Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 4:2

"And he taught them many things in parables, and said unto them in his teaching," — Mark 4:2 (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).