Markus 9:1-2

9:1 And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, ¹  there are some standing here who will not ²  experience ³  death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” ⁴ 

The Transfiguration

9:2 Six days later ⁵  Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John and led them alone up a high mountain privately. And he was transfigured before them, ⁶ 

Markus 9:31

9:31 for he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. ⁷  They ⁸  will kill him, ⁹  and after three days he will rise.” ¹⁰ 

[9:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[9:1]  ² tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[9:1]  ³ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[9:1]  ⁴ sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the kingdom of God come with power: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to after six days in 9:2 seems to indicate that Mark had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration was a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (8:31; 9:31; 10:33), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.

[9:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “And after six days.”

[9:2]  ⁶ sn In 1st century Judaism and in the NT, there was the belief that the righteous get new, glorified bodies in order to enter heaven (1 Cor 15:42-49; 2 Cor 5:1-10). This transformation means the righteous will share the glory of God. One recalls the way Moses shared the Lord’s glory after his visit to the mountain in Exod 34. So the disciples saw Jesus transfigured, and they were getting a sneak preview of the great glory that Jesus would have (only his glory is more inherent to him as one who shares in the rule of the kingdom).

[9:31]  ⁷ tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is considered by some to be used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NRSV, “into human hands”; CEV, “to people”). However, because this can be taken as a specific reference to the group responsible for Jesus’ arrest, where it is unlikely women were present (cf. Matt 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-12), the word “men” has been retained in the translation. There may also be a slight wordplay with “the Son of Man” earlier in the verse.

[9:31]  ⁸ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[9:31]  ⁹ tn Grk “They will kill him, and being killed, after…” The redundancy in the statement has been removed in the translation.

[9:31]  ¹⁰ sn They will kill him and after three days he will rise. See the note at the end of Mark 8:30 regarding the passion predictions.