Mark 9:28
in Mark 9After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, How is it that we could not cast it out?
KJV
And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
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This verse in Mark 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAnd when he was come into the house,.... Perhaps into the man's house whose child he had healed, or into some other in these parts, for the sake both of retirement and refreshment: his disciples asked him privately, why could not we cast him out?
This site's exposition
His disciples asked Him privately
on Mark 9:28-29
His disciples asked Him privately why they had failed, though He had sent them out with authority over spirits in chapter 6. Jesus answered, This kind cannot come out, except by prayer, pointing them to dependence on God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Fasting is the weapon of choice for battling with the more dreadful demons. Should we be surprised if the expulsion of the spirit of iniquity requires the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?
(ubi sup.) They feared that perchance they had lost the grace conferred upon them; for they had already received power over unclean spirits. It goes on: And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting.
The Medieval Church3 voices
That is, the whole class of lunatics, or simply, of all persons possessed with devils. Both the man to be cured, and he who cures him, should fast; for a real prayer is offered up, when fasting is joined with prayer, when he who prays is sober and not heavy with food.
And when He had entered into the house, His disciples asked Him privately: Why could not we cast him out? And He said to them: This kind can go out by nothing but by prayer and fasting. While teaching the apostles how the most wicked …
The disciples were afraid that they had lost the grace given to them by the Lord, and that this was why they could not cast out the demon. Notice also their reverence in that they approach Jesus privately. "This kind." Which kind? The kind of …
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
The contrast between these verses and those which precede them in the chapter is very striking. We pass from the mount of transfiguration to a melancholy history of the work of the devil. We come down from the vision of glory — to a conflict with Satanic possession. We change the blessed company of Moses and Elijah — for crude interaction with unbelieving Scribes.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
The contrast between these verses and those which precede them in the chapter is very striking. We pass from the mount of transfiguration to a melancholy history of the work of the devil. We come down from the vision of glory — to a conflict with Satanic possession. We change the blessed company of Moses and Elijah — for crude interaction with unbelieving Scribes. We leave the foretaste of millennial glory, and the solemn voice of God the Father testifying to God the Son, and return once more to a scene of pain, weakness, and misery — a boy in agony of body, a father in deep distress, and a little band of feeble disciples restrained by Satan's power, and unable to give relief. The contrast, we must all feel, is very great. Yet it is but a faint emblem of the change of scene that Jesus voluntarily undertook to witness, when He first laid aside His glory and came into the world. And it is after all a vivid picture of the life of all true Christians. With them, as with their Master, work, conflict, and scenes of weakness and sorrow will always be the rule. With them too, visions of glory, foretastes of heaven, seasons on the mount, will always be the exception. Let us learn from these verses, how dependent Christ's disciples are on the company and help of their Master . We see this truth brought out in a striking manner in the scene which meets our Lord's eyes, when He came down from the mount. Like Moses, when he came down from Mount Sinai, He finds his little flock in confusion. He sees His nine apostles beset by a party of malicious Scribes, and baffled in an attempt to heal one who had been brought to them possessed with a devil. The very same disciples who a short time before had done many miracles and "cast out many devils," had now met with a case too hard for them. They were learning by humbling experience the great lesson, "without me you can do nothing."
The words behind it
18 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| εἰσελθόντος | eiselthontos | when was entering | G1525 → | 194 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | He | G846 → | 5565 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| οἶκον | oikon | a house | G3624 → | 112 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μαθηταὶ | mathetai | disciples | G3101 → | 260 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | of Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| κατ᾽ | kat᾽ | in | G2596 → | 468 times |
| ἰδίαν | idian | private | G2398 → | 114 times |
| ἐπηρώτων | eperoton | were asking | G1905 → | 56 times |
| αὐτόν· | auton | Him; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | Why | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| ἡμεῖς | hemeis | we ourselves | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἠδυνήθημεν | edunethemen | were able | G1410 → | 207 times |
| ἐκβαλεῖν | ekbalein | to cast out | G1544 → | 79 times |
| αὐτό; | auto | it? | G846 → | 5565 times |
ΚαὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
εἰσελθόντοςwhen was entering
eiselthontosG1525 →194 times
αὐτοῦHe
autouG846 →5565 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
οἶκονa house
oikonG3624 →112 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
μαθηταὶdisciples
mathetaiG3101 →260 times
αὐτοῦof Him
autouG846 →5565 times
κατ᾽in
kat᾽G2596 →468 times
ἰδίανprivate
idianG2398 →114 times
ἐπηρώτωνwere asking
eperotonG1905 →56 times
αὐτόν·Him;
autonG846 →5565 times
ὅτιWhy
hotiG3754 →1292 times
ἡμεῖςwe ourselves
hemeisG3165 →1936 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἠδυνήθημενwere able
edunethemenG1410 →207 times
ἐκβαλεῖνto cast out
ekbaleinG1544 →79 times
αὐτό;it?
autoG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 13:10Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?”
it leads to
- Mark 4:10
As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 4:33–34
With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.
- Mark 4:10
Through
Mark 7:17After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples inquired about the parable.
it leads to
- Matthew 13:36
Then Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 4:34
He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 15:15
Peter said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
- Matthew 13:10
Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?”
- Matthew 13:36
Through
Matthew 13:36Then Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
it leads to
- Mark 7:17
After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples inquired about the parable.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 13:11
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
- Mark 7:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies17
About Mark
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Tertullian, ON FASTING 8.8; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.