Barnes' New Testament Notes
Explanatory and Practical

Part 21

By Albert Barnes

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verses 1- 6

See this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 13:54-58.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 7

And he called unto him the twelve - See the notes at Matthew 10:1.

And began to send them forth by two and two - In order that they might "support" and "encourage" each other in their work. Amid the trials and opposition with which they would meet, mutual counsel and aid would greatly lighten their burdens and alleviate their calamities. Mutual counsel might also contribute to their success, and lead to "united" plans to advance the kingdom of the Redeemer. Jesus here, as in all the work of religion, consulted at the same time the "happiness" and the "usefulness" of his disciples; nor are they ever separated. Whatever contributes to the "usefulness" of his people produces also their happiness; or, in other words, the secret of being happy is to be "useful."

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verses 8-11

See these verses fully explained in the notes at Matthew 10:9-15. In Matthew 10:5 they were commanded not to go among the Gentiles or Samaritans. Mark omits that direction, perhaps, because he was writing for the "Gentiles," and the direction might create unnecessary difficulty or offence. Perhaps he omits it also because the command was given for a temporary purpose, and was not in force at the time of his writing.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 12

Preached that men should repent - See the nature of repentance explained in notes at Matthew 3:2. They were now called upon to repent and reform their lives because sin was evil, because the Messiah had come to preach forgiveness to the penitent, and because at "his" presence it was fit that the nation should turn from its sins and prepare to receive him.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 13

Cast out many devils - See the notes at Matthew 4:24.

And anointed with oil … - Anointing with oil was in common use among the Jews in cases of sickness. It was supposed to have a mild, soothing, and alleviating effect on the body. In James 5:14, the elders of the church, in connection with prayer, were directed also to anoint the sick with "oil." See the notes at that passage. It was also used in wounds. See the notes at Isaiah 1:6. The good Samaritan poured oil and wine into the wounds of the waylaid Jew, Luke 10:34. Josephus says that, in the last sickness of Herod, his physicians commanded him to be anointed with oil. It need not be supposed, however, that the apostles used oil for mere "medical" purposes. It was used, probably, like the imposition of hands, or like our Saviour's anointing the eyes of the blind with clay; also as a sign, in expectation of imparting that aid and comfort from God which was sought, and which was "represented" by the soothing and gentle effect of oil.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verses 14-20

See this account of the death of John the Baptist fully explained in the notes at Matthew 14:1-12.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verses 20

For Herod feared John - That is, he stood in awe of him on account of his sanctity, and his boldness and fearlessness in reproving sin.

Knowing that he was a just man and an Holy - A holy, pious, upright, honest man - a man who would not be afraid of him, or afraid to speak his real sentiments.

And observed him - Margin, "kept him, or saved him." This does not mean that he "observed" or obeyed his teachings, but that he kept him in safe custody in order to preserve him from the machinations of Herodias. He was willing to show his respect for John, and to secure him from danger, and even to do "many things" which might indicate respect for him - at least, to do so much as to guard him from his enemies.

And did many things - But he did not do the thing which was demanded of him - to break off from his sins. He attempted to make a compromise with his conscience. He still loved his sins, and did "other" things which he supposed might be accepted in the place of putting away, as he ought, the wife of his brother - the polluted and adulterous woman with whom he lived. Perhaps he treated John kindly, or spoke well of him, or aided him in his wants, and attempted in this way to silence his rebukes and destroy his faithfulness. This was probably before John was imprisoned. So sinners often treat ministers kindly, and do much to make them comfortable, and hear them gladly, while they are still unwilling to do the thing which is demanded of them - to repent and believe the gospel. They expect that their kind attentions will be accepted in the place of what God demands - repentance and the forsaking of their sins.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 30

And the apostles gathered themselves together - That is, those whom he had sent out two and two, Mark 4:7. Having traveled around the country, they returned and met the Saviour at Capernaum.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 31

A desert place - A retired place, across the sea from Capernaum, where they would be free from interruption.

There were many coming and going - Coming to be healed and retiring, or coming to hear him preach. It means that they were "thronged," or that there was a vast multitude attending his preaching.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 32

See this narrative explained in the notes at Matthew 14:13-21.

By ship - By a boat or a small vessel.

Privately - Without making their plan known. They intended to go privately. It appears, however, that their intention became known, and multitudes followed them.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 33

Afoot thither - On foot to the place where they saw them going.

Out of all cities - All cities or large towns in the neighborhood.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 34

Much people … as sheep … - They had no one to teach them and guide them.

The priests and scribes were proud and corrupt; they despised the common people and neglected them.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 35

The time is far passed - The day is almost gone. It is drawing near night.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 37

Two hundred pennyworth of bread - About twenty-eight dollars, or 6 British pounds. See the notes at Matthew 14:16. As the disciples had a common purse in which they carried their little property, consisting of the donations of their friends and money to be given to the poor (compare John 12:6; Matthew 26:8-9;Luke 8:3), it is not improbable that they had at this time about this sum in their possession. Philip - for it was he who asked the question John 6:7 - asked, with a mixture of wonder and agitation, whether they should take all their little property and spend it on a single meal? And even if we should, said he, it would not be sufficient to satisfy such a multitude. It was implied in this that, in his view, they could not provide for them if they wished to, and that it would be better to send them away than to attempt it.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 40

In ranks - Literally, in the form of square beds in a garden. By regularly formed companies.

By hundreds and by fifties - Some companies had a hundred in them, and some groupings had fifty in them. We do not need to suppose that these were "exactly" formed or arranged, but that this was approximately the number. The expression indicates a "multitude." There were so many that they sat down, by "hundreds" and by "fifties," in separate companies, upon the green grass.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 43

Twelve baskets - Baskets belonging to the disciples, in which they carried their provisions, or, perhaps, belonging to some of the multitude.

Fragments - Broken pieces of the bread that remained.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 45-56

See this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 14:22-36.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 52

They considered not the miracle of the loaves - They did not remember or call to mind the "power" which Jesus had shown in feeding the five thousand by a miracle, and that, having done that, he had power also to save them from the storm.

Their heart was hardened - Their "mind" was dull to perceive it. This does not mean that they were "opposed" to Jesus, or that they had what we denominate "hardness of heart," but simply that they were slow to perceive his power. They did not quickly learn, as they ought to have done, that he had all power, and could therefore allay the storm. The word "heart" is frequently used in this sense. See Ephesians 1:18, in Greek; Romans 1:21; Romans 2:15; 2 Corinthians 4:6.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 54

They knew him - They "recollected" Jesus, because he had been there before and worked miracles.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 6 - Verse 56

The border of his garment - Compare the notes at Matthew 9:20.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 - Verses 1-23

See this passage explained in the notes at Mark 7:1.

Came from Jerusalem - Probably to observe his conduct, and to find matter of accusation against him.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 - Verses 2

Defiled hands - The hands were considered defiled or polluted unless they were washed previous to every meal.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 - Verses 3

Except they wash their hands oft - Our word "oft" means frequently, often. The Greek wore translated oft has been rendered various ways. Some have said that it means "up to the wrist" - unless they wash their hands up to the wrist. Others have said up to the elbow." There is evidence that the Pharisees had some such foolish rule as this about washing, and it is likely that they practiced it faithfully. But the Greek Word p??µ?´ pugme¯- means properly the "fist," and the meaning here is, "Unless they wash their hands (rubbing them) with the fist" - that is, not merely dipping the finger or hands in water as a sign of ablution, but rubbing the hands together as a ball or fist, in the usual Oriental manner when water is poured over them. Hence, the phrase comes to mean "diligently, carefully, sedulously." - Robinson, Lexicon. The idea is, unless they pay the utmost attention to it, and do it carefully and according to rule.

The tradition - What had been handed down; not what was delivered "by writing" in the law of Moses, but what had been communicated from father to son as being proper and binding.

The elders - The ancients; not the old men "then living," but those who had lived formerly.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 4

Market - This word means either the place where provisions were sold, or the place where men were convened for any purpose. Here it probably means the former.

Except they wash - In the original, "Except they baptize." In this place it does not mean to immerse the whole body, but only the hands. There is no evidence that the Jews washed their "whole bodies" every time they came from market. It is probable that they often washed with the use of a very small quantity of water.

The washing of cups - In the Greek, "the baptism of cups."

Cups - drinking vessels. Those used at their meals.

Pots - Measures of "liquids." Vessels made of wood, used to hold wine, vinegar, etc.

Brazen vessels - Vessels made of brass, used in cooking or otherwise. These, if much polluted, were commonly passed through the fire: if slightly polluted they were washed. Earthen vessels, if defiled, were usually broken.

Tables - This word means, in the original, "beds or couches." It refers not to the "tables" on which they ate, but to the "couches" on which they reclined at their meals. See the notes at Matthew 23:6. These were supposed to be defiled when any unclean or polluted person had reclined on them, and they deemed it necessary to purify them with water. The word "baptism" is here used - in the original, "the baptism of tables;" but, since it cannot be supposed that "couches" were entirely "immersed" in water, the word "baptism" here must denote some other application of water, by sprinkling or otherwise, and shows that the term is used in the sense of washing in any way. If the word is used here, as is clear it is, to denote anything except entire immersion, it may be elsewhere, and baptism is lawfully performed, therefore, without immersing the whole body in water.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 7

For doctrines - For commands of God binding on the conscience. Imposing "your" traditions as equal in authority to the laws of God.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 8

Laying aside - Rejecting, or making, it give place to traditions; considering the traditions as superior in authority to the divine law. This was the uniform doctrine of the Pharisees. See the notes at Matthew 15:1-9.

The tradition of men - What has been handed down by human beings, or what rests solely on their authority.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 9

Full well - These words are capable of different interpretations. Some read them as a question: "Do ye do well in rejecting?" etc. Others suppose they mean "skillfully, cunningly." "You show great cunning or art, in laying aside God's commands and substituting in their place those of men." Others suppose them to be ironical. "How nobly you act! From conscientious attachment to your traditions you have made void the law of God;" meaning to intimate by it that they had acted wickedly and basely.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 17

The parable - The "obscure" and difficult remarks which he had made in Mark 7:15. The word "parable," here, means "obscure" and "difficult saying." They could not understand it. They had probably imbibed many of the popular notions of the Pharisees, and they could not understand why a man was not defiled by external things. It was, moreover, a doctrine of the law that men were ceremonially polluted by contact with dead bodies, etc., and they could not understand how it could be otherwise.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 18

Cannot defile him - Cannot render his "soul" polluted; cannot make him a "sinner" so as to need this purifying as a "religious" observance.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 19

Entereth not into his heart - Does not reach or affect the "mind," the "soul," and consequently cannot pollute it. Even if it should affect the "body," yet it cannot the "soul," and consequently cannot need to be cleansed by a religious ordinance. The notions of the Pharisees, therefore, are not founded in reason, but are mere "superstition."

The draught - The sink, the vault. "Purging all meats." The word "purging," here, means to purify, to cleanse. What is thrown out of the body is the innutritious part of the food taken into the stomach, and leaving only that which is proper for the support of life; and it cannot, therefore, defile the soul.

All meals - All food; all that is taken into the body to support life. The meaning is, that the economy or process by which life is supported "purifies" or "renders nutritious" all kinds of food. The unwholesome or innutritious parts are separated, and the wholesome only are taken into the system. This agrees with all that has since been discovered of the process of digestion and of the support of life. The food taken into the stomach is by the gastric juice converted into a thick pulp called chyme. The nutritious part of this is conveyed into small vessels, and changed into a milky substance called "chyle." This is poured by the thoracic duct into the left subclavian vein and mingles with the blood, and conveys nutriment and support to all parts of the system. The useless parts of the food are thrown off.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 20

Hat which cometh out of the man - His words; the expression of his thoughts and feelings; his conduct, as the development of inward malice, anger, covetousness, lust, etc.

Defileth the man - Makes him really polluted or offensive in the sight of God. This renders the soul corrupt and abominable in his sight. See Matthew 15:18-20.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verses 24-30

See this miracle explained in the notes at Matthew 15:21-28.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 24

Would have no man know it - To avoid the designs of the Pharisees he wished to be retired.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 26

A Greek - The Jews called all persons "Greeks" who were not of their nation. Compare Romans 1:14. The whole world was considered as divided into Jews and Greeks. Though she might not have been strictly a "Greek," yet she came under this general appellation as a foreigner.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 31

Departing from the coasts - The country or regions of Tyre.

Came unto the sea of Galilee - The Sea of Tiberias. See the notes at Matthew 4:18.

Decapolis - See the notes at Matthew 4:25. He did not go immediately into Capernaum, or any city where he was known, but into the retired regions around the Sea of Galilee. This was done to avoid the designs of the Pharisees, who sought his life.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 32

They bring - That is, his friends brought, or the people brought.

One that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech - Not entirely mute, but who spoke indistinctly or with difficulty. His deafness might not have been of long standing, and his speech, therefore, not entirely ruined.

To put his hand upon him - That is, to cure him. Blessings were commonly imparted by laying on the hands.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 33

And he took him aside from the multitude - Why this was done we have no means of information. It might have been to conceal from the multitude everything respecting the "manner" of cure, in order that none might attempt to cure in a similar way.

And he put his fingers into his ears … - Why this was done it has been found exceedingly difficult to explain. Jesus had power at once to open his ears and loose his tongue, but for some cause he chose to accompany it with a sign. This was intended, probably, simply to denote that the power of healing came from him; to satisfy the man by the touch that he had this power, and that it could come from no other quarter. Our Saviour often used signs in this way to denote his power to heal. See Mark 8:23; John 9:6.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 34

Looked up to heaven - To lift up the eyes to heaven is an act imploring aid from God, and is an attitude of prayer, Psalm 121:1-2; Mark 6:41; John 11:41.

He sighed - Pitying the sufferings of the man who stood before him.

Ephphatha - This word is "Syriac," the language which our Lord used in addressing the man, and means "Be opened."

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 35

The string of his tongue was loosed - The difficulty in his speaking was removed.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 36

Tell no man - Do not noise it abroad. He was not ambitious of being known, and he knew that if much was said of his cures, it would excite the jealousy of the Pharisees and endanger his life.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK - Chapter 7 — Verse 37

Beyond measure - Exceedingly; very much. In the Greek, "Very abundantly."

Hope hath done all things well - All things in a remarkable manner; or, he has perfectly effected the cure of this deaf-mute.