Mark 10:9 What therefore God hath joined together...

Spoken to: 

The Pharisees

The Pharisees tell Jesus that Moses only required a certificate of divorce.

KJV: 

Mark 10:9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

NIV : 

Mark 10:9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.

LISTENERS HEARD: 

What the Divine really yoked together, humanity must not make space between.

MY TAKE: 

In a marriage, both must pull together and balance each other. 

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

GREEK ORDER: 

        οὖν        θεὸς     συνέζευξεν      ἄνθρωπος μὴ  χωριζέτω.
What really the Divine yoked together, humanity not must make space between.

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

The two key words in this verse, the ones translated as "joined together" and "put asunder/separate" are used by Jesus only in this verse and its parallel in Matthew 19:6.

Much of the humor here is in the word translated as "joined." which means "yoke together" and "harness together" and in yoking a team of mules or oxen to a plow or wagon.  The root word means the yoke used for draft animals. However, it also means a pair of balances. A marriage must not only pull together, but it must also balance.

The "man" here is the same word describes what was made in the image of the Divine and could be translated as "mankind" or "humanity." It is also the "man" who leaves his parents to take a wife.

The Greek word for "put asunder/separate"  is not the word that Jesus used to refer to divorce. The root word is a noun that refers to the space between or around things. Its literal meaning is "to make space between."

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

3
  •  MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "God" is not shown in the English translation.
  • WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "has" indicates the past perfect tense, but the tense is something that happens at a specific point in time (past, present, or future).
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The verb is not addressed to someone, it is a third-person command.
  •  MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "God" is not shown in the English translation.
  • WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "has" indicates the past perfect tense, but the tense is something that happens at a specific point in time (past, present, or future).
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The verb is not addressed to someone, it is a third-person command.
  • WP -- Wrongly Placed -- The word "no" doesn't negate a noun but the verb "not."
  • CW --Confusing Word -- This is the common word usually translated as "man."

EACH WORD of KJV : 

What -- The word translated as "what" is a demonstrative pronoun ("this" "that"), but it often acts as a pronoun ("the one that), especially a connective pronoun ("the one that") introducing a dependent clause.

therefore -- The Greek word translated as "therefore" either emphasizes the truth of something ("certainly", "really") or it simply continues an existing narrative.

missing "the/this"  -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," and "those"). See this article for more.

God -- The word translated as "God" means "God" and "deity." It is introduced with an article, so "the God." Jesus often uses it this way perhaps to indicate the one God as opposed to the pagan gods.

hath - (WT) This helping verb "has" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past. This is not the tense of the verb here.

joined , -- "Joined together" is from a verb which means "yoke together", "harness together", "bond fast", "join together," and "pair. Its root word is a yoke used for draft animals.

together -- - This completes the meaning of the verb. It is from the prefix.

let -- (CW) This "let" is the helping verb used to translate the Greek form of the third-person command. In English all commands are in the second person. This form is used as something like our word "must." Using "let" as the active verb, rather than a helper verb like "must," changes the subject from the third party to the second.

not -- The negative used here is the Greek negative of a subjective opinion, commands, and requests. The sense is that "you don't want" to do something, not that it isn't done or don't think something that might be true. If it wasn't done or wasn't true, the objective negative of fact would be used.  This negative is always used with commands.

man -- The Greek word for "man" means "man", "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men", "people", and "peoples". 

put asunder. -- The word translated as "put asunder" means to physically "separate," or "divide," but is also means to "separate in thought," and "distinguish." Jesus only uses this word here and in the parallel verse in Matthew. Everywhere else he uses another word to mean "divide" in the sense of severing. We assume this is because of the "separate in thought" meaning. The word literally means "to make space between."

EACH WORD of NIV : 

Therefore -- The Greek word translated as "therefore" either emphasizes the truth of something ("certainly", "really") or it simply continues an existing narrative.

what -- The word translated as "what" is a demonstrative pronoun ("this" "that"), but it often acts as a pronoun ("the one that), especially a connective pronoun ("the one that") introducing a dependent clause.

missing "the/this"  -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," and "those"). See this article for more.

God -- The word translated as "God" means "God" and "deity." It is introduced with an article, so "the God." Jesus often uses it this way perhaps to indicate the one God as opposed to the pagan gods.

has - (WT) This helping verb "has" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past. This is not the tense of the verb here.

joined , -- "Joined together" is from a verb which means "yoke together", "harness together", "bond fast", "join together," and "pair. Its root word is a yoke used for draft animals.

together -- - This completes the meaning of the verb. It is from the prefix.

let -- (CW) This "let" is the helping verb used to translate the Greek form of the third-person command. In English all commands are in the second person. This form is used as something like our word "must." Using "let" as the active verb, rather than a helper verb like "must," changes the subject from the third party to the second.

no -- (WP) The negative used here is the Greek negative of a subjective opinion, commands, and requests. The sense is that "you don't want" to do something, not that it isn't done or don't think something that might be true. If it wasn't done or wasn't true, the objective negative of fact would be used.  This negative is always used with commands. This negates the verb, not the "man." 

one -- (CW) The Greek word for "man" means "man", "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men", "people", and "peoples". 

separate-- The word translated as "separate" means to physically "separate," or "divide," but is also means to "separate in thought," and "distinguish." Jesus only uses this word here and in the parallel verse in Matthew. Everywhere else he uses another word to mean "divide" in the sense of severing. We assume this is because of the "separate in thought" meaning. The word literally means "to make space between."

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

[294 verses]( pron sg neut nom ) "What" is hos, which means "this", "that", "he", "she", "which", "what", "who", "whosoever", "where", "for which reason," and many similar meanings.

οὖν [82 verses] (adv) "Therefore" is oun, which means "certainly", "in fact", "really", "in fact," "so" and "then" (continuing a narrative), and "then" and "therefore."

[821 verses](article sg masc nom) Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."

θεὸς [144 verses] (noun sg masc nom) "God" is theos, which means "God," "divine," and "Deity."

συνέζευξεν [2 verses](verb 3rd sg aor ind act) "Joined together" is from syzeugnymi, which means to "yoke together", "to coupled together", "to pair together," "to harness", "to bond fast", "join together," and "join in wedlock."

ἄνθρωπος [209 verses]( noun sg masc nom ) "Man" is anthropos, which is "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate.

μὴ [447 verses](partic) "Not" is me , which is the negative used in prohibitions and expressions of doubt meaning "not" and "no." As οὐ (ou) negates fact and statement; μή rejects, οὐ denies; μή is relative, οὐ absolute; μή subjective, οὐ objective.

χωριζέτω[2 verses](verb 3rd sg pres imperat act) "Put asunder" is from chorizo which means "separate", "divide", "exclude", "separate in thought", "distinguish," and, in the passive, "to be separated", "severed", "divided", "to be different", "depart," and "to go away.

 

Related Verses: 

Possible Symbolic Meaning: 

This is a statement about marriage and, in a larger sense, a statement about the limitations on our human capabilities in general. The word that Christ uses for join is based upon the Greek word for "pair" (zeugos) that refers specifically to yoking animals together to do farm work.

The interference is that we are not paired with the opposite sex without any purpose but in order to get a certain type of work done. In this case, that work is creating and raising families.  Breaking up the pair has a negative impact on the work intended.

Unimportant Opinions and Imaginings: 

The idea of "not making space between" applies not only to divorce but to any process that separates the interests of men and women.

Front Page Date: 

Jun 30 2023