Mark 9:16

16 And he asked them, "What are you arguing [about] with them?"

Mark 9:16 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 9:16

And he asked the Scribes
The Vulgate Latin renders it, "he asked them"; and the Ethiopic version, he said unto them; meaning either that he asked the disciples when he came to them, or else the people that ran to salute him; but the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions read, "the Scribes"; seeing them about his disciples, in close debate with them, and running hard upon them, he asks them,

what question ye with them?
what is it ye seek and require of them? what is your dispute with them? what is your debate about? The Vulgate Latin version reads, "what question ye among you?" among themselves, and one another; and so Beza's most ancient copy.

Mark 9:16 In-Context

14 And [when they] came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them.

15 And immediately the whole crowd, [when they] saw him, were amazed, and ran up to [him] [and] greeted him.

16 And he asked them, "What are you arguing [about] with them?"

17 And one [individual] from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought to you my son who has {a spirit that makes him mute}.

18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes paralyzed. And I told your disciples that they should expel it, and they were not able [to do so].