Mark 3:29

But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(29) In danger of eternal damnation.—Better, eternal judgment, the Greek word not necessarily carrying with it the thoughts that now attach to the English. The best MSS., however, give, “in danger of an eternal sin”—i.e., of one which will, with its consequences, extend throughout the ages. It is, of course, more probable that a transcriber should have altered “sin” into “judgment,” substituting an easier for a more difficult rendering, than the converse.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:22-30 It was plain that the doctrine of Christ had a direct tendency to break the devil's power; and it was as plain, that casting of him out of the bodies of people, confirmed that doctrine; therefore Satan could not support such a design. Christ gave an awful warning against speaking such dangerous words. It is true the gospel promises, because Christ has purchased, forgiveness for the greatest sins and sinners; but by this sin, they would oppose the gifts of the Holy Ghost after Christ's ascension. Such is the enmity of the heart, that unconverted men pretend believers are doing Satan's work, when sinners are brought to repentance and newness of life.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the scribes ... - See the notes at Matthew 12:24-32. The occasion of their saying this was, that he had healed a man possessed with a devil. The scribes, who came from Jerusalem to watch his conduct, charged him with having made a compact or agreement with the prince of the devils.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Mr 3:20-30. Jesus Is Charged with Madness and Demoniacal Possession—His Reply. ( = Mt 12:22-37; Lu 11:14-26).

See on [1413]Mt 12:22-37; [1414]Lu 11:21-26.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Mark 3:22"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost,.... Against his person, and the works performed by him, by ascribing them to diabolical power and influence, as the Scribes did,

hath never forgiveness: there is no pardon provided in the covenant of grace, nor obtained by the blood of Christ for such persons, or ever applied to them by the Spirit;

but is in danger of eternal damnation. The Vulgate Latin reads it, and so it is read in an ancient copy of Beza's, guilty of an eternal sin; a sin which can never be blotted out, and will never be forgiven, but will be punished with everlasting destruction; See Gill on Matthew 12:32.

Geneva Study Bible

But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Mark 3:29. The great exception, blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.—εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα: hath not forgiveness for ever. Cf. the fuller expression in Mt.—ἀλλʼ ἔνοχός ἐστιν, but is guilty of. The negative is followed by a positive statement of similar import in Hebrew fashion.—αἰωνίου ἁμαρτήματος, of an eternal sin. As this is equivalent to “hath never forgiveness,” we must conceive of the sin as eternal in its guilt, not in itself as a sin. The idea is that of an unpardonable sin, not of a sin eternally repeating itself. Yet this may be the ultimate ground of unpardonableness: unforgivable because never repented of. But this thought is not necessarily contained in the expression.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

29. but he that shall blaspheme] The sin, against which these words are a terrible but merciful warning, is not so much an act, as a state of sin, on the part of one, who in defiance of light and knowledge, of set purpose rejects, and not only rejects but perseveres in rejecting, the warnings of conscience, and the Grace of the Holy Spirit, who blinded by religious bigotry rather than ascribe a good work to the Spirit of Good prefer to ascribe it to the Spirit of Evil, and thus wilfully put “bitter for sweet” and “sweet for bitter,” “darkness for light” and “light for darkness.” Such a state if persevered in and not repented of excludes from pardon, for it is the sin unto death spoken of in 1 John 5:16.

Bengel's Gnomen

Mark 3:29. Αἰωνίου ἁμαρτίας, everlasting guilt) Sin in this place denotes guilt; and everlasting sin or guilt is opposed with great propriety of language to forgiveness [It therefore carries with it the punishment consisting as well of (in) the feeling as also of (in) the penalty itself (damnation). V. g.—Ἀιωνίου κρίσεως [the reading of the Rec. Text] is a gloss.[29]

[29] A, however, supports it. But BL Vulg. and Memph., and bcd (‘delicti’) support ἁμαρτήματος. D reads ἁμαρτίας; and so a and Cypr. have ‘peccati.’—ED.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 29. - Hath never forgiveness. Not that any sinner need despair of forgiveness through the fear that he may have committed this sin; for his repentance shows that his state of mind has never been one of entire enmity, and that he has not so grieved the Holy Spirit as to have been entirely forsaken by him. But is in danger of eternal damnation. The Greek words, according to the most approved reading, are ἀλλ ἔνοχός ἐστιν αἰωνίου ἁμαρτήματος: but is guilty of an eternal sin; thus showing that there are sins of which the effects and the punishment belong to eternity. He is bound by a chain or' sin from which he can never be loosed. (See St. John 9:41, "Therefore your sin remaineth.") Mark 3:29

Vincent's Word Studies

Guilty (ἔνοχος)

From ἐν, in, ἔχω, to hold or have. Lit., is in the grasp of, or holden of. Compare 1 Corinthians 11:27; James 2:10.

Eternal damnation (αἰωνίου ἁμαρτήματος)

An utterly false rendering. Rightly as Rev., of an eternal sin. So Wyc., everlasting trespass. The A. V. has gone wrong in following Tyndale, who, in turn, followed the erroneous text of Erasmus, κρίσεως, judgment, wrongly rendered damnation. See Matthew 23:33, and compare Rev. there.