Verse Lens · Context pointer
Mark 3:17 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 17. 17And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
This verse moves Mark 3:13-19's connected sequence forward at Mark 3:17 through the report, “And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder”.
Read It With
- Mark 3:13-19
Read Mark 3:17 with 3:13-19. This verse moves Mark 3:13-19's connected sequence forward at Mark 3:17 through the report, “And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder”. The complete unit's controlling movement is: On a mountain Jesus chooses twelve to share his company, proclaim, and confront oppressive spirits, naming a group that symbolically recalls Israel.
Why It Needs Context
This verse moves Mark 3:13-19's connected sequence forward at Mark 3:17 through the report, “And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder”. Its connective or scene-specific force depends on Mark 3:13-19; isolating it would detach the selected action, response, speaker, or referent from the unit that explains it.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Mark 3:13-19 — Jesus Appoints Twelve to Be with Him and Be SentSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Mark 3:13-19, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and material variants checked independently of the KJV.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Mark.txt, 3:13-19
Open the Mark Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Mark with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, older-English clarification, variants, background, and alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Mark PDF, printed pp. 1868–1901, 3:13-19 and attached translator/textual notes
Open the official NET Mark PDF ↗