Mark 9:10

Mark 9:10, in plain English

They kept it to themselves but kept wondering, 'What does He mean, rise from the dead?' They simply couldn't wrap their minds around it.

Why it's here

Some of Jesus' promises don't make sense until after they happen. The disciples couldn't understand resurrection until they witnessed it.

Who's speaking

Mark reveals the disciples' private confusion.

Where it sits in the story

They held the secret, but the last part kept nagging at them. Rise from the dead? They'd heard the words, but the concept just wouldn't click — not yet.

The scholarly reading

The disciples obey the command to secrecy but puzzle over 'rising from the dead' (to ek nekron anastenai). Their confusion reveals that bodily resurrection, while a Pharisaic doctrine, was not expected for an individual before the end times.

Language and setting

The concept of a single person's resurrection before the general resurrection was without precedent in Jewish theology, explaining their genuine bewilderment.

Voice

Mark describes the disciples' private discussion.

Significance

The three keep the secret but cannot comprehend its final clause. Rising from the dead? They knew about resurrection at the end of time — but what could Jesus mean about Himself rising in three days?

8Suddenly, when they looked around, they saw no one with them except Jesus.

9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus admonished them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

10So they kept this matter to themselves, discussing what it meant to rise from the dead.

11And they asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

12He replied, “Elijah does indeed come first, and he restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected?

Read all of Mark 9 — Dazzling glory on the mountaintop gives way to a demon-possessed boy at the bottom. The disciples can't handle either scene.