Tag Archives: Mark 9:23

If You Can Believe: Conditional Syntax and the Power of Faith in Mark 9:23

ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι, πάντα δυνατὰ τῷ πιστεύοντι. The Conditional That Shifts the World

In Mark 9:23, Jesus responds to a father’s desperate plea with a phrase that balances on a grammatical edge: τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι. The ambiguity here—intensified by the abrupt syntax and word placement—has sparked centuries of discussion. Is Jesus quoting the father’s doubtful words with irony, or offering a conditional statement full of promise? The answer lies in the Greek structure. And in that grammar, we hear a truth that echoes through every struggle: faith is the door through which divine power flows into human helplessness.… Learn Koine Greek

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