Bible Strands
Mark 2:20
But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses His disciples and religious observers in Mark 2 regarding the timing of fasting. He contrasts the present season of His physical presence with a future season of His absence.
The words — The text highlights ἡμέραι (hēmerai, “days”) and ἀπαρθή (aparthē, “taken away”). Jesus states that a specific period will arrive when the bridegroom is removed from them, after which fasting will occur.
The thread — The motif of a coming time of longing appears in Luke 17:22, where Jesus tells disciples they will desire the days of the Son of Man. The bridegroom imagery connects to Isaiah 54:5 and Revelation 21:9, which both use the husband-bride relationship to describe God’s covenant and future restoration.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to recognize that spiritual disciplines are contextual responses to relational reality rather than fixed rituals. It demands readiness to adjust practice when the presence of Christ shifts from physical to promised.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
Cross-references
- Luke 17:22 Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
- Revelation 21:9 Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
- Isaiah 54:5 For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
- Isaiah 62:5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
- Zechariah 13:7 Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.
- Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.
- Psalms 45:11 and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.
- Song of Solomon 3:11 Come out, O daughters of Zion, and gaze at King Solomon, wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding—the day of his heart’s rejoicing.
- Matthew 26:31 Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
- John 3:29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.