Mark 9:32 (DBY)

Passage

But they understood not the saying, and feared to ask him.

Nearby Context

Mark 9:30 And going forth from thence they went through Galilee; and he would not that any one knew it;

Mark 9:31 for he taught his disciples and said to them, The Son of man is delivered into men's hands, and they shall kill him; and having been killed, after three days he shall rise again.

Mark 9:32 But they understood not the saying, and feared to ask him.

Mark 9:33 And he came to Capernaum, and being in the house, he asked them, Of what were ye reasoning by the way?

Mark 9:34 And they remained silent, for by the way they had been reasoning with one another who [was] greatest.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "understood", "saying", and "feared". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "understood" and "saying", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 31's "for he taught his disciples and said..." into verse 33's "And he came to Capernaum and being...", so "understood" and "saying" belong inside that flow. In Mark context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "understood" and "saying" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.