Mark 4:10-12

Disciples ask an explanation of the parable (Matthew 13:10-17; Luke 8:9-10). Mark 4:10. κατὰ μόνας (ὁδούς or χώρας understood), alone οἱ περὶ αὐτὸν, those about Him, not = οἱ παρʼ αὐτοῦ (Mark 3:21), nor = the Twelve, who are separately mentioned (σὺν τ. δωδ.); an outer circle of disciples from which the Twelve were chosen. τὰς παραβολάς, the parables, spoken that day. They asked Him about them, as to their meaning. The plural, well attested, implies that the parables of the day had a common drift. To explain one was to explain all. They were a complaint of the comparative fruitlessness of past efforts.