Mark 6:1-6. Christ is despised at Nazareth 1. _his own country_ that is, Nazareth. From this time forward He ceased to have His abiding residence at Capernaum, although He still assembled His disciples on passing occasions. This visit to Nazareth is recorded only by St Matthew and St Mark.... [ Continue Reading ]
_he began to teach in the synagogue_ For his former visit here see Luke 4:6 sq. The conduct of His hearers on this occasion did not betray the frantic violence exhibited at His first visit. _mighty works_ Rather, POWERS. This is one of the four names given by the Evangelists to the miracles which t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is not this the carpenter?_ Save in this one place, our Lord is nowhere Himself called "the Carpenter." According to the custom of the Jews, even the Rabbis learnt some handicraft. One of their proverbs was that "he who taught not his son a trade, taught him to be a thief." Hence St Paul learnt to... [ Continue Reading ]
_A prophet is not without honour_ He repeats to them once more almost the same proverb which He before uttered in their hearing and from the same place (Luke 4:24).... [ Continue Reading ]
_no mighty work_ Literally, _no_power. He performed some miracles, but not all He would have done, because of their deep-seated unbelief. His miraculous power was not magical. It was an influence which required and presupposed _faith_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_he marvelled_ Our Lord does not marvel at other human things generally, but He does marvel on the one hand, at faith, when, as in the case of the centurion, it overcomes in its grandeur all human hindrances, and, on the other, at unbelief, when it can, in the face of numerous Divine manifestations,... [ Continue Reading ]
Mission of the Twelve 7. _he called_ Rather, HE CALLETH UNTO HIM. _two and two_ St Mark alone records this. They were sent forth probably in different directions on a tentative mission, to make trial of their powers, and fit them for a more extended mission afterwards. Their election had taken pla... [ Continue Reading ]
_and commanded them_ Now follows a brief summary of the charge, which the Lord proceeded to give them on this occasion, and which is recorded at far greater length by St Matthew, Matthew 10:5-42. _save a staff_ They were to go forth with their staff as they had it at the time, but they were not (Ma... [ Continue Reading ]
_be shod with sandals_ That is, they were to take no other shoes with them for travelling "than their ordinary sandals of palm-bark." So now "the Galilean peasants wear a coarse shoe, answering to the sandal of the ancients, but never take two pair with them." _two coats_ That is, they were not to... [ Continue Reading ]
_there abide_ "When a stranger arrives in a village or an encampment, the neighbours, one after another, must invite him to eat with them. There is a strict etiquette about it, involving much ostentation and hypocrisy: and a failure in the due observance of this system of hospitality is violently re... [ Continue Reading ]
_the dust under your feet_ For instances of the carrying out of this command, compare the conduct of St Paul at Antioch in Pisidia, Acts 13:51, and at Corinth, Acts 18:6. The action must be regarded as symbolical of a complete cessation of all fellowship, and a renunciation of all further responsibi... [ Continue Reading ]
_anointed with oil_ St Mark alone mentions this anointing as the method, whereby the healing of the sick was effected. Though not expressly ordered, it was doubtless implied in the injunction to "heal the sick" (Matthew 10:8). The prophet Isaiah (Mark 1:6) alludes to the use of oil for medicinal pur... [ Continue Reading ]
The Murder of John the Baptist 14. _And king Herod heard of him_ This first missionary journey of the Apostles was but short, and they would seem to "have returned to Capernaum as early as the evening of the second day," Bp. Ellicott's _Gospel History_, p. 196. This Herod was Herod Antipas, to whom... [ Continue Reading ]
_It is John_ The words in the original, according to the best MSS., are very striking. JOHN WHOM I (_I myself;_the pronoun "has the emphasis of a guilty conscience") BEHEADED THIS IS HE HE IS RISEN. Josephus confirms the account of these forebodings when he tells us that after the utter defeat of He... [ Continue Reading ]
_For Herod_ St Mark now proceeds more fully than the first Evangelist to relate the circumstances of the murder of the Baptist. _for Herodias" sake_ During one of his journeys to Rome, Herod Antipas had fallen in with Herodias the wife of his brother Herod Philip, a son of Herod the Great and Mariam... [ Continue Reading ]
_For John had said_ Herod was probably on his way to meet his father-in-law, when he first encountered the Baptist, who, in the presence of the Galilean king, proved himself no "reed shaken by the wind" (Luke 7:24), but boldly denounced the royal crimes (Luke 3:19), and declared the marriage unlawfu... [ Continue Reading ]
_had a quarrel_ or as it is rendered in the margin, "_had an inward grudge_" against him. The word here translated "had a quarrel" occurs in Luke 11:53, where we have rendered it, "and the Pharisees began to _urge Him vehemently_," and in Genesis 49:23, where the dying Jacob says of Joseph, "The arc... [ Continue Reading ]
_observed him_ Rather, as in the margin, KEPT HIM, i. e. KEPT HIM SAFE from her machinations. The original word occurs in Matthew 9:17, and Luke 5:38, "they put new wine into new bottles, and both _are preserved_." _when he heard him_ The Greek here is still more emphatic; "and when he heard him, he... [ Continue Reading ]
_a convenient day_ i. e. a suitable day for her fell designs. _on his birthday_ In imitation of the Roman emperors, the Herodian princes kept their birthdays with feasting and revelry and magnificent banquets. Wieseler, however, considers the word denotes a feast celebrating Herod's accession, but... [ Continue Reading ]
_the daughter of … Herodias_ Her name was Salome, and she afterwards married (1) Philip the tetrarch of Trachonitis, her paternal uncle, and (2) Aristobulus, the king of Chalcis. "A luxurious feast of the period was not regarded as complete unless it closed with some gross pantomimic representation;... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto the half of my kingdom_ Compare the words of Ahasuerus (i. e. Xerxes) to Esther: "What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, _even to the half of the kingdom_" (Esther 5:3; Esther 7:2).... [ Continue Reading ]
_The head of John the Baptist_ Herodias saw that her hour was come. No jewelled trinket, no royal palace, no splendid robe, should be the reward of her daughter's feat "Ask," said she, "for the head of John the Baptizer.... [ Continue Reading ]
_straightway with haste_ Observe the ready alacrity, with which she proved herself a true daughter of her mother. _by and by_ i. e. "_immediately_." Comp. Matthew 13:21, "when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, _by and by_he is offended;" Luke 17:7, "which of you, having a serva... [ Continue Reading ]
_exceeding sorry_ The Greek word thus translated is very strong, and denotes very great grief and sorrow. It is used of (1) the rich young ruler, "when he heard this, he was _very sorrowful_," Luke 18:23; (2) of our Lord Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, "My soul is _exceeding sorrowful_, even un... [ Continue Reading ]
_an executioner_ Literally, A SOLDIER OF THE GUARD. The word _Speculator_denotes (1) _a looker-out, spy, scout;_(2) _a special adjutant, soldier of the guard_. These scouts formed a special division in each legion; but under the emperors a body bearing this name was specially appointed to guard the... [ Continue Reading ]
_laid it in a tomb_ and then "_went and told Jesus_" (Matthew 14:12) of the death of His great Forerunner, over whom He had pronounced so remarkable a eulogy (Luke 7:27-28).... [ Continue Reading ]
Return of the Twelve. Feeding of the Five Thousand 30. _gathered themselves together_ Their brief tentative mission was now over, and they returned to Capernaum.... [ Continue Reading ]
_there were many coming and going_ The Passover was now nigh at hand (John 6:4) and the pilgrim companies would be on the move towards the Holy City.... [ Continue Reading ]
_they departed into a desert place_ They crossed the Lake of Gennesaret (John 6:1) and proceeded in the direction of Bethsaida-Julias, at its north-eastern corner (Luke 9:10), just above the entrance of the Jordan into it. Bethsaida-Julias was originally only a village, but was rebuilt and enlarged... [ Continue Reading ]
_ran afoot_ The multitudes saw the vessel start from Capernaum, and quickly ran along the coast and round the northern extremity of the Lake, where they met the little company disembarking on the shore. The motive of their coming in such large numbers is stated by St John, John 6:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
_he came out_ Comparing the account in the Fourth Gospel, we may conjecture that on landing the Lord and His disciples ascended the hill-side (John 6:3) and there waited awhile till the whole multitude was assembled. Then descending, He saw them all, and moved with compassion began to "_teach them m... [ Continue Reading ]
_a desert place_ The locality was probably part of the rich but uninhabited plain at the mouth of the Jordan.... [ Continue Reading ]
_send them away_ Already earlier in the day the Lord had asked the Apostle Philip, _Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?_and he, thinking of no other supplies save such as natural means could procure, had replied that _two hundred pence_would not suffice to provide sustenance for such a num... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shall we go and buy_ With one mouth they seem to have reiterated what St Philip had said earlier in the day. _two hundred pennyworth_ The specifying of this sum is peculiar to St Mark and St John. The word translated _penny_is the DENARIUS, a silver coin of the value originally of 10 and afterwards... [ Continue Reading ]
_go and see_ In the interval between their going and return they learnt that a lad in their company had _five barley loaves, and two small fishes_, which they could secure for purchase. They were only _barley loaves_(John 6:9), the food even then, for the most part, of beasts, or of the poor and the... [ Continue Reading ]
_by companies_ Literally, DRINKING PARTIES. The word alludes to an orderly social grouping, _catervatim_. The words are repeated by a Hebraism in the original, like the "two and two" of Mark 6:7. _upon the green grass_ St Mark alone mentions _the green grass_, "still fresh in the spring of the year... [ Continue Reading ]
_in ranks_ Literally, THEY RECLINED IN PARTERRES (_areolatim_). "As they sat in these orderly groups upon the grass, the gay red and blue and yellow colours of the clothing, which the poorest Orientals wear, called up in the imagination of St Peter a multitude of flowerbeds in some well-cultivated g... [ Continue Reading ]
_and blessed_ The words, though not given, were probably those of the ordinary grace before meat in use in Israel. "He gives thanks to God, as the father surrounded by his household was on the occasion of the Passover wont to do, for His natural gifts and covenant blessings. This action is made almo... [ Continue Reading ]
_they took up_ in obedience to our Lord's command (John 6:12), Who would teach them that wastefulness even of miraculous power was wholly alien to the Divine economy. _baskets_ "tuelue coffyns full," Wyclif. All the Evangelists alike here use _cophinoi_for the small common _wicker-baskets_, in which... [ Continue Reading ]
_five thousand men_ besides _women and children_(Matthew 14:21), who would not sit down with the men, but sit or stand apart.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Walking on the Lake 45. _And straightway_ The impression made upon the people by the miracle just narrated was profound. It was the popular expectation that the Messiah would repeat the miracles of Moses, and this "bread of wonder," of which they had just partaken, recalled to the minds of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the midst of the sea_ With all their efforts and the toil of the entire night they had not in consequence of contrary winds (John 6:18) accomplished more than _five and twenty or thirty furlongs_, i. e. scarcely more than half of their way, the Lake being forty or forty-five furlongs in breadth,... [ Continue Reading ]
_he saw them toiling in rowing_ The word translated "toiling," which also occurs in Matthew 14:24, is a very striking expression. It denotes (1) _to test metals with the touchstone_, (2) _to rack, torture_, (3) _to torment_as in Matthew 8:29, "art Thou come to _torment_us before the time?", and Matt... [ Continue Reading ]
_a spirit_ An unsubstantial appearance. So they thought on the evening of the world's first Easter Day, when they saw Him after His resurrection. See Luke 24:36-37. Wyclif translates it "they gessiden him for to be a fantum;" Tyndale and Cranmer "a sprete;" the Rhemish "a ghost.... [ Continue Reading ]
_be not afraid_ St Mark does not record St Peter's attempt to go to his Lord upon the Lake, which is narrated only by St Matthew, Matthew 14:28-30.... [ Continue Reading ]
_they were sore amazed_ Observe the strong expressions here employed. Not only were they "sore amazed," but "beyond measure." Never had the disciples been so impressed by the majesty of Christ as they were now in consequence of this miracle. St Matthew, Matthew 14:33, tells us that the impression ma... [ Continue Reading ]
_hardened_ See note above, Mark 3:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
Miracles of Healing in the Land of Gennesaret 53. _the land of Gennesaret_is only mentioned here and in Matthew 14:34. It is the same as the modern _el-Ghuweir_, a fertile crescent-shaped plain, on the north-western shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, about 3 miles in length and 1 in width. From its s... [ Continue Reading ]
_they knew him_ The dawn had now broken, and the people on shore at once recognised the Great Healer, and craved His help in behalf of their sick and afflicted.... [ Continue Reading ]
_but the border of his garment_ The numbers that pressed upon Him seemed almost too large for Him to be able to heal them singly by laying His hands upon them, therefore many begged that they might be allowed to touch _if it were but the border of His garment_. Comp. above, Mark 5:27. Soon after fol... [ Continue Reading ]