Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 4:1

"And again he began to teach by the sea side. And there is gathered unto him a very great multitude, so that he entered into a boat, and sat in the sea; and all the multitude were by the sea on the land." — Mark 4:1 (ASV)

Jesus was teaching by the Lake of Galilee. The presence of the large crowd shows his popularity as a teacher. In fact, the crowd was so large that he found it convenient to use a small boat (cf. 3:9) pushed out from the shore as his lectern (actually he sat while teaching). What is contained in 4:1–34 is only part of Jesus’ teaching in parables (v.2).