Mark 8:28
Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.) Mark 8:28 appears in the Greek New Testament. The text above is from the Tischendorf 8th edition. Each word links to its Strong’s number and a concise gloss. Click any word for its full Thayer’s Greek Lexicon entry.
They told him, "John the Baptizer, and others say Elijah, but others: one of the prophets."
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Compare translations 3
The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.
Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.
Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.
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World English Bible Public Domain
They told him, "John the Baptizer, and others say Elijah, but others: one of the prophets."
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King James Version Public Domain
And they answered, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
But they said to him, saying, “John the Baptist, and others, Elijah, but others, one of the prophets.”
unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).
Show all 19 translations
Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.
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World English Bible Public Domain
They told him, "John the Baptizer, and others say Elijah, but others: one of the prophets."
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Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
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Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
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King James Version Public Domain
And they answered, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.
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American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
And they told him, saying, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but others, One of the prophets.
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Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
And they told him, saying, John the Baptist: and others, Elijah; but others, One of the prophets.
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Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
And they answered, Some say, Iohn Baptist: and some, Elias: and some, one of the Prophets.
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Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
Who answered him, saying: John the Baptist; but some Elias, and others as one of the prophets.
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Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
And they answered, `John the Baptist, and others Elijah, but others one of the prophets.'
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Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
And they answered, “John the Immerser, and others Elijah, but others one of the prophets.”
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Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
They answered him and said, “John the Baptist. Others say, 'Elijah,' and others, 'One of the prophets.'”
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
But they said to him, saying, “John the Baptist, and others, Elijah, but others, one of the prophets.”
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Darby Bible Public Domain
And they answered him, saying, John the baptist; and others, Elias; but others, One of the prophets.
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World Messianic Bible Public Domain
They told him, “Yochanan the Immerser, and others say Elijah, but others, one of the prophets.”
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Webster's Bible Public Domain
And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elijah; and others, One of the prophets,
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Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
“Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, others say one of the prophets,” they replied.
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Bible in Basic English Public Domain
And they made answer, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but others, One of the prophets.
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Text-Critical English NT CC BY 4.0
They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others say that yoʋ are one of the prophets.”
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Tyndale New Testament (1534) Public Domain
And they answered: some saye that thou arte Iohn Baptiste: some saye Helyas: and some one of the Prophetes.
Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).
Word by word
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- Appears 12× in the Greek New Testament
- First appears at Matthew 3:1
- Part of Speech
- Noun
- Case
- Accusative
- Number
- Singular
- Gender
- Masculine
Full Thayer's Definition
- οἱ ho G3588 “the” Article, Nominative, Plural, Masculine
- δὲ dé G1161 “but” Conjunction
- εἶπαν légō G3004 “to say” Verb, Aorist, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Plural
- αὐτῷ autós G846 “he” Personal pronoun, Dative, Singular, Masculine
- λέγοντες légō G3004 “to say” Verb, Present, Active, Participle, Nominative, Plural, Masculine
- ὅτι hóti G3754 “that” Conjunction
- Ἰωάννην Iōánnēs G2491 “John” Noun, Accusative, Singular, Masculine
- τὸν ho G3588 “the” Article, Accusative, Singular, Masculine
- βαπτιστήν Baptistḗs G910 “baptizer” Noun, Accusative, Singular, Masculine
- καὶ kaí G2532 “and” Conjunction
- ἄλλοι állos G243 “another” Adjective, Nominative, Plural, Masculine
- Ἡλείαν Hēlías G2243 “Elijah” Noun, Accusative, Singular, Masculine
- ἄλλοι állos G243 “another” Adjective, Nominative, Plural, Masculine
- δὲ dé G1161 “but” Conjunction
- ὅτι hóti G3754 “that” Conjunction
- εἷς heîs G1520 “one” Adjective, Nominative, Singular, Masculine
- τῶν ho G3588 “the” Article, Genitive, Plural, Masculine
- προφητῶν prophḗtēs G4396 “prophet” Noun, Genitive, Plural, Masculine
About this verse
These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →
- 18
- words
- 12
- distinct lemmas
- Gospels
- section
Cross-references
7Topical passages linked to Mark 8:28 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.
- John 1:21 They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."
- Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- Matthew 14:2 and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptizer. He is risen from the dead. That is why these powers work in him."
- Mark 9:11–13 They asked him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
- Matthew 16:14 They said, "Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
- Mark 6:14–16 King Herod heard this, for his name had become known, and he said, "John the Baptizer has risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."
- Luke 9:7–9 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was very perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,
Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).
Lesson kit
Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.
Mark, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 18 words (12 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Baptistḗs (“baptizer”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.
Discussion questions
- What does “baptizer” (Baptistḗs) contribute to the verse as a whole?
- How does Matthew 3:1, which shares the word «baptizer», read alongside this verse?
- What does the repetition of “to say” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
- These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
- Compare how Expositor's Greek Testament and The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?
Things to notice
- These translations choose different wording for 11 words in this verse.
- “to say” occurs 2× in this single verse.
- 12 distinct Greek lemmas span 18 words in this verse.
Commentary
Notes on Mark 8:28 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.
Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →
Expositor's Greek Testament
ed. W. Robertson Nicoll
The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill's Exposition
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Trapp's Complete Commentary
John Trapp
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges
Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
International Critical Commentary
International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.