Mark 6:30-56 - The Sympathy And Compassion Of Jesus
When the Apostles returned they had much to tell. Some were flushed with success, others radiant with victory over demons, others, perhaps, overstrained and weary, and all needing the quiet, holy influence of repose and silence in the Lord's company. And in those quiet hours or days, as the fever passed out of them, He taught them memorable lessons of how He would feed the world by His Church, and how His people would be safe amid the storms that swept the sea, for always he would watch them from the height, and come to them at the moment when His help was most needed. Christ sits as host at the great table of the Church, and the meager resources of His servants yield the starting point for His multiplication of bread. He bids us go and consider how little we have, that we may properly estimate the greatness of His help. Notice how the upward look precedes the breaking and giving. There is enough for each, not of bread alone, but of fish; and the disciples are refreshed by another kind of ministry. So the Lord recreates us by turning exhausted energies into new channels. What threatens to overpower us brings Christ to our side. But His footsteps must be arrested, if we would have His company. Where Jesus is, storms cease and the sick are made whole. [source]
Chapter Summary: Mark 6
1Jesus is a prophet without honor in his own country 7He gives the twelve power over unclean spirits 14Various opinions of Jesus 16John the Baptist is imprisoned, beheaded, and buried 30The apostles return from preaching 34The miracle of five loaves and two fishes 45Jesus walks on the sea; 53and heals all who touch him
Greek Commentary for Mark 6:39
By companies [συμποσια συμποσια] Distribution expressed by repetition as in Mark 6:7 (δυο δυο duo duo) instead of using ανα ana or κατα kata Literally our word symposium and originally a drinking party, Latin convivium, then the party of guests of any kind without the notion of drinking. So in Plutarch and the lxx (especially I Macca.). [source]
Upon the green grass [επι τωι χλωρωι χορτωι] Another Markan touch. It was passover time (John 6:4) and the afternoon sun shone upon the orderly groups upon the green spring grass. See note on Matthew 14:15. They may have been seated like companies at tables, open at one end. [source]
By companies [συμπόσια συμπόσια] Peculiar to Mark. The Jewish dining-room was arranged like the Roman: three tables forming three sides of a square, and with divans or couches following the outside line of the tables. The open end of the square admitted the servants who waited at table. This explains the arrangement of the multitude here described by Mark. The people sat down, literally, in table-companies, arranged like guests at table; some companies of a hundred and some of fifty, in squares or oblongs open at one end, so that the disciples could pass along the inside and distribute the loaves [source]
Matthew 15:35On the ground [ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν] Compare Mark 8:6. On the occasion of feeding the five thousand, the multitude sat down on the grass ( ἐπὶ τοὺς χότρους ) Matthew 14:19. It was then the month of flowers. Compare Mark 6:39, the green grass, and John 6:10, much grass. On the present occasion, several weeks later, the grass would be burnt up, so that they would sit on the ground. [source]
Matthew 5:6They that hunger and thirst after righteousness [οι πεινωντες και διπσωντες την δικαιοσυνην] Here Jesus turns one of the elemental human instincts to spiritual use. There is in all men hunger for food, for love, for God. It is passionate hunger and thirst for goodness, for holiness. The word for “filled” (χορταστησονται chortasthēsontai) means to feed or to fatten cattle from the word for fodder or grass like Mark 6:39 “green grass” (χορτος χλωρος chortos chlōros). [source]
Mark 6:40They sat down in ranks [ανεπεσαν πρασιαι πρασιαι] They half-way reclined Fell up here (we have to say fell down), the word ανεπεσαν anepesan means. But they were arranged in groups by hundreds and by fifties and they looked like garden beds with their many-coloured clothes which even men wore in the Orient. Then again Mark repeats the word, πρασιαι πρασιαι prasiai prasiai in the nominative absolute as in Mark 6:39 instead of using ανα ana or κατα kata with the accusative for the idea of distribution. Garden beds, garden beds. Peter saw and he never forgot the picture and so Mark caught it. There was colour as well as order in the grouping. There were orderly walks between the rows on rows of men reclining on the green grass. The grass is not green in Palestine much of the year, mainly at the passover time. So here the Synoptic Gospels have an indication of more than a one-year ministry of Jesus (Gould). It is still one year before the last passover when Jesus was crucified. [source]
Luke 9:14In a company [κλισίας] The plural, in companies. Lit., table-companies. The word is also used in classical Greek of a couch for reclining at table. Only here in New Testament. See on Mark 6:39. [source]
John 2:8Ruler of the feast [ἀρχιτρικλίνῳ] From ἄρχω , to be chief, and τρίκλινον , Latin, triclinium, a banqueting-hall with three couches (see on Mark 6:39). Some explain the word as meaning the superintendent of the banqueting-chamber, a servant whose duty it was to arrange the table-furniture and the courses, and to taste the food beforehand. Others as meaning one of the guests selected to preside at the banquet according to the Greek and Roman usage. This latter view seems to be supported by a passage in Ecclesiasticus (35:1,2): “If thou be made the master of a feast, lift not thyself up, but be among them as one of the rest; take diligent care for them, and so sit down. And when thou hast done all thy office, take thy place, that thou mayst be merry with them, and receive a crown for thy well ordering of the feast.” According to the Greek and Roman custom, the ruler of the feast was chosen by throwing the dice. Thus Horace, in his ode to his friend Sestius, says, moralizing on the brevity of life: “Soon the home of Pluto will be thine, nor wilt thou cast lots with the dice for the presidency over the wine.” He prescribed the proportions of wine and water, and could also impose fines for failures to guess riddles, etc. As the success of the feast depended largely upon him, his selection was a matter of some delicacy. Plato says, “Must we not appoint a sober man and a wise to be our master of the revels? For if the ruler of drinkers be himself young and drunken, and not over-wise, only by some special good fortune will he be saved from doing some great evil” (“Laws,” 640). The word occurs only here and John 2:9. Wyc. simply transcribes: architriclyn f0. [source]
John 6:10Sit down [αναπεσειν] Literally, “fall back,” lie down, recline. Second aorist active infinitive of αναπιπτω anapiptō Much grass Old word for pasture, green grass (Mark 6:39) or hay (1 Corinthians 3:12). It was spring (John 6:4) and plenty of green grass on the hillside. The men Word for men as distinct from women, expressly stated in Matthew 14:21. In number Adverbial accusative (of general reference). About General estimate, though they were arranged in orderly groups by hundreds and fifties, “in ranks” like “garden beds” (πρασιαι prasiai Mark 6:40). [source]
James 1:10As the flower of the grass [ως αντος χορτου] From the lxx (Isa 40:6). Χορτος Chortos means pasture, then grass (Mark 6:39) or fodder. Αντος Anthos is old word, in N.T. only here, James 1:11; 1 Peter 1:24 (same quotation). This warning is here applied to “the rich brother,” but it is true of all.He shall pass away (παρελευσεται pareleusetai). Future middle indicative (effective aoristic future, shall pass completely away from earth). [source]
Revelation 6:8Pale [χλωρὸς] Only in Revelation, except Mark 6:39. Properly, greenish-yellow, like young grass or unripe wheat. Homer applies it to honey, and Sophocles to the sand. Generally, pale, pallid. Used of a mist, of sea-water, of a pale or bilious complexion. Thucydides uses it of the appearance of persons stricken with the plague (ii., 49). In Homer it is used of the paleness of the face from fear, and so as directly descriptive of fear (“Iliad,” x., 376; xv., 4). Of olive wood (“Odyssey,” ix., 320,379) of which the bark is gray. Gladstone says that in Homer it indicates rather the absence than the presence of definite color. In the New Testament, always rendered green, except here. See Mark 6:39; Revelation 8:7; Revelation 9:14. [source]
Revelation 6:8A pale horse [ιππος χλωρος] Old adjective. Contracted from χλοερος chloeros (from χλοη chloē tender green grass) used of green grass (Mark 6:39; Revelation 8:7; Revelation 9:4), here for yellowish, common in both senses in old Greek, though here only in N.T. in this sense, greenish yellow. We speak of a sorrel horse, never of a green horse. Zechariah (Zechariah 6:3) uses ποικιλος poikilos (grizzled or variegated). Homer used χλωρος chlōros of the ashen colour of a face blanched by fear (pallid) and so the pale horse is a symbol of death and of terror. [source]
What do the individual words in Mark 6:39 mean?
AndHe commandedthemto make reclineallgroups[by] groupsonthegreengrass
Greek Commentary for Mark 6:39
Distribution expressed by repetition as in Mark 6:7 (δυο δυο duo duo) instead of using ανα ana or κατα kata Literally our word symposium and originally a drinking party, Latin convivium, then the party of guests of any kind without the notion of drinking. So in Plutarch and the lxx (especially I Macca.). [source]
Another Markan touch. It was passover time (John 6:4) and the afternoon sun shone upon the orderly groups upon the green spring grass. See note on Matthew 14:15. They may have been seated like companies at tables, open at one end. [source]
Peculiar to Mark. The Jewish dining-room was arranged like the Roman: three tables forming three sides of a square, and with divans or couches following the outside line of the tables. The open end of the square admitted the servants who waited at table. This explains the arrangement of the multitude here described by Mark. The people sat down, literally, in table-companies, arranged like guests at table; some companies of a hundred and some of fifty, in squares or oblongs open at one end, so that the disciples could pass along the inside and distribute the loaves [source]
Mark only. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 6:39
Compare Mark 8:6. On the occasion of feeding the five thousand, the multitude sat down on the grass ( ἐπὶ τοὺς χότρους ) Matthew 14:19. It was then the month of flowers. Compare Mark 6:39, the green grass, and John 6:10, much grass. On the present occasion, several weeks later, the grass would be burnt up, so that they would sit on the ground. [source]
Here Jesus turns one of the elemental human instincts to spiritual use. There is in all men hunger for food, for love, for God. It is passionate hunger and thirst for goodness, for holiness. The word for “filled” (χορταστησονται chortasthēsontai) means to feed or to fatten cattle from the word for fodder or grass like Mark 6:39 “green grass” (χορτος χλωρος chortos chlōros). [source]
They half-way reclined Fell up here (we have to say fell down), the word ανεπεσαν anepesan means. But they were arranged in groups by hundreds and by fifties and they looked like garden beds with their many-coloured clothes which even men wore in the Orient. Then again Mark repeats the word, πρασιαι πρασιαι prasiai prasiai in the nominative absolute as in Mark 6:39 instead of using ανα ana or κατα kata with the accusative for the idea of distribution. Garden beds, garden beds. Peter saw and he never forgot the picture and so Mark caught it. There was colour as well as order in the grouping. There were orderly walks between the rows on rows of men reclining on the green grass. The grass is not green in Palestine much of the year, mainly at the passover time. So here the Synoptic Gospels have an indication of more than a one-year ministry of Jesus (Gould). It is still one year before the last passover when Jesus was crucified. [source]
The plural, in companies. Lit., table-companies. The word is also used in classical Greek of a couch for reclining at table. Only here in New Testament. See on Mark 6:39. [source]
From ἄρχω , to be chief, and τρίκλινον , Latin, triclinium, a banqueting-hall with three couches (see on Mark 6:39). Some explain the word as meaning the superintendent of the banqueting-chamber, a servant whose duty it was to arrange the table-furniture and the courses, and to taste the food beforehand. Others as meaning one of the guests selected to preside at the banquet according to the Greek and Roman usage. This latter view seems to be supported by a passage in Ecclesiasticus (35:1,2): “If thou be made the master of a feast, lift not thyself up, but be among them as one of the rest; take diligent care for them, and so sit down. And when thou hast done all thy office, take thy place, that thou mayst be merry with them, and receive a crown for thy well ordering of the feast.” According to the Greek and Roman custom, the ruler of the feast was chosen by throwing the dice. Thus Horace, in his ode to his friend Sestius, says, moralizing on the brevity of life: “Soon the home of Pluto will be thine, nor wilt thou cast lots with the dice for the presidency over the wine.” He prescribed the proportions of wine and water, and could also impose fines for failures to guess riddles, etc. As the success of the feast depended largely upon him, his selection was a matter of some delicacy. Plato says, “Must we not appoint a sober man and a wise to be our master of the revels? For if the ruler of drinkers be himself young and drunken, and not over-wise, only by some special good fortune will he be saved from doing some great evil” (“Laws,” 640). The word occurs only here and John 2:9. Wyc. simply transcribes: architriclyn f0. [source]
Literally, “fall back,” lie down, recline. Second aorist active infinitive of αναπιπτω anapiptō Much grass Old word for pasture, green grass (Mark 6:39) or hay (1 Corinthians 3:12). It was spring (John 6:4) and plenty of green grass on the hillside. The men Word for men as distinct from women, expressly stated in Matthew 14:21. In number Adverbial accusative (of general reference). About General estimate, though they were arranged in orderly groups by hundreds and fifties, “in ranks” like “garden beds” (πρασιαι prasiai Mark 6:40). [source]
From the lxx (Isa 40:6). Χορτος Chortos means pasture, then grass (Mark 6:39) or fodder. Αντος Anthos is old word, in N.T. only here, James 1:11; 1 Peter 1:24 (same quotation). This warning is here applied to “the rich brother,” but it is true of all.He shall pass away (παρελευσεται pareleusetai). Future middle indicative (effective aoristic future, shall pass completely away from earth). [source]
Only in Revelation, except Mark 6:39. Properly, greenish-yellow, like young grass or unripe wheat. Homer applies it to honey, and Sophocles to the sand. Generally, pale, pallid. Used of a mist, of sea-water, of a pale or bilious complexion. Thucydides uses it of the appearance of persons stricken with the plague (ii., 49). In Homer it is used of the paleness of the face from fear, and so as directly descriptive of fear (“Iliad,” x., 376; xv., 4). Of olive wood (“Odyssey,” ix., 320,379) of which the bark is gray. Gladstone says that in Homer it indicates rather the absence than the presence of definite color. In the New Testament, always rendered green, except here. See Mark 6:39; Revelation 8:7; Revelation 9:14. [source]
Old adjective. Contracted from χλοερος chloeros (from χλοη chloē tender green grass) used of green grass (Mark 6:39; Revelation 8:7; Revelation 9:4), here for yellowish, common in both senses in old Greek, though here only in N.T. in this sense, greenish yellow. We speak of a sorrel horse, never of a green horse. Zechariah (Zechariah 6:3) uses ποικιλος poikilos (grizzled or variegated). Homer used χλωρος chlōros of the ashen colour of a face blanched by fear (pallid) and so the pale horse is a symbol of death and of terror. [source]