Mark 9:42

And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
whosoever	ὃς hos	G3739	the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun · relative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
shall offend	σκανδαλίσῃ skandalisē	G4624	to entrap · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
one	ἕνα hena	G1520	one · adjective — accusative singular masculine
of	πιστευόντων pisteuontōn	G4100	to have faith (in · verb — present active participle, genitive plural masculine
little	μικρῶν mikrōn	G3398	small (in size · adjective — genitive plural masculine
ones that believe	πιστεύω pisteúō	G4100	to have faith (in
in	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
me	ἐμέ emé	G1691	me
it is	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
better	μᾶλλον mallon	G3123	(adverbially) more (in a greater degree)) or rather · adverb
for him	αὐτῷ autō	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
that	εἰ ei	G1487	if · conditional particle
a millstone	μυλικός mylikós	G3457	belonging to a mill
were hanged	περίκειται perikeitai	G4029	to lie all around · verb — present middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
about	περὶ peri	G4012	properly · preposition
his	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
neck	τράχηλον trachēlon	G5137	the throat (neck) · noun — accusative singular masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
he were cast	βέβληται beblētai	G906	to throw (in various applications · verb — perfect passive indicative, 3rd person singular
into	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
the sea	θάλασσαν. thalassan	G2281	the sea (genitive case or specially) · noun — accusative singular feminine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Matthew 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and…
Luke 17:1-2 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!
Matthew 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Fath…
Matthew 25:45-46 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Acts 26:11-14 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even…
Romans 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his broth…
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
2 Corinthians 6:3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Mark 9:41–end

Here, I. Christ promiseth a reward to all those that are any way kind to his disciples (Mar 9:41); "Whosoever shall give you a cup of water, when you need it, and will be a refreshment to you, because ye belong to Christ, and are of his family, he shall not lose his reward." Note, 1. It is the honour and happiness of Christians, that they belong to Christ, they have joined themselves to him, and are owned by him; they wear his livery and retainers to his family; nay, they are more nearly related, they are members of his body. 2. They who belong to Christ, may sometimes be reduced to such straits as to be glad of a cup of cold water. 3. The relieving of Christ's poor in their distresses, is a…

Read the whole note in the console

Adam Clarke on Mark 9:41

A cup of water to drink - See the notes on Mat 10:42; Mat 18:6-8.

John Gill on Mark 9:42

And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me,.... Whosoever shall do the, least injury to the meanest person that believes in Christ, who are mean both in their own eyes, and the eyes of others; for Christ is not speaking of little children in age, who are neither capable of believing in Christ, nor are they ready to take offence; but of such as belong to him; his disciples and followers, of whom he is speaking in the preceding verse: it is better for him that a mill stone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea; and drowned there: the allusion is to the drowning of malefactors, by tying a stone, or any heavy thing about their necks, and casting t…

Read the whole note in the console

John Calvin on Mark 9:42-48

Mark 9:42-48 Matthew 18:6-10 Mark 9:42-48 Luke 17:1-2 6. But whosoever shall offend one of those little ones who believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were sunk to the bottom of the sea. 7. Woe to the world on account of offenses! for offenses must come; but woe to the man by whom the offense cometh! 8. But if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee; [501] for it is better for thee to enter lame or maimed into life, than that, having two hands or two feet, thou shouldst be cast into the everlasting fire. 9. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; [502] for it is better that tho…

The Church Fathers

He did not shrink from using the same words three times over in one passage. And who is not terrified by this repetition and by the threat of that punishment uttered so vehemently by the lips of the Lord himself?
— Augustine of Hippo, City of God 21.9

(ubi sup.) And fitly the man who is offended is called a little one, for he who is great, whatever he may suffer, departs not from the faith; but he who is little and weak in mind looks out for occasions of stumbling. For this reason we must most of all look to those who are little ones in the faith, lest by our fault they should be offended, and go back from the faith, and fall away from salvation.
— Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, how He said, "Woe to that man [by whom offenses come]! It were better for him that he had never been born, than that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my elect. Yea, it were better for him that a millstone should be hung about [his neck], and he should be sunk in the depths of the sea, than that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my little ones." Your schism has subverted [the faith of] many, has discouraged many, has given rise to doubt in many, and has caused grief to us all. And still your sedition continues.
— Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians (Clement)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Commandments · DISCOURSE — DISCOURSE
Offence · Denunciation against those who cause — Denunciation against those who cause
Persecution · OF THE RIGHTEOUS — OF THE RIGHTEOUS

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Mark 9:41–end

Adam Clarke on Mark 9:41

John Gill on Mark 9:42

John Calvin on Mark 9:42-48

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Mark 9:41–end

Adam Clarke on Mark 9:41

John Gill on Mark 9:42

John Calvin on Mark 9:42-48

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Mark 9:42-50