Mark 9:1

And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, ¹  there are some standing here who will not ²  experience ³  death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” ⁴ 

Mt 16:28; Mt 24:30; Mt 25:31; Lu 2:26; Lu 9:27; Lu 22:18,30; Joh 8:51,52; Joh 21:23; Ac 1:6,7; Heb 2:9

¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

² tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

³ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

⁴ sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the kingdom of God come with power: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to after six days in 9:2 seems to indicate that Mark had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration was a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (8:31; 9:31; 10:33), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.