Tag Archives: Mark 11:25

When Grammar Refuses Delay: Command, Posture, and Purpose in Mark 11:25

Καὶ ὅταν στήκητε προσευχόμενοι ἀφίετε εἴ τι ἔχετε κατά τινος ἵνα καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἀφῇ ὑμῖν τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν (Mark 11:25)

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, in order that also your Father, the one in the heavens, may forgive you your trespasses.

Mark 11:25 is a compact sentence, but its grammar is not compact in force. The verse does not merely tell the hearer to forgive. It stages forgiveness בתוך a particular moment, attaches it to a bodily posture, frames it as an ongoing habit of prayer, and binds it to a purpose clause that reaches upward toward the Father’s forgiving action.… Learn Koine Greek

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