Mark 8:1. The same prediction is found in the accounts of Matthew and Luke. From the account before us (Mark 8:34) we see that those standing by included more than the disciples. IN POWER. Peculiar to Mark, and characteristic since he presents our Lord mainly in His power. The coming referred to w... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:1. IN THOSE DAYS. Matthew gives no mark of time, and Mark is indefinite. ‘Three days' (Mark 8:2) is more specific.... [ Continue Reading ]
Compare notes on Matthew 15:21-39. The miracle (Mark 7:32-37) is peculiar to Mark and of special interest.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:1-10. THE MIRACULOUS FEEDING OF FOUR THOUSAND. See on Matthew 15:32-39. The accounts are usually alike, agreeing almost word for word.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:3. AND SOME OF THEM ARE COME FROM FAR. Peculiar to Mark.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:7. A FEW SMALL FISHES. Mark speaks of them separately. The language intimates that they were separately blessed and distributed. HAVING BLESSED. A different word from that used in Mark 8:6. The distinction is slight, however: this one implying _praise_, and the other _thanksgiving_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:8. BASKETS. Not the word used in the account of the similar miracle. See notes on Matthew 15:37; Matthew 16:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:9. Mark again omits ‘besides women and children.'... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:10. INTO THE REGIONS OF DALMANUTHA. Matthew: ‘Magadan' (E. V. ‘Magdala'). The two were probably near each other, north of Tiberias, and our Lord seems to have landed at some retired point between them. See Matt. on Mark 15:39. The theory that they were on the south-eastern shore of the lake i... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:11. AND THE PHARISEES. Matthew: ‘with the Sadducees.' But the former were the leaders. The skeptical Sadducees were entirely hypocritical in asking a sign from heaven. CAME FORTH. Spying hostility is implied. He had landed at some retired locality (see on Mark 8:10), where their opposition... [ Continue Reading ]
ON the whole section, see notes on Matthew 16:1-12.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:12. AND HE SIGHED DEEPLY IN HIS SPIRIT. This sigh, or groan, came from His heart, showing how keenly He felt the opposition He encountered. They showed more decided enmity, but the plain prediction of His death which so soon followed (Mark 8:31), shows that He knew the crisis was approaching.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:13. This presents more distinctly than the parallel in Matthew the immediate departure in the waiting boat TO THE OTHER SIDE. He returned to Galilee but once again, and then as quietly as possible (chap. Mark 9:30, etc.).... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:14. IN THE BOAT WITH THEM MORE THAN ONE LOAF. The conversation did not necessarily take place in the boat. When they landed (Matthew) they forgot to supply themselves with provisions for their land journey, although they had brought but one loaf with them in the boat. No stock of provisions w... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:15. THE LEAVEN OF HEROD. Matthew: ‘of the Sadducees.' Herod was not a professed Sadducee, but our Lord was warning against what all these had in common. On the alliance of the Pharisees and Herodians, see on chap. Mark 3:6. The one common characteristic of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodi... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:16. The sense of this verse is clear, but the form varies in the early authorities.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:17-20. The reproofs here given and the references to the miracles, are somewhat fuller than in the parallel passage; the answers of the disciples about the fragments are preserved, the distinction between the two kinds of baskets being kept up. Notice that the last clause of Mark 8:18 should... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:21. DO YE NOT YET UNDERSTAND, _i.e._, after these miracles. Mark stops with this brief question, because in writing for Gentile readers his main design was to show the condition of the Twelve, rather than to warn against Jewish notions.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:22. AND THEY COME TO BETHSAIDA. They had not landed there, but probably stopped there to procure provisions. Our Lord did not intend to remain there; He was seeking retirement, to prepare His disciples for the future. A BLIND MAN. Probably not born blind. See on Mark 8:24. TO TOUCH HIM, a... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS miracle, mentioned by Mark alone, is of peculiar interest, as exhibiting a _gradual_ cure. In this case as in the last miracle (chap. Mark 7:32-36), there was a suggestion from the people as to the mode of healing, a separation from the crowd, a different mode from that suggested, including the... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:23. BROUGHT HIM OUT OF THE TOWN. A more decided separation even, than in the last case (chap. Mark 7:33). The reason may have been the unbelief of the place, since the man was particularly commanded not to go back there (Mark 8:26). The application of saliva came first, then the laying on of... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:24. I SEE THE MEN; FOR I BEHOLD THEM AS TREES WALKING. The first exclamation is one of joyous surprise: ‘I see the men,' _i.e.,_ the men who were near, the disciples and perhaps the man's friends. But the cure was not complete, and, as he had been asked to tell what and how he saw, he adds: ‘... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:25. See foot-note to text. HE SAW CLEARLY (the work of that instant), AND WAS (thoroughly) RESTORED; AND HE (thenceforward) SAW ALL THINGS PLAINLY. The last clause represents a continued action. The common reading represents a second trial of vision at our Lord's command. ‘All things ‘is pref... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:26. TO HIS HOME. This was not in the village, but elsewhere. Our Lord forbids his return to the village. He was now seeking retirement and avoiding publicity, and there may have been some special reason why it should not be published there. The last clause is to be omitted, though found in ma... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:27. IN THE WAY. Luke (Luke 9:18), without naming the locality, tells that He had been ‘alone praying; ‘an important preparation for the important revelation which was to follow. This was not necessarily ‘in the way ‘from Bethsaida to Cesarea Philippi, but may have been during some journey whi... [ Continue Reading ]
SEE notes on Matthew 16:13-28. Mark omits the _blessing_ bestowed on Peter, and the subsequent _promise_, but inserts the _rebuke_. A significant fact, showing the humility of Peter. The reference to the institution of the Church as a separate communion, is also wanting. Hence the _Passion of Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:31. AFTER THREE DAYS. Matthew and Luke: ‘the third day.' The latter is the more definite expression for the same period.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:32. AND HE SPAKE THE SAYING OPENLY. Not necessarily _in public_, but rather without _concealment,_ explicitly, not indirectly. Peculiar to Mark.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:33. AND SEEING HIS DISCIPLES. This look, mentioned by Mark only, shows that Peter had not taken Him aside, but laid hold on Him to interrupt Him. Luke omits altogether the rebuke of Peter.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:34. CALLED UNTO HIM THE MULTITUDE. The crowd was never far off. What He would now say was of universal application. He would prepare the multitude to hear what He had just revealed to the Twelve, and test their willingness to follow Him to death. He thus showed His wisdom as a Teacher, in ada... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:35. AND THE GOSPEL'S. Peculiar to Mark. See the note on the same addition in chap. Mark 10:29. But ‘for my sake ‘remains the leading thought: for the sake of the gospel, because it tells of the personal Redeemer.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:36-37. These verses are emended in accordance with the best readings. life, same word as in Mark 8:35, comp. Matthew 16:25-26 _._ IN EXCHANGE, lit, ‘as a ransom price.' The price which the earthly minded gives for the world is his ‘life,' in the highest sense. But after having laid that dow... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 8:38. SHALL BE ASHAMED OF ME, AND MY WORDS. Disown me and reject my words. The two terms correspond with those in Mark 8:35: ‘for my sake and the gospel's.' There is a hint of the same thought in Matthew's account (Matthew 16:27), and something analogous is found in Matthew 10:33. IN THIS ADU... [ Continue Reading ]