Mark 3:9

Mar_3:9

A small ship.

Christ was always willing to accept service

He borrowed a boat, an ass, a grave. He accepted a draught of water from a well, a few fishes from a net, and the money of those women who ministered unto Him. He who loves the Saviour will be surprised to find how many things there are that He can consecrate and that Christ can use. Some persons cannot preach unless they have a proper pulpit, their priestly robe, organ, choir, and other things; but Christ is at home anywhere, and can preach afloat as well as in the synagogue. Note this characteristic of Christ. The late Bishop Selwyn, who was a devoted missionary bishop in New Zealand, said that all a missionary wanted in going about was a blanket and a frying pan. He might have gathered that homely ease from the example of the great Master Himself. (R. Glover.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:9 The boat probably belonged to Peter and Andrew or to James and John. The crowd’s desire to see Jesus was so great that he needed to escape the crush of people (4:1; 5:24, 31).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 3:9. Πλοιάριον, a small ship) Nominative.—προσκαρτερῇ, should wait on) Not merely at that time alone.—ἵνα μὴ, that not) Having thus a regard to His due convenience.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 3:9 . ἵνα πλοιάριον προσκαρτερῇ : a boat to be always in readiness, to get away from the crowds. Whether used or not, not said; shows how great the crowd was.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Should always be ready for him.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 9. A small ship] πλοιαριον. The lytil boot, Old English MS. It was doubtless something of the boat kind, which probably belonged to some of the disciples. Our Lord was at this time teaching by the sea of Galilee. The word ship is utterly improper in many places of our translation, and tends to mislead the people.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) That a small ship should wait on him.—The fact thus mentioned incidentally shows that in what is recorded in Mat_13:2 our Lord was but having recourse to a practice already familiar.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. a small ship] The life on the sea, in the ship which was now His chief place of instruction in opposition to the synagogue, henceforth had its commencement.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he spake unto his disciples,.... In an authoritative way; he ordered and commanded them,

that a small ship should wait on him: that a boat should be got ready, be near at hand, and attend him, who was on shore; that he might go into it, should there be any occasion for it; and from thence preach to the people:

because of the multitude; which came from the above parts, and all together made a very numerous body of people:

lest they should throng him; crowd, press, afflict, and distress, and make him uneasy, that he could not be able to stand conveniently, and preach to them: so that should this be the case, as it was very likely it would, having a small vessel near the shore, he could go into it, and free himself from such an inconvenience.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

9 And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.

Ver. 9. Lest they should throng him] Gr. θλιβωσιν, afflict him, press, or pinch him, as they did a piece of his passion, Mar 3:10.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A small ship - Rather a “boat.” There were properly speaking, no “ships” on the Sea of Tiberias. This was probably a small boat that belonged to the disciples, in which he could draw off from the shore, and teach the people without being pressed by them.

Lest they should throng him - They pressed upon him in great numbers. He had healed many, and those who were still diseased pressed or crowded on him, so that his labors were interrupted and embarrassed. He therefore withdrew from the multitude, and sought a situation where he might address them to greater advantage.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. A small ship — A fishing boat. The Lake of Gennesaret was too small for what is called a ship. Should wait on him — To be in readiness to receive him. This keeping a boat in readiness enabled Jesus to let out upon the lake in case the pressure was too great, but it does not appear that the boat was really used. There seems to be no immediate connection with the ship mentioned in Mar_4:1. Should throng him — Should press upon him inconveniently with their crowds. So they did on a former occasion, so as to drive him into the desert. Mar_1:45.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship (ploiarion) literally, a little boatshould wait on him proskarterh autw) literally, should be in close attendance upon him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. This shows in a very graphic manner how assiduously and closely the crowd pressed upon him, so that he was obliged to have a little boat always in readiness, in which he might take refuge when the pressure became too great, and so address them with greater freedom from the boat. St. Luke (Luk_5:3) says, "He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship," making the boat, so to speak, his pulpit.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Miracles of healing:

v. 9. And He spake to His disciples that a small ship should wait on Him because of the multitude, lest they should throng Him.

v. 10. For He had healed many, insomuch that they pressed upon Him for to touch Him, as many as had plagues.

v. 11. And unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.

v. 12. And He straitly charged them that they should not make Him known.

So great were the crowds that came to the seaside to see Jesus that He was obliged to take precautions. He gave His disciples instructions that they should have a small boat ready at all times, with the oars, sails, and the necessary provisions in place, that He might use it at once, should necessity so demand. This was rendered unavoidable by the mass of people, for they rushed upon Him in their impetuousness and might have borne Him down. At the same time, His Savior’s love urged Him to perform many miracles of healing, as they pressed upon Him, if only to touch Him. And the Lord permitted it in many cases that the mere touching of His garment or of His person brought healing, for they must realize that the power lay not in the clothing, but in the man. The word here used for sicknesses is very expressive, "scourge. " Diseases are therefore scourges of God, either in the form of a punishment, or in the form of a merciful chastening, inflicted by God or permitted by Him for the purpose of drawing men nearer to Him. And one of the worst scourges was the possession by demons, for also such poor unfortunate people as were afflicted with this terrible ailment were brought to the Lord. Invariably these people, when they caught sight of Him, or when they had looked at Him closely, fell down before Him at the urging of the demon in them, who must needs recognize in Christ the Lord of all, and cried out a confession of His divinity: Thou art the Son of God. But that was not the confession that the Savior sought; He wants no praise out of the mouth of Satan and his angels. He did not want to be revealed, did not want to be made known by them as the Messiah. Testimony from the enemies may have its value, but Jesus wanted the people to accept His Word and come to the knowledge of Him as the promised Redeemer through His Gospel.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. A small ship. A fishing boat. The Revision correctly renders the term by the word boat.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

Verse 9 tells what Jesus asked his disciples to do because of the large crowd of people around him. Verse 10 tells why such a large crowd was around Jesus. The information in these verses can be reordered to present the events in the order they happened, as in the UDB. (See: Order of Events)

He asked his disciples to have a small boat ... not crush him

As the large crowd was pushing forward toward Jesus, he was in danger of being crushed by them. They would not crush him intentionally. It was just that there were so many people.

He asked his disciples

"Jesus told his disciples"

For he healed many, so that everyone ... to touch him

This tells why so many people were crowding around Jesus that he thought they might crush him. AT: "For, because Jesus had healed many people, everyone ... to touch him" (See: Connecting Words)

For he healed many

The word "many" refers to the large number of people Jesus had already healed. AT: "For he healed many people" (See: Ellipsis)

everyone who had afflictions eagerly approached him in order to touch him

They did this because they believed that touching Jesus would make them well. This can be expressed clearly. AT: "all the sick people pushed forward eagerly trying to touch him so that they might be healed" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

disciple

cure

afflicted

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

9. εἶπεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς. He told His disciples. He gave orders to that effect.

ἵνα πλοιάριον προσκαρτερῇ. This defines the purport rather than the purpose of the request or command; cf. Mar 3:10, Mar 6:8, Mar 9:9; Mat 4:3; 1Co 1:10. The telic force of ἵνα is so completely in the background as to be lost. The boat would be a small one, to keep close along the shore, so as to be ready at any moment to take Him in. The verb suggests persevering observance, and Vulg. renders it in seven different ways; deservire (here), servire, perseverare, perdurare, instare, adhaerere, parere. He did not want the boat as a pulpit, but as a refuge, in case the pressure of the immense multitude should become dangerous. Syr-Sin. has “that they should bring a ship to Him.” Admirabilis patientia et benignitas Domini (Beng.). Mt. again omits the impeding crowd; see on Mar 2:2.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9.] Meyer explains the construction εἶπεν ἵνα, by that which was said being regarded as the purpose of its being said.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. εἶπε—he told, i.e. he gave orders. προσκαρτερῇ—should be in constant attendance. The verb expresses this idea of assiduous waiting. It was rendered necessary by the crowd, which was in danger of crushing him.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.