There are a number of expositors of the New Testament that think that this Bible verse is the most difficult one to understand. The difficulty is that they think that we cannot say with certainty over whom Paul was writing here. But there is now sufficient historical material to know about whom Paul was writing here. Below you can read to whom Paul referred here in verse 29.

Just north of Corinth was in that time a city that had the name Eleusis. It was the place where a certain religion baptized in the sea. The heathen believers were baptized in the hope that if they were baptized on behalf of the dead a good life in the hereafter was guaranteed. Homer wrote about this religion to Demeter in 478-79 AD.

It is well known that the people of Corinth were influenced  by the other religious practices, for they were part of a great economic area where people from other countries lived. The Christians to whom Paul was writing knew more than likely also of this heathen ritual that was being practised in Eleusis of being baptized for the dead.

1 Korintiërs15:29, (NBV). Dopen voor  de doden?

 Wat denken zij die zich voor de doden laten dopen te bereiken? Als de doden toch niet worden opgewekt, waarom zouden zij zich dan laten dopen?

Er is een flink aantal uitleggers van het Nieuwe Testament dat dit vers het moeilijkste vers vindt om te verklaren. De moeilijkheid zit hierin dat we nooit met zekerheid zouden kunnen zeggen over wie Paulus het hier had. Maar toch kunnen we nu na nieuw historisch bewijsmateriaal - wel met zekerheid zeggen over wie het hier gaat. Hieronder kunt lezen u over de historische betekenis van dit vers.

Even noordelijk  van Korinte was in die tijd een stadje dat Eleusis heette Het was de plaats waar een heidense godsdienst in de zee doopte. De aanhangers lieten zich er dopen voor de gestorvenen met de hoop dat zij hiermee een goed leven in het hiernamaals hadden gewaarborgd. Homerus schreef over deze religie aan Demeter in 478-79 A.D.

Het was bekend dat de mensen in Korinte waarschijnlijk soms ook de Christenen -  veel werden beinvloed door andere gebruiken en gewoontes want zij vormden een deel van een groot economisch gebied waar veel mensen uit andere streken woonden. Het is dus inderdaad mogelijk dat de Christenen van Korinte wisten vanr dit heidense ritueel dat in Eleusis werd beoefend.

De Kerk van de Heiligen van de laatste dagen (de Mormoonse kerk) heeft haar leer over en ritueel van de doop voor de doden gebaseerd op dit vers, (1 Korintiërs 15:29). Zij beroept zich echter dus geheel onterecht erop voor haar ritueel, want het werd beslist niet beoefend in de eerste Christelijke gemeente van Korinte, zoals zij wel willen beweren. De zij over wie Paulus schreef waren zeer waarschijnlijk geen leden van de gemeente. Het echter niet worden uitgesloten dat sommige uit die religie tot het Christendom bekeerde gelovigen nog even aan dit doopritueel hadden vastgehouden om zich voor iemand die pas bekeerd was, maar voordat hij de christelijke doop kon ondergaan was gestorven, lieten dopen.

We are used to speak about the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2 and 3 as Paradise. But this word is not originally Hebrew, it came in use after the Jews had come into contact with the Persian culture. Paradise is originally a Persian word, which meant a beautiful, private garden, surrounded by a wall. Rich Persian people and kings had usually such a paradise. When a Persian king received a special guest or friend he gave him as an honour an invitation to walk with him in his garden, his paradise. Immediately you will now understand the meaning of this promise to the crucified criminal beside Jesus when He said to him: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise,” ( Luke 23:43, RSV). Jesus promised him a very special honour after death. So we can be sure about it that there is in the heavens a very beautiful location, called Paradise.

Heaven is according to Jewish traditional believe (Talmud and the later Kabbala) seven stories high. Paul received the special privilege to have a look in that heavenly paradise. He wrote that he was – inside or outside his body he didn’t know - in the third heaven, (2 Corinthians 12:3). Paradise could then be localised in the third heaven, (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). The throne of God is in the highest heaven and Jesus went at His ascension through the heavens, (Hebrews 4:14, Greek is plural) and sat at the right hand of God in His throne, (Revelation 3:21). When Stephen died as a martyr he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of almighty God, (Acts 7:54). Revelation 2:7 supports the view that there is an heavenly Paradise, for in this verse the believer that conquers is promised that he will eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.

Because Jesus is God, He is omnipresent, that is He is present everywhere. When a believer dies Jesus gives him a welcome in Paradise and makes his presence very real to him, though He sits on the throne in the highest heaven. We must not forget that heavenly locations are not subjected to physical forces and laws as they are here on earth. This reality of spiritual, heavenly, nonphysical dimensions and realities is very difficult to understand or grasp for us.

• It is interesting to add to what I said above about Jesus welcoming deceased believers in paradise, to point to testimonies of people that experienced a ‘near death experience.’ For instance, a person died on the operation table and surgeons observed that the heart stopped beating, but they were able to make the heart beat again. Some people that experienced this saw themselves floating outside their body in the operation room and when that lasted several minutes, floated further away from the body. Some even saw a bright light and Jesus. Some even were in paradise, where they saw beautiful flowers and birds. Saints have also seen paradise in heavenly visions. Dear reader, in case you have had a vision in which you saw paradise or had a ‘near death experience’ and saw it, I would be most interested to read your testimony, and if you might have questions I will do my best to answer them. Please e-mail me.

"Jezus antwoordde: Ik verzeker je: nog vandaag zul je met mij in het paradijs zijn."

3. John 21:11. The net was not torn!

Churchfather Augustine said that this number pointed to the Ten Commandments and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, because 153 is the 17^th triangle number and 17 is the sumtotal of 10 and 7. Jerome (Eusebius Hieronymus) said that Greek zoologists knew 153 kinds of fish in the sea (the Mediterranean Sea). The number of 153 could point to the Gospeltruth that Jesus wants to save men from all races. Somebody else remarked that in the Hebrew language in which numbers are written with letters, 153 has the same combination of letters as the word for Pesachlamb (Easterlamb).

Van oudsher heeft ook dit vers Bijbelkenners geboeid en is de vraag gesteld of er een speciale betekenis moet worden gezocht in het getal van 153, het aantal vissen dat toen werd gevangen op de aanwijzing van Jezus. 

5. Mark 9:49. For every one will be salted with fire

This is a verse of which many commentators say that they cannot be sure about the correct meaning of this saying of Jesus. Some even think that he was a part of a larger saying that got lost in his completeness. ‘Salted with fire,’ must be understood in another way than the literal one, for salting with fire is impossible. Some manuscripts have an additional sentence:  “And (for) every sacrifice will be salted with salt.” Someone thought that there is in this saying of Jesus a reference to Leviticus 2:13, where Moses prescribed that each sacrifice should be seasoned with salt. Salt increased the value of the sacrifice for God for salt was often used in Eastern cultures to confirm a covenant. Salt was also used in some countries as a currency with which could be paid. Roman soldiers received sometimes salt as their wages.

There are also commentators that lay a link with the teaching of Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, where the judgement of the Lord over our works is compared with fire. The fire of this judgement removes all works of His children that do not have eternal worth according to His standard. If this interpretation is given to ‘salted with fire,’ it equals its meaning to that of a testing. The Dutch ‘Great News Bible’ takes this meaning of Mark 9:49, it has: “Everyone must go through the fire of testing and so be salted.’”

There are some Bible translations, as the ‘New Dutch Bible,’ that did not translate the Greek conjunction ‘gar,’ (for). But omission of this conjunction seems not to be correct as this word makes the connection with the previous sentence obvious. As other Bible translations ‘The Living Bible’ makes the connection with Mark 9:48 evident, as it has: “where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out, where all are salted with fire.” According to a number of commentators is the clear meaning of the second sentence ‘For all are salted with fire,’ that those in Gehenna (hell) will live there eternally, as ‘salted’ does have here the meaning of being preserved from extinction. This interpretation seems to be in harmony with other teachings of Jesus and the apostles about an eternal destiny in hell. This meaning of verse 49 could very well be the correct one, but then ‘every one’ in verse 49 is only referring to those in Gehenna.

To the above I add that the following verses, 50 and 51, seem to have been a part of another subject. Jesus exhorted His followers here to continue to be the salt, the preserving element of a good and healthy morality in society and to keep peace with one another. Similar teaching we find in Matthew 5:13, where Jesus said that His disciples are the salt of the earth. Salt is an essential element for life and is also used to improve the taste of food and to preserve perishable food for a long time. So, Jesus exhorts His disciples to give a positive and peaceful moral contribution to society.

In closing I invite you, reader, to write me if you prefer another view on Mark 9:48-51. You can e-mail me: pastor.tjderuiter@telfort.nl (see below)

Dutch:

Marcus 9:49. Want iedereen moet met vuur gezouten worden

Dit is een vers waarvan veel commentatoren vaststellen dat zij niet zeker kunnen zijn over de correcte betekenis van deze uitspraak van Jezus. Sommigen denken zelfs dat hij een deel van een grotere onderwijzing is die in zijn geheel verloren is gegaan. Het ‘zouten met vuur’ moet wel figuurlijk zijn omdat een letterlijke betekenis niet realistisch is. Sommige manuscripten hebben ook de zin: “En (want) elk offer moet met zout worden gezouten.” Men is van mening dat iemand een verband zag met Leviticus 2:13, waar Mozes voorschreef dat er zout aan de offers moest worden toegevoegd. Zout zou de waarde van het offer voor God hebben verhoogd, want zout werd in die Oosterse culturen wel gebruikt als een bekrachtiging van een verbond. Zout was ook kostbaar in sommige landen als een betaalmiddel. De Romeinen betaalden soms hun soldaten met een hoeveelheid zout.

Er zijn commentatoren die een verband leggen met de vermaning die Paulus geeft in 1 Korintiërs 3:13-15, waar het onderzoekend oordeel van de Heer over onze werken met vuur wordt vergeleken. Het vuur van dit oordeel verwijdert alle werken van zijn kinderen die naar Zijn oordeel geen duurzame, eeuwige waarde hebben. Als deze betekenis aan het vuur dat zout in Marcus 9:49 wordt gegeven, kan de betekenis van ‘zouten’ hier worden gelijkgesteld aan beproeving. Zo ziet o.a. de Groot Nieuws Bijbelvertaling het. Hij heeft hier staan: ”Iedereen moet door het vuur van beproeving gaan en zo gezouten worden.”

De NBV (Nieuwe Bijbel Vertaling) heeft het Griekse voegwoordje ‘gar’ onvertaald gelaten. De vertalingen die dit verbindingswoordje wel weergeven met ‘want’ zijn correct. Het verband met de voorgaande zin is ondubbelzinnig. De ‘Het Boek’ Bijbel heeft: “Want iedereen zal met vuur beproefd worden.” De ‘Living Bible’ heeft de tekst, Marcus 9:49, ook duidelijk verbonden aan de laatste zin van het vorige vers, waar Jezus zei dat als men in Gehenna, (de hel), wordt geworpen men in het vuur terechtkomt: “where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out, ” en vervolgt dan met ‘Where all are salted with fire.” Dit moet volgens een aantal commentatoren erop wijzen dat het ‘gezouten’ hier Gods eeuwig oordeel van verderf betekent. De lichamen van de zielen in Gehenna (de hel) worden in het verderf bewaard en houden er niet op te bestaan. Dit inzicht komt overeen met andere uitspraken van Jezus en de apostelen over Gehenna, (de hel). Deze uitleg kan juist zijn, maar dan moet het ‘iedereen’ uiteraard alleen betrekking hebben op hen die in Gehenna zijn.

“And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them.”

In the Dutch New Bible there is added in this sentence the word ‘voortaan,’ (“and was hun voortaan gehoorzaam”). This verse is which is translated into English ‘henceforth’ or ‘from now on.’ I cannot find this adverb in another Dutch translation and in most, if not all, English Bibles, this word is also not found in this verse. The suggestion of this word in the Dutch New Bible is usually that before that moment He had sometimes been disobedient. But that suggestion is not acceptable for me. In the Greek manuscripts this word does not occur. This word ‘voortaan’ is clearly an addition of the experts that are responsible for this new Dutch Bible, published in 2004.

Jesus had never  been disobedient to His parents. I suspect that when the time had come to travel back to Nazareth there was a kind of a deal made with Jesus that He would come as soon as possible and that the time had not been specified. The search of Joseph and Mary was motivated by anxiety and fear (verse 48). It must have been very difficult for His parents to understand and follow Jesus, for He was an exceptional intelligent, charismatic and a completely pure child.

I regret therefore that the experts of this New Dutch Translation added this word ‘voortaan’ in this sentence.

T. J. de Ruiter, 18 July  2012

• Introduction Teun & Tessa de Ruiter
• To the Indexpage of 'Testimony Time'
• Pastoral Messages/ Pastorale Boodschappen
• Articles Practical Theology / Praktische Theologie
• International Homepage
• Dutch Homepage