Mark 6

Mark 6:4

Besought him much, etc. In other words, “Do not send us back to the place of perdition from whence we came”. They confess the power of Christ.

Mark 6:5

Nigh unto the mountains. At Gersa the mountain rises near the sea. A great herd of swine. Either the property of Gentiles, or of Jews who disobeyed the law of Moses for gain.

Mark 6:7

A steep place. The declivity at the base of the mountain at Gersa is almost perpendicular.

Mark 6:11

They began to pray him to depart. Christ does not stay where he is not wanted. He never visited the country of the Gadarenes again.

Mark 6:14

Decapolis. A district so called from its ten cities, of which Gadara was one. The first preacher of Christ there was one who could testify of his power.

Mark 6:15

When Jesus was passed . . . to the other side. Sailed back across the sea to Capernaum.

Mark 6:16

One of the rulers of the synagogue. The office of ruler in the synagogue was somewhat similar to that of elder in a Christian congregation.

Mark 6:17

At the point of death. In Mr 5:35 the word comes to the ruler that his daughter is dead. Matthew in his account condenses the two reports and says, “My daughter is even now dead” (Matthew 9:18).

Mark 6:19

And a certain woman. For notes on this miracle, see Matthew 9:20-22. Compare Lu 8:41-56. An issue of blood. A hemorrhage of the womb or bowels.

Mark 6:20

Suffered many things of many physicians. The medical art in Judea in that age was in a very crude condition. Lightfoot gives, from the Rabbinical books, the remedy for a female hemorrhage: ``Let them dig seven ditches, in which let them burn some cuttings of vines under four years old. Let her take in her hand a cup of wine; let them lead her away from this ditch and make her sit over that. Let them remove her from that and sit her over another. At each removal you must say to her, “Arise for thy flux”.’’ This is an illustration of what this woman suffered.

Mark 6:24

Knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him. Christ, conscious of the approach and condition of this woman, voluntarily healed her. His language that follows is to bring out the moral issue. He cured her, not by touch or word, as was usual with him, but by act of will. By his question he called out her public confession. Faith saves. It may not be intelligent faith, for this woman was not well instructed, but is a faith strong enough to lead to action.

Mark 6:29

While he yet spake, etc. For notes on this example of Christ’s power over death, see Matthew 9:18-19 23:26. Compare Lu 8:41-42 49-56.

Mark 6:31

Permitted no man to follow him. Into the house of the ruler. The mourners were excluded and only the parents and three apostles, the same three that saw him transfigured, and in the agony of Gethsemane, were allowed to enter. Matthew omits this fact.

Mark 6:32

Them that wept and wailed greatly. At a Jewish funeral were professional mourners called by Matthew “minstrels” (Matthew 9:23). It is still the funeral fashion in the East.

Mark 6:35

Talitha cumi. Words from Aramaic, the common language of the people of Palestine in that age, meaning, “Damsel, arise”.

Mark 6:36

Straightway. The restoration was immediate.

Mark 6:37

That no man should know it. That is, that it should not be published abroad. It was often needful for Jesus to restrain the fame of his miracles for various reasons, one of which was the wrath they excited in the Jewish authorities. It was needful for him to delay exciting them to the point of putting him to death till his time had come. There are three cases, besides his own resurrection, of Christ raising the dead. (1) This case is immediately after death; (2) another, that of the son of the widow of Nain, at least 24 hours after death (Lu 7:11-15); (3) the third, that of Lazarus, several days after death, when corruption would naturally have begun (John 11:41-46): in one case privately; in the second, publicly; in the third, before bitter enemies.

Mark 6:39

The First Commission SUMMARY OF MARK 6: Christ in Nazareth. Teaching in the Synagogue. Rejected by the Nazrenes. The Twelve Sent Forth to Preach. Their Preaching and Work. King Herod’s Opinion of Jesus. Account of the Death of John the Baptist. Feeding the Five Thousand in the Desert Place. Praying in the Mountain Alone. The Disciples in the Storm. Christ Cometh and Saves. Healing. Went out from thence. From Capernaum. Came into his own country. Nazareth, where he had been brought up.

Mark 6:40

When the sabbath day was come. For notes on his reception at Nazareth, see Matthew 13:53-58. This was the second time he was rejected here (Lu 4:14-29).

Mark 6:41

Is not this the carpenter? Matthew reads “The carpenter’s son” (Matthew 13:55). This shows that Jesus also had worked at the trade. It was the custom for every Jew to be taught some trade by his parents.

Mark 6:43

He could there do no mighty work. Matthew states the reason: “Because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). It was not from want of power, but of the conditions that he required. Those in need of help must either have faith enough to seek his help, or their friends must have faith. As faith is the condition of the salvation of the soul, so Christ required it as a condition of the salvation of the body from disease or death.

Mark 6:44

He marvelled because of their unbelief. See PNT Matthew 8:10. Went round about the villages. See PNT Matthew 9:35.

Mark 6:45

He called [unto him] the twelve. For the commission of the twelve see notes on Matthew 10:1-42, and compare Lu 9:1-6. Matthew’s account is much the fullest.

Mark 6:46

Save a staff only. Only the staff that each had already. Matthew forbids a supply for future use (Matthew 10:9-11).

Mark 6:47

[Be] shod with sandals. Matthew forbids shoes (Matthew 10:10), instead of which they were to wear sandals. The ancient shoe resembled the modern; the sandal was a sole tied on the foot. The latter was usually worn by the common people and they were to dress like them.

Mark 6:51

Anointed with oil. Matthew says nothing of this. Oil was a symbol of the Divine grace; to anoint with it, of the Holy Spirit. Its use implied that God was the healer.

Mark 6:52

And king Herod heard [of him]. For Herod’s opinion of Christ and the death of John the Baptist, see notes on Matthew 14:1-12. Compare Lu 9:7-9.

Mark 6:55

For the Herodias’ sake. This states why John was cast into prison, on account of the instigation of the adulterous woman, a fact omitted by Matthew.