What does Mark 9:31 mean?

"Delivered" is from the Greek root word paradidomi and means to give up. "Delivered" is the literal translation. Its use elsewhere in Mark (Mark 10:33; 14:10–11, 18, 21; 15:1, 10, 15) shows "the deliverer" has power, and "the delivered" does not agree with what is happening. Bible interpreters, therefore, translate the word as "betray." On the last night before the crucifixion, Judas, one of the Twelve, will deliver Jesus to the "elders and the chief priests and the scribes" (Mark 8:31) who will kill Him, so "betray" certainly fits.

The "hands of men" Mark mentions include several disparate groups. Judas leads a crowd of chief priests, scribes and elders (Mark 14:43) who take Jesus to the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:53). Because Jews were not able to legally execute someone, the Sanhedrin sends Jesus to Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judea. Pilate is unable to find charges against Jesus that warrant death, so he sends Jesus to Herod Antipas, the "king" over Jesus' home district of Galilee, who happens to be in Jerusalem (Luke 23:6–12). During these trials, soldiers and guards mock and beat Jesus (Mark 14:65; Luke 23:11). At the end, Pilate asks a crowd what to do; they cry out, "Crucify him" (Mark 15:12–13). It's important to realize that it isn't the Jews who crucified Jesus. It's traditional religious leaders, governments, soldiers, and common people—really it is every person who ever sinned, including every human alive today, who is responsible for Jesus being crucified. Perhaps even more astounding, it is Jesus Himself; He willingly submitted to crucifixion so that all who put their faith in Him could be saved from our sin.

In Matthew's account of the argument Jesus had before He travelled to Bethsaida, Jesus told the Pharisees and Sadducees they would receive no sign "except the sign of Jonah" (Matthew 16:4). This refers to Jonah's experience of three days and nights inside of a monstrous fish, before being brought back onto dry land (Jonah 1:15—2:10). Early on, Jesus establishes the habit of teaching the crowd in parables but explaining things more clearly to the disciples in private (Mark 4:34). That doesn't mean the disciples understand what He is saying (Mark 6:51–52; 7:18). They are still thinking of Jesus as the conqueror who will grow in power and rescue them from the rule of Rome. Their desire to absorb some of Jesus' influence is revealed when they argue about who is greatest (Mark 9:34). They then try to control Jesus' "brand" in a stunning display of hypocrisy by rejected a man who exorcises demons in Jesus' name (Mark 9:38) after they were unable (Mark 9:17–18).