Mark 8

In those days another large crowd gathered, and they had nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples over and said to them,

1In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them,

2"I feel deep pity for this crowd. They have already been with me three days, and they have nothing to eat.

2I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat:

3If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way. Some of them have come from far away."

3And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.

4His disciples answered him, "Out here in this empty country, where could anyone get enough bread to feed all these people?"

4And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?

Note"Wilderness" in the King James means uninhabited open country, scrub and grazing land, not forest. The point is that there are no villages nearby where food could be bought.

5He asked them, "How many loaves of bread do you have?" They said, "Seven."

5And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

6He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks to God, broke them apart, and handed the pieces to his disciples to serve. They set them before the people.

6And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people.

NoteAt a Jewish meal the head of the table took the bread, said a short blessing to God over it, broke it, and passed the pieces around. The gesture described here is ordinary household practice.

7They also had a few small fish. Jesus gave thanks for them and told the disciples to hand those out as well.

7And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.

8So the people ate and had all they wanted. Afterward the disciples picked up the leftover pieces, and they filled seven baskets.

8So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.

Note"Broken meat" is not flesh. In 1611 "meat" meant food of any kind, so the phrase means the broken pieces of food left over.

9About four thousand people had eaten. Then Jesus sent them away.

9And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

10Right away he got into a boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

10And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.

NoteNo place called Dalmanutha is known from any other ancient source, and its location is uncertain. Some early copies of Mark read "Magadan" or "Magdala" here instead.

11The Pharisees came out and began to argue with him. They wanted him to show them a sign from heaven, and they asked in order to test him.

11And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

NoteThe Pharisees were a movement known for strict observance of the law of Moses and the body of traditional interpretation that had grown up around it; they were widely respected teachers among ordinary people. A "sign from heaven" meant something done in the sky by God directly, of the order of fire falling or manna appearing, which no one could explain away. The King James "tempting him" does not mean luring him into sin: in 1611 "tempt" meant to put to the test.

12He sighed deeply and said, "Why do the people of this time keep demanding a sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to this generation."

12And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.

Note"There shall no sign be given" translates a Hebrew oath formula that runs literally "if a sign shall be given to this generation," with the self-curse left unspoken. Cut off that way, it is the strongest possible form of refusal.

13He left them, got back into the boat, and crossed to the other side of the lake.

13And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.

14The disciples had forgotten to bring bread. They had only one loaf with them in the boat.

14Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.

15He warned them, "Watch out! Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod."

15And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

NoteLeaven is not packet yeast but a lump of fermented dough saved from the last batch and worked into the new one; a small piece changes the whole mass, which made it a stock image for something that spreads unseen. "Herod" here is Herod Antipas, who governed Galilee for Rome and had ordered John the Baptist's execution.

16They talked it over among themselves and said, "He says this because we have no bread."

16And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.

17Jesus knew what they were saying and asked them, "Why are you arguing about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts still hard?

17And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?

NoteIn biblical usage the "heart" is the thinking, deciding self, not the emotions. A hardened heart is a mind that will not take something in, not a person without feelings.

18You have eyes (don't you see? You have ears) don't you hear? And don't you remember?

18Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?

NoteThe wording quotes the prophets: Jeremiah 5:21 and Ezekiel 12:2 both describe people who have eyes and ears and still fail to grasp what is in front of them.

19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets of leftover pieces did you pick up?" They said, "Twelve."

19When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.

NoteGreek uses two different words for basket in these two verses. The twelve baskets are kophinoi, stiff wicker containers of the sort a traveler carried his own provisions in. The seven in the next verse are spyrides, large hampers, big enough to hold a man: Paul was let down a city wall in one (Acts 9:25).

20"And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets of leftover pieces did you pick up?" They said, "Seven."

20And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.

21Then he said to them, "How is it that you still do not understand?"

21And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

22They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch the man.

22And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.

NoteBethsaida was a fishing village on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, near the point where the Jordan flows in.

23Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. He spit on the man's eyes, put his hands on him, and asked him whether he could see anything.

23And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.

NoteSaliva was widely believed in the ancient world to have healing properties, and healers of the period are recorded using it. Mark reports the gesture without explaining it.

24The man looked up and said, "I see people, but they look like trees walking around."

24And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

25Then Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes again and had him look up. His sight was restored, and he saw everyone clearly.

25After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

26Jesus sent him home and said, "Do not go into the village, and do not tell anyone there about this."

26And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

NoteThe manuscripts differ at this point. Some ancient copies read only "Do not go into the village"; the longer wording the King James follows, adding "nor tell it to any in the town," is absent from the earliest ones.

27Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say that I am?"

27And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?

NoteCaesarea Philippi lay about twenty-five miles north of the Sea of Galilee at the foot of Mount Hermon. Herod Philip rebuilt it and named it for the Roman emperor and for himself. Its population was largely non-Jewish, so this is the far edge of familiar territory.

28They answered, "Some say John the Baptist. Some say Elijah. Others say you are one of the prophets."

28And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

Note"Elias" is simply the Greek form of the name Elijah. Elijah was the prophet taken up to heaven without dying (2 Kings 2), and Malachi 4:5 promised he would return before the day of the LORD, so people of this period watched for him.

29He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ."

29And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

Note"Christ" is a title, not a surname. Greek christos translates Hebrew mashiach, "anointed one": kings were anointed with oil when they took the throne, and by this period many Jews expected an anointed king descended from David who would free Israel.

30Then he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.

30And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

31He began to teach them that the Son of Man had to suffer many things. He would be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes. He would be killed, and after three days he would rise again.

31And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Note"Son of man" is a Semitic phrase that can mean simply "a human being," but it also recalls Daniel 7:13, where "one like a son of man" is brought before God and given lasting authority. Jesus uses it of himself throughout Mark. The elders, chief priests and scribes are the three groups that made up the Sanhedrin, the ruling council in Jerusalem; scribes were the trained experts in the written law.

32He said all this plainly and out in the open. Peter took him aside and began to tell him he was wrong.

32And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

Note"Openly" translates a Greek word meaning plainly and without holding back, the opposite of speaking in riddles or parables. The point is the manner of the speech, not that a crowd was present.

33But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and corrected Peter sharply. He said, "Get behind me, Satan! Your mind is set on what people want, not on what God wants."

33But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

Note"Satan" is a Hebrew word meaning adversary or opponent. "Thou savourest not" uses an old sense of "savour": to have a taste for something, and so to have your mind set on it.

34Then he called the crowd to him, along with his disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wants to come after me, he must say no to himself, pick up his cross, and follow me.

34And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

NoteA person condemned to crucifixion carried the crossbeam himself through the streets to the place of execution. Rome used the penalty on rebels and slaves, and the sight was familiar in Judea, so the image is of someone already sentenced walking out to die.

35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the good news will save it.

35For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

NoteThe same Greek word, psyche, lies behind "life" here and "soul" in the next two verses. It means the self, the living person, and the sentence turns on both senses at once: saving your skin, and saving yourself.

36What good does it do a person to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

36For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

37Or what could a person give in trade to buy his soul back?

37Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

NoteThe language is commercial: a price paid to buy something back out of another's possession. Psalm 49:7-8 uses the same idea, that no payment is large enough to redeem a life.

38If anyone is ashamed of me and of my words among the people of this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

38Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Note"Adulterous" is figurative. The prophets regularly described Israel's unfaithfulness to God as adultery, a marriage broken by one partner, and the word carries that sense here rather than referring to sexual conduct in general.