So, I made a mistake last night trying to recall Mark 16:16 from the Greek, from memory.
I was talking about how, in the Greek, when you put the omega letter (ω) at the end of a verb you make that verb show continuous action. Now, what I should have referenced—which I beat myself up over on the whole car ride home—was John 3:36…
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
John 3:36
What that text says is that the one who “believeth” (πιστεύω) on the Son is saved, but the one who does not obey the Son (ἀπειθέω) will not be saved but instead will suffer the wrath of God. The King James translates ἀπειθέω as “believeth not” even though the Greek word is a-pithe’o and means “not obedient.” Anyway, the point is the beginning of the verse, where we’re told about the need to πιστεύω (pistu’o), which means “to believe, continually.” The omega letter (ω) at the end of the verb insists on a continuous action.
That’s what I should have referenced, but instead I mentioned Mark 16:16…
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mark 16:16 KJV
The key word in the verse, as it pertains to this study is “believeth.” You’ll notice that, in the English, it’s the same word as found in John 3:36: “believeth.” They are, however, slightly different words in the Greek, something which I forget when I mentioned that in class last night. In the Greek, in this verse, the word “believeth” is not “πιστεύω” but is “πιστεύσας” (“pistusas”), though I should point out that some Greek Bibles do show the word to be πιστεύω. I’m looking at it right now in my e-sword. But let’s proceed from the assumption that the word in Mark 16 is supposed to be pistusas.
Well, in class I commented that the New American Standard had a sub-par translation of Mark 16:16…
The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved…
Mark 16:16 NASB
I was reminded (and I’m thankful that I was) after class last night that the verb πιστεύσας is an aorist participle and my remark that the NASB doesn’t do the verse justice might not be totally on the up and up.
I suppose I should pause here and explain what an aorist participle is. Basically, an aorist is way to express an action that occurs before the “leading” verb in a sentence is done. If I was to say “if you have done your homework, you can have cake” then the leading/primary verb is “have cake.” That’s what the sentence is all about, having cake. But in order to have cake you have to have done your homework. “Have done” is an aorist verb, as it’s a verb that has to be done first, before you get the good stuff.
In Mark 16, the argument is that since “has believed” (pistusas) is an aorist, the correct translation should be something like “he that has believed,” which is basically how the NASB translates it.
Okay, now here’s my response.
Grammar is made up of two components, (1) the meaning of a word and (2) the definition of a word. Believe it or not, meaning and definition are two different things. We get definitions from the dictionary; we get meaning from context. I can say someone is “cool” but what does that mean? Are they cold or popular? You can look up the definition of the word in the dictionary and see two options, but without further context you won’t know what I mean when I say “cool.” If I say “he is cool, I wish I could be that popular.” Now you have the meaning of the word and the correct definition of the word, and know how to properly (grammatically) use the word in the future. A proper grasp of both definition and context is how we have good grammar.
In Mark 16, the verb “pistusas” (believe) can be defined as “has believed” but the context clarifies the verb better than the definition can…
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mark 16:16 KJV
Since, in the context, Jesus also says that the non-believer is condemned, we’re forced to conclude that belief has to continue after baptism, which means belief, in the context, is supposed to be a continuous action. Thus, my original statement—“I don’t like the NASB rendering here because it makes it sound like you can stop believing after you’re baptized”—is, I think, a fair one.
Here’s something else…
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Revelation 20:4
The verb “reigned” is an aorist participle as well. It is “βασιλεύω” (basil’u-o) and it describes someone who will continue to reign. The one who lives with Christ is the one who reigns with Christ, and will continue to reign, etc. So while a translation of Mark 16:16 might be technically correct to say “he that has believed” or “having believed,” it doesn’t do the verb justice because it implies the believing-verb stops, when in fact the context indicates Jesus meant for the verb to show a continuous action. My opinion, and I’m only an amateur Greek student, is this: Basically the verb, in the context, means “he that has started believing, and is baptized, and continues believing, shall be saved, but he that stops believing is condemned.”
How would you distill that down into a simple and clear statement? I’d say “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that stops believing is condemned.”
In conclusion, I should’ve just referenced John 3:36.
~ Matthew
PS:
I mean it’s right there: πιστεύω (pistu’o), even though other Greek texts say “πιστεύσας” (“pistusas”).
¯\_(ツ)_/¯