by nation,) and she besought him that he would cast forth the 27 devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, 28 and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's 29 crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying, go thy way; the 30 devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

31

And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the Sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of 32 Decapolis. And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his 33 hand upon him. `And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue: 34 and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, 35 Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were

opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake 36 plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man: but

29. "Who can sufficiently admire the firm faith and deep humility of this woman? How strongly did our Saviour draw out these qualities, that his disciples might behold them, and be taught that goodness might exist even in a Gentile! How entirely different were their present feelings towards her, from those they entertained when they first beheld her! Nor was it on the minds of his immediate disciples alone, that his conduct to this woman exerted a beneficial influence. Wherever the gospel has been preached, wherever the gospel will be preached, this incident will be known; and from it men cannot but learn to think better of Christ and of his religion."

30. Laid upon the bed. The usual posture of sickness, but indicating here that she was composed and quiet, contrary to her general custom, and was healed of her malady.

32. Deaf, and had an impediment in his speech. Or, stammered. Deafness and dumbness commonly go, hand in hand, by a natural connexion. Matthew gives here a general statement, xv. 30, 31, while Mark narrates a particular case.

33, 34. Sighed. The expression of that fellow-feeling for the suffering, which ever beat warmly in the heart of Jesus. Heb. v. 2. The employment of various means, of an external character, in this miracle, is to be regarded, perhaps, as symbolic, just as when he breathed on his disciples, as if to convey a physical impression of the descent of the Holy Spirit. He thus connected himself with the effect, enlivened, by touch, the faith of the disordered person, exhibited variety in the mode of performing his miracles, and demonstrated that he resorted to no magical arts or incantations. Ephphatha.

See note on Mark v. 41.

the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; and were beyond measure astonished, saying, He 37 hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

CHAPTER VIII.

Jesus continues his Miracles and Instructions.

5

IN those days, the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have 2 now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat and if 3 I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way for divers of them came from far. And his disciples 4 answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commanded 6 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. And 7 they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and 8 they took up of the broken meat that was left, seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent 9 them away.

And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and 10 came into the parts of Dalmanutha. And the Pharisees came 11

37. The natural aim and result of the miracles were an appeal to the wonder of the beholders, and this proved a powerful summoning forth of their deeper principles and sentiments. It broke up the stagnation of their sensual existence, by flashes of light from a higher world, and turned their attention, as if with the concentration of a focal glass, to the moral teachings and manifestations of the new Comer.

CHAPTER VIII.

2. I have compassion. Heb. v. 2. The beauty of Jesus' celestial character shines with a mild light, not to dazzle, but to guide. His sympathy for sinning, suffering man makes us, so to speak, feel at home with him. Point high as may one pole of his nature, towards the infinite and eternal, we feel happy as soon as we learn, that the other is turned to his younger, weaker brethren in the flesh.

10. Dalmanutha. In Matthew, it is Magdala. The location of these

1-21. See Mat. xv. 32-39, xvi. places is now conjectural. Robin1-12, and the notes.

son supposes Dalmanutha to have

forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign 12 from heaven, tempting him. And 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. 13 And he left them, and entering into the ship again, departed to the other side.

14

Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they 15 in the ship with them more than one loaf. And he charged them,

saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of 16 the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, 17 saying, It is because we have no bread. And 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 18 hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye 19 not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves

among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye 20 up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? 21 And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

22

And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man un23 to him, and besought him to touch him. And 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 24 if he saw aught. And he looked up, and said, I see men as 25 trees walking. After that, he put his hands again upon his eyes,

and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man 26 clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

been on the western side of Lake Gennesaret, a little north of Tiberias, and near Magdala.

12. He was deeply affected, because he saw that they were demanding evidence, which, from the very nature of his kingdom, never could be afforded them. No sign could be given them, such as they desired.

14. One loaf. Such particulari

ties, naturally introduced, mark the true historian.

15. See note on Mark iii. 6. 22. Besought. Should be in the present tense, beseech, corresponding with the verb bring, in the preceding clause.

24. I see men as trees walking. Or, as Campbell renders it, or rather paraphrases it, "I see men, whom I

:

And 29

And 30

And 31

And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Cesa- 27 rea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Who do men say that I am? And they answered, John 28 the Baptist but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. And he saith unto them, But who say ye that I am? Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. he charged them that they should tell no man of him. 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. And he 32 spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. But when he had turned about, and looked on his 33 disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. And when he had called the people unto 34 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. For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; but 35 whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the 36 whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give 37

distinguish from trees only by their walking." Indistinctness and confusion of vision are described in terms so individual and original, as to leave no doubt of the reality of the fact. The man also could not have been born blind, for he intimates his knowledge of the forms of some objects.

27-38, and chap. ix. 1. Compare Mat. xvi. 13-28, the notes, and Luke ix. 18-27.

30. He would not have a revolution made in his behalf, for his kingdom was not of this world. Furthermore, he would not have the people believe him to be the Messiah, because they were told so, but because they had witnessed the moral and miraculous proofs, that he was the great Teacher from God. To those proofs he would have them give their atten

tion, undisturbed by worldly views and ambitious desires.

31. After three days. Better rendered, within three days.

35. For. This word, as Newcome states, refers to some foregoing clause, understood, not expressed, e. g. "And this is your true interest, for," &c. Those who sought to save their lives, lost them in the Roman war, while those who seemed, by their profession of Christianity, to have periled life, saved it by trusting in his predictions, and fleeing from Jerusalem when it was besieged.

36, 37. For here refers to something understood, as that "life is the most valuable consideration," for, &c. Soul. The primitive meaning of this word, in the original, was life, the secondary one, soul or spirit. So that our Lord here not only speaks

38 in exchange for his soul? Whosoever 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.

CHAPTER IX.

The Transfiguration. Jesus instructs his Disciples.

AND he said unto them, Verily, I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

2 And after six days, Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by 3 themselves; and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller 4 on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias, 5 with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for 6 Moses, and one for Elias. For he wist not what to say: for they 7 were sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my 8 beloved Son: hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with

of the value of animal life, but of the immortal nature. No one has more powerfully eulogized the dignity of man, than he who knew what was in man. He thus teaches us both to respect ourselves and other men, and to be thankful to God for the great and glorious gift of our being.

38. "Oftentimes, doubtless, in after days, when they were preaching the doctrines of their despised Master,. in the midst of obloquy and scorn, of peril, privation, and death, they recalled to mind the powerful words in which he had first taught them, that they must endure suffering for his sake, and follow in the bloody path of the cross to their reward; and when they did so, and

then remembered how he had suffered, and was now glorified, they felt themselves armed to endure all things for his sake; they braved persecution and torture; they confessed him before men, in prison and amid flames, and died rejoicing in the confidence that he would confess them before his Father in heaven."

CHAPTER IX.

1. This verse is parallel to Mat. xvi. 28, Luke ix. 27, and properly belongs to the preceding chapter.

2-13. Mat. xvii. 1-13, and notes; Luke ix. 28-36.

6. Wist. Knew. A fact probably communicated to Mark by Peter himself.