Lord’s Library editors offer a Mark 9:46 meaning with commentary on why the verse is missing from new Bible versions, for your edification.
When trying to understand the meaning of Mark 9:46 and see why it’s missing in modern versions, first see the verse: “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Mark 9:46 says, “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” It is identical in wording to Mark 9:44 and 9:48, forming part of a threefold warning from Jesus Christ about the unending torment of hell. Yet in almost every modern Bible version—ESV, NIV, NASB, CSB, and others—Mark 9:46 is completely removed, often with only a footnote mentioning that “some manuscripts include it.” What they won’t tell you up front is that the vast majority of Greek manuscripts do include it. The Textus Receptus, the manuscript base of the King James Bible, includes Mark 9:46 because it follows the overwhelming witness of the Byzantine tradition—the preserved text used by the believing Church for centuries. The Alexandrian manuscripts, namely Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, omit it, and because modern textual critics have chosen to elevate these two deeply flawed, contradictory documents above the thousands of consistent witnesses, verses like Mark 9:46 are being deleted from Scripture.
Mark 9:46 Missing Meaning
But Mark 9:46 is not filler. It is not redundant. It is Jesus Christ Himself emphasizing the seriousness and permanence of divine judgment. When He repeats this phrase three times—“Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched”—He is not engaging in poetic flourish. He is sounding a thunderous warning. The “worm” that does not die represents the gnawing, unending conscience and corruption in hell. The “fire” that is not quenched is the righteous wrath of God. This is not symbolic annihilation. This is conscious, eternal torment, and Jesus hammers the point by stating it three times. Each warning follows a call to radical repentance—cutting off a hand, a foot, plucking out an eye—anything to avoid being cast into hell. To strip one or two of those warnings from the passage is to deweaponize the Word of God. The modern versions reduce what Jesus repeated to a single mention in verse 48, effectively muting His voice where He chose to be loudest.
This isn’t just about manuscript preferences—it’s about spiritual consequences. The consistent removal of verses that deal with hell, judgment, damnation, and the wrath of God reveals a disturbing editorial pattern: modern Bibles are being conformed to the comfort of the reader, not the fear of the Lord. Mark 9:46’s absence is not accidental—it’s part of a trend. And when you downplay hell, you undermine the cross. If sin doesn’t lead to everlasting fire, then why did Jesus have to suffer so violently? If the “fire is not quenched” is just a metaphor, then the blood becomes a symbol too. The King James Bible, in contrast, retains the full force of Christ’s words. It doesn’t care if they offend. It doesn’t shrink from repetition. It doesn’t ask whether the reader is comfortable—it demands whether the reader is convicted.
The defense that Mark 9:46 is “repetitious” and “not found in the earliest manuscripts” is a shallow argument that collapses under the weight of honest inquiry. God repeats Himself when He wants you to stop and tremble. He does not stutter—He intensifies. And the Church that preached from this uncut text for centuries was a Church that believed in holiness, warned of judgment, and knew what it meant to fear the Lord. The post-critical-text Church, formed around bracketed verses and removed warnings, is marked by apathy, compromise, and doctrinal confusion. If you care about truth, about the power of preaching, and about giving people the full counsel of God, then you should care deeply that Mark 9:46 is missing in most modern Bibles. The King James Bible includes it because it was never meant to be excluded. Jesus said it. That settles it. And if your Bible doesn’t, then maybe it’s not the Bible God preserved. Hell hasn’t cooled just because two scribes in Alexandria left out a verse. The fire is not quenched—and neither is the truth.
Lord's Library is a Christian resource hub. Our editors use a variety of internet research methods like search engines, audio and video, AI, consultations with ministry leaders in the field, and more. Lord's Library should never be a substitute for reading your Bible daily as the Scriptures are to be our final authority on all matters. Lord's Library participates in affiliate programs. We may make a small commission from products purchased through this resource.
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