Who or what is the referent of αὐτῶν in Mk. 9:48

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jgibson000
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Who or what is the referent of αὐτῶν in Mk. 9:48

Post by jgibson000 »

καλόν σέ ἐστιν μονόφθαλμον εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ δύο ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὴν [q]γέενναν, 48 ὅπου ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτᾷ καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὐ σβέννυται.

I just noticed that, according to Mark, Jesus speaks of Gehenna as a place where "their [not the} worm" does not die. So I'm wondering to whom (or to what) does the worm referred to here belong?

Jeffrey
Last edited by jgibson000 on December 30th, 2018, 7:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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timothy_p_mcmahon
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Re: Wwho or what is the referent of αὐτῶν in Mk. 9:48

Post by timothy_p_mcmahon »

I'd guess this was a common adage with no specific antecedent. The "they" implicit in αὐτῶν would be those who enter γέεννα.
dougknighton
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Re: Wwho or what is the referent of αὐτῶν in Mk. 9:48

Post by dougknighton »

Maybe it's a quotation from Isaiah 66:24, in which the plural pronoun refers the people who sinned against God. It's not an exact quotation; the pronoun is the same, but the verb tense differs: ὁ γὰρ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτήσει.

Doug Knighton
Ken M. Penner
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Re: Who or what is the referent of αὐτῶν in Mk. 9:48

Post by Ken M. Penner »

dougknighton wrote: December 31st, 2018, 3:09 pm Maybe it's a quotation from Isaiah 66:24, in which the plural pronoun refers the people who sinned against God. It's not an exact quotation; the pronoun is the same, but the verb tense differs: ὁ γὰρ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτήσει.
Yes, it certainly is a quote from Isaiah 66:24. So I wouldn't recommend using it as evidence of what Jesus believed about eternal torment.
I posted my commentary on Isaiah 66 at http://ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/viewtop ... 387#p31387
Ken M. Penner
Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, St. Francis Xavier University
Co-Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
General Editor, Lexham English Septuagint
Co-Editor, Online Critical Pseudepigrapha pseudepigrapha.org
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