Charles Ellicott Commentary Mark 8
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Mark 8
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Mark 8
"and if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way; and some of them are come from far." — Mark 8:3 (ASV)
For divers of them.—Better, and some of them are (or, have come) from afar. The words are given as spoken by our Lord, and are in the perfect tense.
"And his disciples answered him, Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place?" — Mark 8:4 (ASV)
Satisfy.—The verb is the same as the “filled” of Mark 7:27.
Here in the wilderness.—The word here, as in Matthew 15:33, is not the one usually employed, and is abstract, not concrete, in its form, suggesting the idea, i.e., of “loneliness,” and through that, of a lonely place. It is used in a like sense in 2 Corinthians 11:26; Hebrews 11:38. Like many other abstract words, it seems to have tended to a concrete meaning; but there is always an appreciable shade of difference.
"And he commandeth the multitude to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he brake, and gave to his disciples, to set before them; and they set them before the multitude." — Mark 8:6 (ASV)
To sit down.—The Greek word implies the usual Eastern position of reclining, rather than our sitting.
"And they ate, and were filled: and they took up, of broken pieces that remained over, seven baskets." — Mark 8:8 (ASV)
Broken meat.—Better, fragments.
Seven baskets.—See Note on Matthew 15:37.
"And straightway he entered into the boat with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha." — Mark 8:10 (ASV)
He entered into a ship.—A better rendering is the ship, or boat.
Dalmanutha.—Saint Mark’s use of the word, instead of the Magdala or “Magada” of Saint Matthew, may be noted as an instance of his independence. It is mentioned by no other writer. On its probable site, see Note on Matthew 15:39.
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