Mark 10:38
in Mark 10“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism I will undergo?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I drink? or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
KJV
But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
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This verse in Mark 10
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThey maintain that those who have attained to perfect knowledge must of necessity be regenerated into that power which is above all. For it is otherwise impossible to find admittance within the Pleroma, since this [regeneration] it is which leads them down into the depths of Bythus. For the baptism instituted by the visible Jesus was for the remission of sins, but the redemption brought in by that Christ who descended upon Him, was for perfection; and they allege that the former is animal, but the latter spiritual.
This site's exposition
Ye know not what ye ask
on Mark 10:38-40
Ye know not what ye ask answers the request for glory with a question about suffering, the cup and the baptism both Old Testament figures for an overwhelming and often judicial ordeal, and the bench reads Jesus offering them the cross before the crown without their yet grasping the trade. We can is answered as true prophecy rather than empty boast, James becoming the first apostle martyred and John outliving persecution and long exile, ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of. But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared draws the clear line the brothers had crossed, the Son himself submitting the seating of the kingdom to the Father's own prepared plan rather than claiming authority to hand it out on request.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
on Mark 10:35-45
Let us mark in this passage, the ignorance of our Lord's disciples . We find James and John petitioning for the first places in the kingdom of glory. We find them confidently declaring their ability to drink of their Master's cup and be baptized with their Master's baptism. In spite of all the plain warnings of our Lord, they clung obstinately to the belief that Christ's kingdom on earth was immediately going to appear. Notwithstanding their many shortcomings in Christ's service, they had no misgivings as to their power to endure any thing which might come upon them.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Here it is the cup of suffering. and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?--(Compare for the language, Ps 42:7). The object of this question seems to have been to try how far those two men were capable of the dignity to which they aspired and this on the principle that he who is able to suffer most for His sake will be the nearest to Him in His kingdom.
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | And | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| Ἰησοῦς | iesous | Jesus | G2424 → | 908 times |
| εἶπεν | eipen | said | G2036 → | 925 times |
| αὐτοῖς· | autois | to them; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | Not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| οἴδατε | oidate | you know | ||
| τί | ti | what | G5101 → | 563 times |
| αἰτεῖσθε. | aiteisthe | you ask. | G154 → | 70 times |
| δύνασθε | dunasthe | Are you able | G1410 → | 207 times |
| πιεῖν | piein | to drink | G4095 → | 72 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ποτήριον | poterion | cup | G4221 → | 31 times |
| ὃ | ho | which | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| ἐγὼ | ego | I myself | G1473 → | 839 times |
| πίνω | pino | drink | G4095 → | 72 times |
| ἢ | e | or | G2228 → | 342 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| βάπτισμα | baptisma | baptism | G908 → | 19 times |
| ὃ | ho | which | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| ἐγὼ | ego | I myself | G1473 → | 839 times |
| βαπτίζομαι | baptizomai | am baptized | G907 → | 76 times |
| βαπτισθῆναι; | baptisthenai | to be baptized [with]? | G907 → | 76 times |
Ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
δὲAnd
deG1161 →2765 times
ἸησοῦςJesus
iesousG2424 →908 times
εἶπενsaid
eipenG2036 →925 times
αὐτοῖς·to them;
autoisG846 →5565 times
οὐκNot
oukG3756 →1664 times
οἴδατεyou know
oidate
τίwhat
tiG5101 →563 times
αἰτεῖσθε.you ask.
aiteistheG154 →70 times
δύνασθεAre you able
dunastheG1410 →207 times
πιεῖνto drink
pieinG4095 →72 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
ποτήριονcup
poterionG4221 →31 times
ὃwhich
hoG3739 →1405 times
ἐγὼI myself
egoG1473 →839 times
πίνωdrink
pinoG4095 →72 times
ἢor
eG2228 →342 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
βάπτισμαbaptism
baptismaG908 →19 times
ὃwhich
hoG3739 →1405 times
ἐγὼI myself
egoG1473 →839 times
βαπτίζομαιam baptized
baptizomaiG907 →76 times
βαπτισθῆναι;to be baptized [with]?
baptisthenaiG907 →76 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
James 4:3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
it leads to
- 1 John 5:14
And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
- 1 John 3:22
and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.
- James 1:6–7
But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
- James 4:1
What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
- 1 John 5:14
Through
Psalms 75:8For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the…
it leads to
- Job 21:20
Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
- Jeremiah 25:15
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink…
- Psalms 11:6
On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His…
- Job 21:20
Where this verse is studied
About Mark

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book I; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.
