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days, and have nothing to eat: 3 and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. 4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?

5 a And he asked a see ch. vi. 38.

them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. 6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7 And they had a few small fishes and he b blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. 8 So they did eat, and were filled and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9 And they [that had eaten] were about four thousand: and he sent them away, 10 and straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. 11 b And the Pharisees came forth, and b John vi. 30. began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say [unto you], There shall no sign be given unto this generation. 13 And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.

14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. 15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

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dren," Matthew, ver. 38. 10.] Matthew mentions Magadan, ver. 39. Dalmanutha was probably a village in the neighbourhood,-see note on Matthew, and "The Land and the Book," p. 393;-a striking instance of the independence of Mark: called by the Harmonists "an addition to St. Matthew's narrative, to shew his independent knowlege of the fact." What very anomalous writers the Evangelists must have been!

11-13.] REQUEST FOR A SIGN FROM HEAVEN. Matt. xvi. 1-4, who gives the account more at length: without however the graphic and affecting sighed deeply in His spirit, ver. 12.

11-21.] WARNING AGAINST THE

LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES AND OF
HEROD. Matt. xvi. 5-12. Our account is

comitted in several ancient authorities.

e render, they forgot.

fuller and more circumstantial,-relating
that they had but one loaf in the ship,
ver. 14; inserting the additional reproofs,
ver. 18, and the reference to the two mira-
cles of feeding more at length, vv. 19-21.
St. Mark however omits the conclusion in
Matthew, that they then understood that
He spake to them of the doctrine, &c.
Possibly this was a conclusion drawn in
the mind of the narrator, not altogether
identical with that to be drawn from our
account here for the leaven of Herod
could not be doctrine (and of the leaven
of Herod, ver. 15-Mark only), but must
be understood of the irreligious lives and
fawning worldly practices of the hangers-
on of the court of Herod.
14.] The
subject to the verb forgot is the disciples

e ch, vi. 52.

d ch. vi. 43.

e ver. 8.

fch. vi. 52. ver. 17.

g ch. vii. 33.

f

с

16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. 17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart [8 yet] hardened? 18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember, 19 d when I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments h took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. 20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. 21 And he said unto them, i How is it that ye do not understand?

h

22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. some ancient authorities read, because they had no bread. h render, ye took.

g omit.

1

i the reading probably is, Do ye not yet understand?
k read, they come.

1 read, for I see them walking as trees.

The leaven

unexpressed: see next verse.
of Herod here seems to answer to the
leaven of the Sadducees in Matthew. But
we must not infer from this that Herod
was a Sadducee. He certainly was a bad
and irreligious man, which would be quite
enough ground for such a caution. We
have a specimen of the morals of his court
in the history of John the Baptist's martyr-
dom. In the last not yet, ver. 21, Meyer
sees a new climax, and refers the not yet
to the moment even after the reminiscence
of vv. 18-20. It may doubtless be so,
and the idea would well accord with the
graphic precision of St. Mark.

22-26.] HEALING OF A BLIND MAN
AT BETHSAIDA. Peculiar to Mark. This
appears to have been Bethsaida Julias, on
the N.E. side of the lake. Compare ver.
13. See however against the idea that
there were two Bethsaidas, "The Land
and the Book," pp. 373, f.
23.] The
leading of this blind man out of the town
appears as if it had been from some local
reason. In ver. 26 we find him forbidden
expressly to enter into or tell it in the
town, and with a repetition of town, which
looks as if the place had been somehow
unworthy of such a work being done there.
(This is a serious objection against Meyer's

reason, that the use of spittle on both occasions occasioned the same privacy here and in ch. vii. 33.) Or we may perhaps find the reason in our Lord's immediate departure to such a distance (ver. 27); and say, that He did not wish multitudes to gather about and follow Him.

when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him. . . see above on ch. vii. 33. We cannot say what may have induced our Lord to perform this miracle at twice-certainly not the reason assigned by Dr. Burton, "that a blind man would not, on suddenly recovering his sight, know one object from another, because he had never seen them before," and so would require a double miracle;-a second to open the eyes of his mind also, to comprehend what he saw. This assumes the man to have been born blind, which he was not, from ver. 24; for how should he know how trees appeared? and besides, the case of the man born blind in John ix. required no such double healing. These things were in the Lord's power, and He ordered them as He pleased from present circumstances, or for our instruction.

24.]

I see men, for I see them walking as trees; i. e. not distinct in individual peculiarity, but as trees in the hedge-row flit

n every

25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and
m made him look up: and he was restored, and saw
man clearly. 26 And he sent him away to his house,
saying, Neither go into the town,
the town.

h

nor tell it to any in h Matt. viii. 4.

ch. v. 43.

xi. 27.

27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Cæsarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? 28 And they an answered, i John the Baptist: but some say, i Matt. xiv. 2. Elias; and others, One of the prophets. 29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. k John vi. 09: 30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. 31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan for thou 0° savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. 34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto m many MSS. read, he saw plainly.

render, all things: some MSS. have, all men. nn read, spake, saying unto him.

• read, asked.

00 i.e. thou hast no mind for, thou thinkest not. that rendered in the A. V. " set your affection on," in Col. iii. 2.

by the traveller. It is a minute mark of truth, that he describes the appearance of persons as he doubtless had often had occasion to do during the failing of sight which had ended in his blindness. By no possibility can the words convey three different stages of returning vision: "I see men. I see them standing still, and dimly, as trees. I see them walking." For thus the for is altogether passed over, and walking taken out of its place, and most unnaturally made into a sentence by itself.

25.] If the marginal reading were adopted, the meaning would be, He saw plainly (the work of that instant), and was thoroughly restored, and (thenceforward) saw all things clearly. But the text is in much uncertainty.

26.]

See above in this note, -and the various readings in my Greek Test. The neither and nor both carry a separate climax with them he was not even to go into the

It is the same word as

village, no, nor so much as tell it to any who dwelt in the village.

27-30.] CONFESSION OF PETER. Matt. xvi. 13-20. Luke ix. 18-21. With the exception of the introduction in Luke, which describes the Lord to have been alone

praying, and joined by his disciples,and the omission of the praise of and promise to Peter by both St. Mark and St. Luke, the three are in exact accordance. On this latter omission no stress must therefore be laid as to the character of Mark's Gospel, as has been done.

31-IX. 1.] ANNOUNCEMENT OF HIS

APPROACHING DEATH AND RESURRECTION. REBUKE OF PETER. Matt. xvi. 21-28. Luke ix. 22-27. St. Luke omits the rebuke of Peter. St. Mark adds, ver. 32, he spake that saying openly: and, in the rebuke of Peter, that the Lord said the words looking on his disciples. In vv. 34, 35, the agreement is close, except that

1 Matt. x. 38.

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them, i Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himm John xii. 25. self, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For m whosoever P will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, [ the same] shall save it. 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37 Or s what shall a man give in exchange for his

n Matt. x. 33.
o see Rom. i.
16. 2 Tim.i.
8: ii. 12.

soul? 38 n Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. IX. 1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of a Matt. xxiv. death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with

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2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves and he was transfigured before them. 3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding bwhite [a as snow]; so as no fuller on earth can white them. 4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses : P render, is minded to.

b Dan. vii. 9. Matt. xxviii.

3.

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q omit.

many ancient authorities have, doth it profit.

one ancient MS. has, what is an exchange for his life? and this is perhaps the true reading. Compare Matt. xvi. 26.

t render, life.

St. Luke adds daily after his cross, and St. Mark and the Gospel's after my sake, ver. 35 [it is perhaps worthy of remark that St. Mark writes follow me in ver. 34: possibly from the information of him, to whom it was said, "What is that to thee? Follow thou me," John xxi. 22]; and informs us in ver. 34, that our Lord said these words, having called the multitude with his disciples. This Meyer calls a contradiction to Matthew and Luke,-and thinks it arose from a misunderstanding of St. Luke's "he said to them all." Far rather should I say that our account represents every detail to the life, and that the "to them all" contains traces

of it. What wonder that a crowd should here, as every where else, have collected about Him and the disciples?

38.]

St. Mark and St. Luke here agree: and St. Matthew, ver. 27, bears traces of this verse, having apparently abridged it in transcribing his report, not to repeat what he had before said, in ch. x. 33. On adulterous, sce Matt. xii. 39, and observe the addition, in

a omitted in many ancient authorities.

this sinful and adulterous generation, as belonging to the precision and graphic character of our Evangelist's narrative.

CH. IX. 1.] See on Matthew. there be some of them that stand here] Remember, our Lord was speaking to the multitude with his disciples.

2-13.] THE TRANSFIGURATION. Matt. xvii. 1-13. Luke ix. 28-36. Here again, while St. Matthew and St. Mark's accounts seem to have one and the same source, they have deflected from it, and additional particulars have found their way into our text. St. Luke's account is from a different source. If we might conjecture, Peter has furnished the accounts in Matthew and Mark: -this latter being retouched,-perhaps by himself: while that of Luke may have had another origin. The additional particulars in our text are,-the very graphic and noble description in ver. 3, and the detail in ver. 6. St. Mark omits "in whom I am well pleased," Matthew, ver. 5. 3.] became is of itself a graphic touch, bring

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and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, b Master, it is good for us to be here and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 6 For he wist not what to say for they were sore afraid. 7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud, [ saying,] This is my beloved Son: hear him. 8 And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. 9 And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. 10 And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean. 11 And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that e Mal. iv. 5. Elias must first come? 12 And he [dd answered and] told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must d Ps. xxii. 6. suffer many things, and be set at nought. 13 But I say unto you, That 'Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him. 14 And when he came to his disciples, he saw

b render, Rabbi.

domitted in most of the ancient authorities.

a great

Isa. liii. 2,
&c. Dan. ix.

e Luke xxiii.

7.

11. Phil. ii. Matt. xi. 14.

Luke i. 17.

c read, answer.
dd omit.

e render, is it: placing a note of interrogation at the end of the verse.

ing out the glistening of each separate
portion of his clothing. 8. no man
any more] i. e. none of those who ap-
peared, but (nay, on the contrary') Jesus
alone. 9-11.] Two remarkable addi-
tions occur in our text;-ver. 10, which
indicates apostolic authority, and that of
one of the Three ;-and the last clause of
ver. 12.
what the rising from the
dead should mean does not refer to the
Resurrection generally, for it was an
article of Jewish belief, and connected with
the times of the Messiah; but to His
Resurrection as connected with his Death;
the whole was enigmatical to them.
12.] Meyer and others render, and how is
it written of the Son of Man? That he
must, &c., making this last clause the
answer to the question. But not to men-
tion that such a sentence would be without
example in our Lord's discourses, the sense
given by it is meagre in the extreme.
it stands in the text, it forms a counter-
question to that of the Apostles in ver. 11.
They asked Why say the scribes that

As

Elias must first come? Our Lord answers it by telling them that it is even so; and returns the question by another: And how is it (also) written of the Son of Man, that he, &c.? Then comes the conclusion in ver. 13 with But I say unto you, stating that Elias has come, and leaving it therefore to be inferred that the sufferings of the Son of Man were close at hand. Notice how the it is written of, twice occurring, binds both together. Just as the first coming of the Son of Man is to suffer and to die, so has the first coming of Elias been as it was written of him; but there is a future coming of Elias to restore all things, and of the Son of Man in glory. See further in notes on Matthew.

11-29.] HEALING OF A POSSESSED LUNATIC. Matt. xvii. 14-21. Luke ix. 37-42. The account of St. Mark is by far the most copious: and here, which is very rarely the case in the official life of our Lord, the three accounts appear to have been originally different and independent. The descent from the mountain was on the

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