλθεῖν πρῶτον;
And they were asking him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
12
ὁ δὲ ⸀ἔφη αὐτοῖς· Ἠλίας μὲν ἐλθὼν πρῶτον ⸀ἀποκαθιστάνει πάντα, καὶ πῶς γέγραπται ἐπὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἵνα πολλὰ πάθῃ καὶ ⸀ἐξουδενηθῇ;
And he said to them, “Elijah, coming first, restores all things. And how does it stand written of the Son of Man, that he must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
13
ἀλλὰ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι καὶ Ἠλίας ἐλήλυθεν, καὶ ἐποίησαν αὐτῷ ὅσα ⸀ἤθελον, καθὼς γέγραπται ἐπ’ αὐτόν.
But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it stands written of him.”
14
Καὶ ⸂ἐλθόντες πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς εἶδον⸃ ὄχλον πολὺν περὶ αὐτοὺς καὶ γραμματεῖς συζητοῦντας ⸂πρὸς αὐτούς⸃.
And coming to the disciples they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes disputing with them.
15
καὶ ⸀εὐθὺς πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος ⸂ἰδόντες αὐτὸν ἐξεθαμβήθησαν⸃, καὶ προστρέχοντες ἠσπάζοντο αὐτόν.
And at once all the crowd, seeing him, were greatly astonished, and running up they were greeting him.
16
καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν ⸀αὐτούς· Τί συζητεῖτε πρὸς ⸀αὑτούς;
And he asked them, “What are you disputing with them?”
17
καὶ ⸂ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ εἷς ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου⸃· Διδάσκαλε, ἤνεγκα τὸν υἱόν μου πρὸς σέ, ἔχοντα πνεῦμα ἄλαλον·
And one out of the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you; he has a spirit that makes him mute.
18
καὶ ὅπου ⸀ἐὰν αὐτὸν καταλάβῃ ῥήσσει αὐτόν, καὶ ἀφρίζει καὶ τρίζει τοὺς ⸀ὀδόντας καὶ ξηραίνεται· καὶ εἶπα τοῖς μαθηταῖς σου ἵνα αὐτὸ ἐκβάλωσιν, καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσαν.
And wherever it seizes him it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and goes rigid. And I told your disciples to cast it out, and they were not strong enough.”
19
ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς ⸀αὐτοῖς λέγει· Ὦ γενεὰ ἄπιστος, ἕως πότε πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔσομαι; ἕως πότε ἀνέξομαι ὑμῶν; φέρετε αὐτὸν πρός με.
And answering them he says, “O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I bear with you? Bring him to me.”
20
καὶ ἤνεγκαν αὐτὸν πρὸς αὐτόν. καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν ⸂τὸ πνεῦμα εὐθὺς⸃ ⸀συνεσπάραξεν αὐτόν, καὶ πεσὼν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐκυλίετο ἀφρίζων.
And they brought him to him. And when the spirit saw him, at once it convulsed him, and falling on the ground he was rolling about, foaming.
21
καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ· Πόσος χρόνος ἐστὶν ὡς τοῦτο γέγονεν αὐτῷ; ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· ⸀Ἐκ παιδιόθεν·
And he asked his father, “How long is it since this has happened to him?” And he said, “From childhood.
22
καὶ πολλάκις ⸂καὶ εἰς πῦρ αὐτὸν⸃ ἔβαλεν καὶ εἰς ὕδατα ἵνα ἀπολέσῃ αὐτόν· ἀλλ’ εἴ τι ⸀δύνῃ, βοήθησον ἡμῖν σπλαγχνισθεὶς ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς.
And often it has thrown him into fire and into waters, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
23
ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Τὸ Εἰ ⸀δύνῃ, πάντα δυνατὰ τῷ πιστεύοντι.
And Jesus said to him, “That ‘if you can' of yours. All things are possible to the one who believes.”
24
⸀εὐθὺς κράξας ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ ⸀παιδίου ἔλεγεν· ⸀Πιστεύω· βοήθει μου τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ.
At once the father of the child cried out and was saying, “I believe; help my unbelief.”
Why this rendering
Mark.9.24 Observation
Syntactic observation
The father's answer is two utterances that pull against each other — Πιστεύω, I believe, and βοήθει μου τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ, help my unbelief. The sentence does not resolve the tension. The preceding verses set it up: at v.22 the father says εἴ τι δύνῃ, if you can do anything, and at v.23 Jesus returns Τὸ Εἰ δύνῃ — the neuter article τό working as quotation marks, picking up the other man's words: that ‘if you can' of yours. The father, who thought the condition lay on Jesus' side, hears that it lies on his own, and in v.24 admits precisely that position. The roots interlock too: ἀπιστία is the noun of the adjective in v.19, where Jesus calls them γενεὰ ἄπιστος, a faithless generation — and five verses later a man takes that name for himself and asks for help. ἀπιστία occurs three times in Mark: 6:6 (at home), 9:24 (here), 16:14 (the disciples who would not believe the resurrection). βοήθει is present imperative — not help once but keep helping. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀εὐθὺς ⸀παιδίου ⸀Πιστεύω·).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “I believe; help my unbelief.”
Basis Sets the two utterances side by side without stitching them. The contradiction is the content.
“help me overcome my unbelief!”
Basis Names the direction of the help and makes the sentence tractable.
Rejected There is no word for overcome in the Greek. The father does not ask that his unbelief be removed but that it be helped — the strangeness of asking help for the deficit itself is the force of the line.
Lost in translation
the sting of the quoting article in v.23 A grammar that quotes the other man back at him with a single article has no counterpart in Korean or English. 개역한글's rendering — that ‘if you can' — what does it mean? — is one of the rare attempts.
Survives in · 개역한글 / ESV / NASB / NET / BSB / NIV2011
25
ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὅτι ἐπισυντρέχει ὄχλος ἐπετίμησεν τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ λέγων αὐτῷ· Τὸ ⸂ἄλαλον καὶ κωφὸν πνεῦμα⸃, ἐγὼ ⸂ἐπιτάσσω σοι⸃, ἔξελθε ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ μηκέτι εἰσέλθῃς εἰς αὐτόν.
And Jesus, seeing that a crowd was running together, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him, and enter him no more.”
26
καὶ ⸂κράξας καὶ πολλὰ σπαράξας⸃ ἐξῆλθεν· καὶ ἐγένετο ὡσεὶ νεκρὸς ὥστε ⸀τοὺς πολλοὺς λέγειν ὅτι ἀπέθανεν.
And crying out and convulsing him greatly, it came out; and he became like a corpse, so that most of them said that he had died.
27
ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς κρατήσας ⸂τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ⸃ ἤγειρεν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀνέστη.
But Jesus, taking hold of his hand, raised him, and he stood up.
28
καὶ ⸂εἰσελθόντος αὐτοῦ⸃ εἰς οἶκον οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ⸂κατ’ ἰδίαν ἐπηρώτων αὐτόν⸃· Ὅτι ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἠδυνήθημεν ἐκβαλεῖν αὐτό;
And when he had entered a house, his disciples were asking him privately, “Why were we not able to cast it out?”
29
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Τοῦτο τὸ γένος ἐν οὐδενὶ δύναται ἐξελθεῖν εἰ μὴ ἐν ⸀προσευχῇ.
And he said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing except by prayer.”
Why this rendering
Mark.9.29 Observation
Syntactic observation
In SBLGNT the sentence ends at except by prayer. The Textus Receptus adds καὶ νηστείᾳ, and fasting. Counting changes the weight of that addition: the noun νηστεία, fasting, never occurs in SBLGNT's Mark at all — adopt the variant and the book gains a noun it did not have. The verb νηστεύω comes six times, all packed into 2:18-20, and it is there that Jesus says his people do not fast while the bridegroom is with them. The noun προσευχή, prayer, has just two places in Mark — 9:29 and 11:17, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations. The double negative ἐν οὐδενὶ … εἰ μή, by nothing … except, tightens the sentence. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀προσευχῇ.).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “This kind can come out by nothing except by prayer.”
Basis Follows the base text. Fasting is noted, not printed.
“except by prayer and fasting”
Basis Follows the Textus Receptus.
Rejected By our base-text decision (DECISIONS C1) we follow SBLGNT. The direction of the addition points the same way: a copyist who adds fasting is easier to imagine than one who removes it.
30
Κἀκεῖθεν ἐξελθόντες ⸀παρεπορεύοντο διὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἵνα τις γνοῖ·
And going out from there they were passing through Galilee, and he did not want anyone to know;
31
ἐδίδασκεν γὰρ τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι Ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἀποκτενοῦσιν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀποκτανθεὶς ⸂μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας⸃ ἀναστήσεται.
for he was teaching his disciples and saying to them, “The Son of Man is being handed over into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and having been killed, after three days he will rise.”
32
οἱ δὲ ἠγνόουν τὸ ῥῆμα, καὶ ἐφοβοῦντο αὐτὸν ἐπερωτῆσαι.
But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him.
33
Καὶ ⸀ἦλθον εἰς Καφαρναούμ. καὶ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ γενόμενος ἐπηρώτα αὐτούς· Τί ἐν τῇ ⸀ὁδῷ διελογίζεσθε;
And they came into Capernaum. And being in the house he was asking them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”
34
οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων, πρὸς ἀλλήλους γὰρ διελέχθησαν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ τίς μείζων.
But they were silent; for on the way they had argued with one another about who was greater.
35
καὶ καθίσας ἐφώνησεν τοὺς δώδεκα καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Εἴ τις θέλει πρῶτος εἶναι ἔσται πάντων ἔσχατος καὶ πάντων διάκονος.
And sitting down he called the twelve and says to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
36
καὶ λαβὼν παιδίον ἔστησεν αὐτὸ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν καὶ ἐναγκαλισάμενος αὐτὸ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς·
And taking a child he set it in the midst of them, and taking it into his arms he said to them,
37
Ὃς ⸀ἂν ἓν τῶν τοιούτων παιδίων δέξηται ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἐμὲ δέχεται· καὶ ὃς ⸁ἂν ἐμὲ ⸀δέχηται, οὐκ ἐμὲ δέχεται ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀποστείλαντά με.
“Whoever receives one of such children in my name receives me; and whoever receives me receives not me but the one who sent me.”
38
⸂Ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰωάννης⸃· Διδάσκαλε, εἴδομέν τινα ⸀ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐκβάλλοντα δαιμόνια, ⸂καὶ ἐκωλύομεν αὐτόν, ὅτι οὐκ ἠκολούθει ἡμῖν⸃.
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”
39
ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν· Μὴ κωλύετε αὐτόν, οὐδεὶς γάρ ἐστιν ὃς ποιήσει δύναμιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου καὶ δυνήσεται ταχὺ κακολογῆσαί με·
But Jesus said, “Do not stop him. For there is no one who will do a work of power in my name and be able soon after to speak evil of me.
40
ὃς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν καθ’ ⸂ἡμῶν, ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν⸃ ἐστιν.
For whoever is not against us is for us.
41
Ὃς γὰρ ἂν ποτίσῃ ὑμᾶς ποτήριον ὕδατος ἐν ⸀ὀνόματι ὅτι χριστοῦ ἐστε, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ⸀ὅτι οὐ μὴ ⸀ἀπολέσῃ τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ.
For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in the name that you are Christ's — Amen I say to you, he will certainly not lose his reward.
42
Καὶ ὃς ⸀ἂν σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν ⸀τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων ⸂εἰς ἐμέ⸃, καλόν ἐστιν αὐτῷ μᾶλλον εἰ περίκειται ⸂μύλος ὀνικὸς⸃ περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ καὶ βέβληται εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν.
And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble — it is good for him rather if a donkey's millstone lay about his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
43
Καὶ ἐὰν ⸀σκανδαλίζῃ σε ἡ χείρ σου, ἀπόκοψον αὐτήν· καλόν ⸂ἐστίν σε⸃ κυλλὸν ⸂εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν⸃ ἢ τὰς δύο χεῖρας ἔχοντα ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὴν γέενναν, εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ ⸀ἄσβεστον.
And if your hand causes 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.
Why this rendering
Mark.9.43 Observation
Syntactic observation
The same shape three times — hand (43), foot (45), eye (47) — and at the third the object changes: 43 and 45 enter τὴν ζωήν, life; 47 enters τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ, the kingdom of God. Two words filling one slot. **And verses 44 and 46 are absent from SBLGNT** — 43 is followed by 45, and 45 by 47. The Textus Receptus, KJV and the Vulgate repeat the sentence of v.48 (ὅπου ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτᾷ καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὐ σβέννυται) after 43 and after 45, evening the refrain out to three. The critical text keeps it once, at v.48. (The Vulgate runs one verse ahead throughout this chapter — it counts the Greek 9:1 as 8:39, so its chapter 9 ends at 49 — and so the repetitions stand there at 9:43 and 9:45.) That γέεννα is the Hebrew Ge-Hinnom — the valley south of Jerusalem — carried into Greek letters is the standard lexical account; what the morphological data shows is only that the word is a transliterated noun. It occurs three times in Mark, all in this paragraph, and not at all in John. σκανδαλίζω comes from σκάνδαλον, the baited stick of a trap; four of Mark's eight occurrences are packed here (42, 43, 45, 47). ἄσβεστος, unquenchable, stands at three places in the corpus — here, Matthew 3:12 and Luke 3:17, the latter two being the Baptist's same saying about the fire that burns the chaff. **Only here, in Mark, is the word attached to the fire of Gehenna.** SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀σκανδαλίζῃ ⸂ἐστίν σε⸃ ⸂εἰσελθεῖν ζωὴν⸃ ⸀ἄσβεστον.).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “than to go away into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire”
Basis Keeps the place-name transliterated, as with Korban, Legion and praetorium (a fixed glossary decision). What Jesus names is not a doctrine but a valley south of Jerusalem.
“than to be thrown into hell”
Basis Uses the conventional rendering.
Rejected Hell imports pictures the word acquired outside the text. The Greek has the name of a valley, and what that name carries the passage does not say — the transliteration keeps that silence. Most of the versions compared take the conventional rendering here.
Lost in translation
the actual valley A real terrain south of the city wall sits inside the word. Transliterated, the terrain is visible only to a reader who knows the place; rendered, it disappears altogether.
45
καὶ ἐὰν ὁ πούς σου σκανδαλίζῃ σε, ἀπόκοψον αὐτόν· καλόν ἐστίν ⸀σε εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν χωλὸν ἢ τοὺς δύο πόδας ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὴν ⸀γέενναν.
And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame than, having two feet, to be thrown into Gehenna.
47
καὶ ἐὰν ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου σκανδαλίζῃ σε, ἔκβαλε αὐτόν· καλόν ⸀σέ ἐστιν μονόφθαλμον εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ δύο ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς ⸀τὴν ⸀γέενναν,
And if your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God one-eyed than, having two eyes, to be thrown into Gehenna,
48
ὅπου ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτᾷ καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὐ σβέννυται.
where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.
49
Πᾶς γὰρ πυρὶ ⸀ἁλισθήσεται.
For everyone will be salted with fire.
Why this rendering
Mark.9.49 Observation
Syntactic observation
Four words — among the shortest and least resolved sentences in Mark: everyone will be salted with fire. The γάρ ties it to what precedes, but the tie will not resolve grammatically — v.48 is unquenchable fire, v.50 is salt, and this verse folds the two into one sentence without saying what is salted, or why. πυρί is dative and reads naturally as instrument, with fire, yet the pairing of that instrument with the act of salting is itself strange. The Textus Receptus adds καὶ πᾶσα θυσία ἁλὶ ἁλισθήσεται, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt — importing the sacrificial rule of Leviticus 2:13 and fixing the riddle into a picture of offering. SBLGNT and Tischendorf print only the short form. ἁλίζω, to salt, stands twice in the corpus — here and Matthew 5:13, where it asks with what the salt shall be salted. **Here it is people who are salted, and with fire.** The noun ἅλας comes twice in the very next verse. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἁλισθήσεται.).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “For everyone will be salted with fire.”
Basis Renders the unresolved sentence unresolved. If the Greek is a riddle the translation is a riddle.
“…and every sacrifice will be salted with salt.”
Basis Follows the longer Textus Receptus form, fixing the sense as sacrifice.
Rejected By our base-text decision we follow SBLGNT. And the direction runs one way: copyists who gloss a hard sentence are common, copyists who strip an existing gloss are rare.
Lost in translation
the overlap of fire and salt In Greek the four words attach at once to the judging fire before (48) and the disciples' salt after (50), and read both ways. In any translation the sentence lands once, and readers mostly take one side.
50
καλὸν τὸ ἅλας· ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας ἄναλον γένηται, ἐν τίνι αὐτὸ ἀρτύσετε; ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ⸀ἅλα, καὶ εἰρηνεύετε ἐν ἀλλήλοις.
Salt is good; but if the salt becomes saltless, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”