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Mark 9:14
ESV And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them.
NIV When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them.
NASB And when they came back to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them.
CSB When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them.
NLT When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them.
KJV And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.

What does Mark 9:14 mean?

"Scribes" is from the Greek root word grammateus. These are the public servants who are experts in the Mosaic Law. Attempting to keep the Jews from breaking the God-given Law, they developed the Oral Law which was supposed to clarify and guard God's statutes. Instead, it just added a burden on the people God never intended (Matthew 23:4).

The office of scribe is a religious role; as a group, they have no specific political leaning, and some of them are also Pharisees. Despite their confidence in their position and their understanding of the written law, the scribes' fear of disrespecting God make them timid in their teaching. From the beginning of Jesus' ministry, people notice "he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes" (Mark 1:22). Unfortunately, when the scribes do speak with confidence, they often get it wrong (Mark 3:22).

The scribes are apparently arguing with the disciples because the disciples claim to follow Jesus but can't exorcize a demon from a boy (Mark 9:16–17). Jesus performed many exorcisms and had given the Twelve authority to expel demons in Galilee (Mark 6:7–13); if the transfiguration mountain is Mt. Meron, it's possible some of these people have even seen the disciples perform miracles. The scribes from Jerusalem claim that this power comes from Satan, not God (Mark 3:22), but it's interesting to note that the scribes, who claim to follow God, don't appear to even try to free the boy.
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