Jesus warns of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and he promises: “the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.” In Mark 3:28, the Greek word is blasphēmia (G988): insulting, slanderous speech, especially against God. Strong’s calls it ‘vilification’: running someone down with words.
Get DeepWordWhat the original says
Behind the word “blasphemies” in this verse is the Greek word blasphēmia (said blas-fay-MEE-ah).
It means insulting, slanderous speech, especially against God. Strong’s calls it ‘vilification’: running someone down with words.
This form, blasphēmiai, is plural: many blasphemies. Jesus puts them in the same sentence as “all sins”, and says of both, “will be forgiven”.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘blasphemy’ 6 times and ‘slander’ 5 times, as when Stephen was accused of “words of blasphemy against Moses and against God” (Acts 6:11):
Word by word
| ἁμαρτήματα | καὶ | αἱ | βλασφημίαι | ὅσα | ἐὰν | βλασφημήσωσιν |
| sins | and | the | blasphemies | as much as | if | they shall have blasphemed |
Original form
What this tells us
Jesus has gone home, and the crowd is so large that he and his disciples “could not even eat” (Mark 3:20). His own family hears about it and thinks, “He is out of His mind” (Mark 3:21). Then scribes come down from Jerusalem with a far worse charge: “He is possessed by Beelzebul” (Mark 3:22). Before he gives any warning, Jesus says something wide open: “the sons of men will be forgiven all sins and blasphemies, as many as they utter.” The word for “blasphemies” is blasphēmia: insulting, slanderous speech, especially against God. All of it, Jesus says, can be forgiven. That is worth hearing before anything else. Paul, who once spoke against Jesus, was shown mercy (1 Timothy 1:13). Peter denied Jesus “with an oath” (Matthew 26:72), and Jesus restored him and told him, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17). Think of a door marked open in large letters, with one warning sign beside it. The warning matters, but so does the size of the door. If you are afraid you have said something that cannot be forgiven, start where Jesus started: all sins and blasphemies can be forgiven. The next verse is a warning, not a trap.
What the original says
Behind the word “blasphemes” in this verse is the Greek word blasphēmeō (said blas-fay-MEH-oh).
It means to speak against someone, to slander, to insult, and especially to speak against God. It is the verb that goes with blasphēmia.
This form, blasphēmēsē, is used with ‘whoever’ for something that may happen: whoever does this. What follows is not ‘has done once’ but a person who “is guilty of eternal sin”.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘blaspheme’ 11 times, counting its other forms, and ‘slander’ 4 times. Luke has the same saying: “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven” (Luke 12:10):
Word by word
| ὃς | δ᾽ | ἂν | βλασφημήσῃ | εἰς | τὸ | πνεῦμα | τὸ | ἅγιον |
| who | however | maybe | may blaspheme | against | the | Spirit | the | Holy |
Original form
What this tells us
Jesus has just answered the scribes with a picture: “How can Satan drive out Satan?” (Mark 3:23). If a kingdom is divided against itself, “it cannot stand” (Mark 3:24). Jesus is setting people free from evil, and the scribes are calling that freedom the devil’s work. The word for “blasphemes” is blasphēmeō: to speak against, to slander, to insult. Here the one spoken against is the Holy Spirit, and Jesus says that whoever does it “will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal sin.” These are among the most serious words he ever spoke, and he means them. Christians understand this sin in different ways: some as calling the Spirit’s work in Jesus the work of the devil, as these scribes were doing, and others as a settled, final refusal of the Spirit’s call to come to God. In both readings it is not a careless word or a passing doubt. It is a heart that keeps shutting every window and then calls the light darkness. Many pastors say that a person worried about grieving the Spirit is a person the Spirit is still speaking to. What would it mean to bring that worry to God, instead of carrying it alone?
What the original says
Behind “unclean” in this verse is the Greek word akathartos (said ah-KAH-thar-tos).
It means unclean, impure, not cleansed. In the Gospels it is often used of evil spirits.
This form, akatharton, is a describing word that goes with pneuma, ‘spirit’: ‘an unclean spirit’. Mark sets it right after the verse about the Holy Spirit.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘unclean’ 28 times, most often of evil spirits:
Word by word
| ὅτι | ἔλεγον | πνεῦμα | ἀκάθαρτον | ἔχει |
| for | they were saying | a spirit | unclean | he has |
Original form
What this tells us
Mark adds one short line to explain why Jesus spoke so strongly. The scribes were saying that Jesus had “an unclean spirit”. Earlier they had put it another way: “He is possessed by Beelzebul” (Mark 3:22). This verse is the key to the warning just before it. The word is akathartos: unclean, impure. The scribes looked at the Holy Spirit at work in Jesus, setting people free, and called it unclean. That is the setting of Jesus’ words: not a stray thought someone could not help, but a deliberate verdict that the good God was doing was evil. Matthew tells the same scene after Jesus heals a man who was blind and mute (Matthew 12:22). The crowds ask, “Could this be the Son of David?” (Matthew 12:23), but the Pharisees answer, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons” (Matthew 12:24). Jesus then says, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good” (Matthew 12:33). Looking at good fruit and calling it rotten is the hardness he is warning against. If you have looked at Jesus and wanted him, you are not standing where these scribes stood. Where are you standing today?
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Download on the App StoreWhat the original says
Behind the first “blasphemy” in this verse is blasphēmia again (said blas-fay-MEE-ah), the word you met in Mark 3:28.
It is the same word you met in Mark 3:28: insulting, slanderous speech against God.
This form, blasphēmia, is singular here, and comes twice: “every sin and blasphemy”, and then “the blasphemy against the Spirit”. The same verb, “will be forgiven”, is used of the first and denied of the second.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘blasphemy’ 6 times and ‘slander’ 5 times:
Word by word
| πᾶσα | ἁμαρτία | καὶ | βλασφημία | ἀφεθήσεται | τοῖς | ἀνθρώποις |
| every | sin | and | blasphemy | will be forgiven | the | to men |
Original form
What this tells us
In Matthew’s Gospel the scene begins with a healing: “a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed the man so that he could speak and see” (Matthew 12:22). The crowds wonder, “Could this be the Son of David?” (Matthew 12:23). The Pharisees say his power comes from the prince of demons. The word for “blasphemy” is blasphēmia, the same word as in Mark: slanderous speech against God. Matthew records the same promise and the same warning: “every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” The promise is as wide as the warning is serious. The next verse draws a line some readers find surprising: “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven” (Matthew 12:32). People can misunderstand Jesus and even speak against him, and forgiveness is still open. Luke gives the saying beside a promise that “the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say” (Luke 12:12): the Spirit is the one who draws people to Jesus, not the one waiting to catch them out. Jesus does not use warnings for their own sake. Here the warning guards the welcome. Will you let the Spirit draw you to him?
What the original says
Behind “blasphemer” in this verse is the Greek word blasphēmos (said BLAS-fay-mos).
It describes someone who speaks against God, or slanders other people: a blasphemer.
This form, blasphēmon, describes Paul himself: ‘being a blasphemer’, in a list with “a persecutor, and a violent man”. Then comes the turn: “I was shown mercy.”
It is a rare word: the Berean has it 4 times in all, as in “words of blasphemy against Moses and against God” (Acts 6:11):
Word by word
| τὸ | πρότερον | ὄντα | βλάσφημον | καὶ | διώκτην | καὶ |
| the | formerly | being | a blasphemer | and | a persecutor | and |
Original form
What this tells us
Paul is writing to Timothy, a younger leader, and he looks back over his own life: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, that He considered me faithful and appointed me to service” (1 Timothy 1:12). Then he says plainly what he used to be. The word for “blasphemer” is blasphēmos: someone who speaks against God. Paul uses it of himself. Before he met Jesus he hunted Christians and “tried to make them blaspheme” (Acts 26:11). If anyone had spoken against Jesus, he had. And yet: “I was shown mercy.” He says why his story is told at all: “But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16). The man who once spoke against Jesus became one of the main writers of the New Testament. His life is a sign set up for people who think they have gone too far. If you have said things against God that you wish you had not, you are in good company in this verse. Paul says his mercy is meant as an example for you.
What the original says
Behind “drive away” in this verse is the Greek word ekballō (said ek-BAL-loh).
It means to throw out, to drive out, to send away.
This form, ekbalō, comes after a double ‘not’, ou mē, the strongest way Greek has to say ‘never’: word for word, ‘I will not, not throw out’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘drive’ 32 times, most often of driving out demons, as in “How can Satan drive out Satan?” (Mark 3:23):
Word by word
| ἐρχόμενον | πρὸς | ἐμὲ | οὐ | μὴ | ἐκβάλω | ἔξω |
| coming | to | Me | certainly | not | shall I cast | out |
Original form
What this tells us
Jesus has fed five thousand people, and the next day the crowd follows him, hoping for more bread. He tells them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger” (John 6:35). Then he says who comes to him, and what happens to them when they do. The word for “drive away” is ekballō: to throw out, to send away. Jesus uses the strongest never that Greek has: “the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.” It is the same word used for driving out demons, and here Jesus promises he will never drive out a single person who comes to him. He says this is his Father’s will: “that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day” (John 6:39). The prophet said the same of God’s chosen servant: “A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish” (Isaiah 42:3). Matthew applies those words to Jesus in the same chapter as the warning about blasphemy (Matthew 12:20). The fear of being turned away can keep people from coming at all. This verse answers that fear head on. What would it mean to come to him today, just as you are?
What the original says
Behind the word “condemnation” in this verse is the Greek word katakrima (said kah-TAH-kree-mah).
It means condemnation: the verdict against someone, the sentence handed down.
This form, katakrima, comes right after ouden, ‘no, none’, the first word of the verse: word for word, ‘none, therefore, now, condemnation’.
It is used only 3 times in the New Testament, always ‘condemnation’ in the Berean:
Word by word
| Οὐδὲν | ἄρα | νῦν | κατάκριμα | τοῖς | ἐν | Χριστῷ |
| no | therefore | now | condemnation | to those | in | Christ |
Original form
What this tells us
Paul has just described the struggle of someone who wants to do good and keeps failing: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). His answer comes in the next breath: “Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25). Then he begins a new chapter with “Therefore”. The word for “condemnation” is katakrima: a verdict against someone, the sentence handed down. Paul says there is now “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Not less condemnation, not condemnation put on hold: none at all. He builds to a question near the end of the chapter: “Who is there to condemn us?” (Romans 8:34). Christ, who died and was raised, is the one speaking for us. Then Paul ends by saying that nothing in all creation “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). Fear says the verdict is still out. This verse says it has already been given. If you belong to Christ, the fear that you have committed the unforgivable sin does not get the last word. This verse does. Could you read it once more, slowly, as written to you?
Behind "blasphemy" are 4 different words
Your English Bible says "blasphemy" 31 times. Behind it stand several Hebrew and Greek words:
Reflect
Read it as yours
Jesus said this to a crowd that did not yet understand him. Read it slowly, as said to you:
Name it
If a fear has been weighing on you, write it down plainly. Then write under it the first words of Romans 8:1: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation”.
Carry with you
What would change if you believed that coming to Jesus is the one thing he will never turn away?
A note
Many people fear they have committed this sin. Pastors from many traditions say that being worried about it is itself a sign of a heart that still wants God, the opposite of the hardness Jesus warned about. If this fear will not let go of you, talk with a pastor you trust.