00450
00451
00452
 \\And they were offended in him\\ (\\kai eskandalizonto en auti\\).
 Graphic imperfect passive. Literally, "They stumbled at him,"
 "They were repelled by him" (Moffatt), "They turned against him"
 (Weymouth). It was unpardonable for Jesus not to be commonplace
 like themselves. \\Not without honour\\ (\\ouk estin atimos\\). This is a
 proverb found in Jewish, Greek, and Roman writers. Seen also in
 the _Logia of Jesus_ (_Oxyr. Papyri_ i. 3).

00453
 \\Mighty works\\ (\\dunameis\\). Powers. The "disbelief" (\\apistian\\) of
 the townspeople blocked the will and the power of Jesus to work
 cures.

00454
 \\Herod the tetrarch\\ (\\Hrids tetraarchs\\). Herod Antipas ruler of
 Galilee and Perea, one-fourth of the dominion of Herod the Great.
 \\The report concerning Jesus\\ (\\tn akoun Isou\\).
 See note on "Mt 4:24"
 Cognate accusative, heard the hearing (rumour), objective
 genitive. It is rather surprising that he had not heard of Jesus
 before.

00455
 \\His servants\\ (\\tois paisin autou\\). Literally "boys," but here the
 courtiers, not the menials of the palace. \\Work in him\\
 (\\energousin\\). Cf. our "energize." "The powers of the invisible
 world, vast and vague in the king's imagination" (Bruce). John
 wrought no miracles, but one _redivivus_ might be under the
 control of the unseen powers. So Herod argued. A guilty
 conscience quickened his fears. Possibly he could see again the
 head of John on a charger. "The King has the Baptist on the
 brain" (Bruce). Cf. Josephus (_War_, I. xxx. 7) for the story
 that the ghosts of Alexander and Aristobulus haunted the palace
 of Herod the Great. There were many conjectures about Jesus as a
 result of this tour of Galilee and Herod Antipas feared this one.

00456
 \\For the sake of Herodias\\ (\\dia Hridiada\\). The death of John had
 taken place some time before. The Greek aorists here (\\edsen,\\
 \\apetheto\\) are not used for past perfects. The Greek aorist simply
 narrates the event without drawing distinctions in past time.
 This Herodias was the unlawful wife of Herod Antipas. She was
 herself a descendant of Herod the Great and had married Herod
 Philip of Rome, not Philip the Tetrarch. She had divorced him in
 order to marry Herod Antipas after he had divorced his wife, the
 daughter of Aretas King of Arabia. It was a nasty mess equal to
 any of our modern divorces. Her first husband was still alive and
 marriage with a sister-in-law was forbidden to Jews
 # Le 18:16
 Because of her Herod Antipas had put John in the prison at
 Machaerus. The bare fact has been mentioned in
 # Mt 4:12
 without the name of the place. See
 # 11:2
 also for the discouragement of John \\en ti desmtrii\\ (place of
 bondage), here \\en ti phulaki\\ (the guard-house). Josephus
 (_Ant_. xviii. 5.2) tells us that Machaerus is the name of the
 prison. On a high hill an impregnable fortress had been built.
 Tristram (_Land of Moab_) says that there are now remains of "two
 dungeons, one of them deep and its sides scarcely broken in" with
 "small holes still visible in the masonry where staples of wood
 and iron had once been fixed. One of these must surely have been
 the prison-house of John the Baptist." "On this high ridge Herod
 the Great built an extensive and beautiful palace" (Broadus).
 "The windows commanded a wide and grand prospect, including the
 Dead Sea, the course of the Jordan, and Jerusalem" (Edersheim,
 _Life and Times of Jesus_).

00457
 \\For John said unto him\\ (\\elegen gar Ians auti\\). Possibly the
 Pharisees may have put Herod up to inveigling John to Machaerus
 on one of his visits there to express an opinion concerning his
 marriage to Herodias (Broadus) and the imperfect tense (\\elegen\\)
 probably means that John said it repeatedly. It was a blunt and
 brave thing that John said. It cost him his head, but it is
 better to have a head like John's and lose it than to have an
 ordinary head and keep it. Herod Antipas was a politician and
 curbed his resentment toward John by his fear of the people who
 still held (\\eichon\\, imperfect tense) him as a prophet.

00458
00459
 \\When Herod's birthday came\\ (\\genesiois genomenois tou Hridou\\).
 Locative of time (cf.
 # Mr 6:21
 without the genitive absolute. The earlier Greeks used the word
 \\genesia\\ for funeral commemorations (birthdays of the dead),
 \\genethlia\\ being the word for birthday celebrations of living
 persons. But that distinction has disappeared in the papyri. The
 word \\genesia\\ in the papyri (_Fayum Towns_, 114-20, 115-8, 119-30)
 is always a birthday feast as here in Matthew and Mark. Philo
 used both words of birthday feasts. Persius, a Roman satirist
 (_Sat_. V. 180-183), describes a banquet on Herod's Day. \\Danced\\
 \\in the midst\\ (\\rchsato en ti mesi\\). This was Salome, daughter
 of Herodias by her first marriage. The root of the verb means
 some kind of rapid motion. "Leaped in the middle," Wycliff puts
 it. It was a shameful exhibition of lewd dancing prearranged by
 Herodias to compass her purpose for John's death. Salome had
 stooped to the level of an \\almeh\\, or common dancer.

00460
 \\Promised with an oath\\ (\\meta horkou hmologsen\\). Literally,
 "confessed with an oath." For this verb in the sense of promise,
 see
 # Ac 7:17
 Note middle voice of \\aitstai\\ (ask for herself). Cf.
 # Es 5:3; 7:2

00461
 \\Put forward\\ (\\probibastheisa\\). See
 # Ac 19:33
 for a similar verb (\\probalontn\\), "pushing forward." Here (Acts)
 the Textus Receptus uses \\probibaz\\. "It should require a good
 deal of 'educating' to bring a young girl to make such a grim
 request" (Bruce). \\Here\\ (\\hde\\). On the spot. Here and now. \\In a\\
 \\charger\\ (\\epi pinaki\\). Dish, plate, platter. Why the obsolete
 "charger"?

00462
 \\Grieved\\ (\\luptheis\\). Not to hurt, for in verse
 # 5
 we read that he wanted (\\theln\\) to put him to death (\\apokteinai\\).
 Herod, however, shrank from so dastardly a deed as this public
 display of brutality and bloodthirstiness. Men who do wrong
 always have some flimsy excuses for their sins. A man here orders
 a judicial murder of the most revolting type "for the sake of his
 oath" (\\dia tous horkous\\). "More like profane swearing than
 deliberate utterance once for all of a solemn oath" (Bruce). He
 was probably maudlin with wine and befuddled by the presence of
 the guests.

00463
 \\Beheaded John\\ (\\apekephalisen Iann\\). That is, he had John
 beheaded, a causative active tense of a late verb \\apokephaliz\\.
 Took his head off.

00464
 \\She brought it to her mother\\ (\\negken ti mtri auts\\). A
 gruesome picture as Herodias with fiendish delight witnesses the
 triumph of her implacable hatred of John for daring to reprove
 her for her marriage with Herod Antipas. A woman scorned is a
 veritable demon, a literal she-devil when she wills to be.
 Kipling's "female of the species" again. Legends actually picture
 Salome as in love with John, sensual lust, of which there is no
 proof.

00465
 \\And they went and told Jesus\\ (\\kai elthontes apggeilan ti\\
 \\Isou\\). As was meet after they had given his body decent burial.
 It was a shock to the Master who alone knew how great John really
 was. The fate of John was a prophecy of what was before Jesus.
 According to
 # Mt 14:13
 the news of the fate of John led to the withdrawal of Jesus to
 the desert privately, an additional motive besides the need for
 rest after the strain of the recent tour.

00466
 \\In a boat\\ (\\en ploii\\) "on foot" (\\pezi\\, some MSS. \\pezi\\).
 Contrast between the lake and the land route.

00467
 \\Their sick\\ (\\tous arrstous autn\\). "Without strength" (\\rhnnumi\\
 and \\a\\ privative). \\Esplagchnisth\\ is a deponent passive. The verb
 gives the oriental idea of the bowels (\\splagchna\\) as the seat of
 compassion.

00468
 \\When even was come\\ (\\opsias genomens\\). Genitive absolute. Not
 sunset about 6 P.M. as in
 # 8:16
 and as in
 # 14:23
 but the first of the two "evenings" beginning at 3 P.M. \\The place\\
 \\is desert\\ (\\ermos estin ho topos\\). Not a desolate region, simply
 lonely, comparatively uninhabited with no large towns near. There
 were "villages" (\\kmas\\) where the people could buy food, but they
 would need time to go to them. Probably this is the idea of the
 disciples when they add: \\The time is already past\\ (\\h hra d\\
 \\parlthen\\). They must hurry.

00469
 \\Give ye them to eat\\ (\\dote autois hmeis phagein\\). The emphasis is
 on \\hmeis\\ in contrast (note position) with their "send away"
 (\\apoluson\\). It is the urgent aorist of instant action (\\dote\\). It
 was an astounding command. The disciples were to learn that "no
 situation appears to Him desperate, no crisis unmanageable"
 (Bruce).

00470
 \\And they say unto him\\ (\\hoi de legousin auti\\). The disciples,
 like us today, are quick with reasons for their inability to
 perform the task imposed by Jesus.

00471
 \\And he said\\ (\\ho de eipen\\). Here is the contrast between the
 helpless doubt of the disciples and the confident courage of
 Jesus. He used "_the_ five loaves and two fishes" which they had
 mentioned as a reason for doing nothing. "Bring them hither unto
 me." They had overlooked the power of Jesus in this emergency.

00472
 \\To sit down on the grass\\ (\\anaklithnai epi tou chortou\\).
 "Recline," of course, the word means, first aorist passive
 infinitive. A beautiful picture in the afternoon sun on the grass
 on the mountain side that sloped westward. The orderly
 arrangement (Mark) made it easy to count them and to feed them.
 Jesus stood where all could see him "break" (\\klasas\\) the thin
 Jewish cakes of bread and give to the disciples and they to the
 multitudes. This is a nature miracle that some men find it hard
 to believe, but it is recorded by all four Gospels and the only
 one told by all four. It was impossible for the crowds to
 misunderstand and to be deceived. If Jesus is in reality Lord of
 the universe as John tells us
 # Joh 1:1-18
 and Paul holds
 # Col 1:15-20
 why should we balk at this miracle? He who created the universe
 surely has power to go on creating what he wills to do.

00473
 \\Were filled\\ (\\echortasthsan\\). Effective aorist passive indicative
 of \\chortaz\\. See
 # Mt 5:6
 From the substantive \\chortos\\ grass. Cattle were filled with grass
 and people usually with other food. They all were satisfied.
 \\Broken pieces\\ (\\tn klasmatn\\). Not the scraps upon the ground,
 but the pieces broken by Jesus and still in the "twelve baskets"
 (\\ddeka kophinous\\) and not eaten. Each of the twelve had a
 basketful left over (\\to perisseuon\\). One hopes that the boy
 # Joh 6:9
 who had the five loaves and two fishes to start with got one of
 the basketsful, if not all of them. Each of the Gospels uses the
 same word here for baskets (\\kophinos\\), a wicker-basket, called
 "coffins" by Wycliff. Juvenal (_Sat_. iii. 14) says that the
 grove of Numa near the Capenian gate of Rome was "let out to Jews
 whose furniture is a basket (_cophinus_) and some hay" (for a
 bed). In the feeding of the Four Thousand (Matthew and Mark) the
 word \\sphuris\\ is used which was a sort of hamper or large
 provisions basket.

00474
 \\Beside women and children\\ (\\chris gunaikn kai paidin\\). Perhaps
 on this occasion there were not so many as usual because of the
 rush of the crowd around the head of the lake. Matthew adds this
 item and does not mean that the women and children were not fed,
 but simply that "the eaters" (\\hoi esthiontes\\) included five
 thousand men (\\andres\\) besides the women and children.

00475
 \\Constrained\\ (\\nagkasen\\). Literally, "compelled" or "forced." See
 this word also in
 # Lu 14:23
 The explanation for this strong word in
 # Mr 6:45
 and
 # Mt 14:22
 is given in
 # Joh 6:15
 It is the excited purpose of the crowd to take Jesus by force and
 to make him national king. This would be political revolution and
 would defeat all the plans of Jesus about his kingdom. Things
 have reached a climax. The disciples were evidently swept off
 their feet by the mob psychology for they still shared the
 Pharisaic hope of a political kingdom. With the disciples out of
 the way Jesus could handle the crowd more easily, \\till he should\\
 \\send the multitudes away\\ (\\hes hou apolusi tous ochlous\\). The
 use of the aorist subjunctive with \\hes\\ or \\hes hou\\ is a neat and
 common Greek idiom where the purpose is not yet realized. So in
 # 18:30; 26:36
 "While" sometimes renders it well. The subjunctive is retained
 after a past tense instead of the change to the optative of the
 ancient Attic. The optative is very rare anyhow, but Luke uses it
 with \\prin \\ in
 # Ac 25:16

00476
 \\Into the mountain\\ (\\eis to oros\\). After the dismissal of the crowd
 Jesus went up alone into the mountain on the eastern side of the
 lake to pray as he often did go to the mountains to pray. If ever
 he needed the Father's sympathy, it was now. The masses were wild
 with enthusiasm and the disciples wholly misunderstood him. The
 Father alone could offer help now.

00477
 \\Distressed\\ (\\basanizomenon\\). Like a man with demons
 # 8:29
 One can see, as Jesus did
 # Mr 6:48
 the boat bobbing up and down in the choppy sea.

00478
 \\Walking upon the sea\\ (\\peripatn epi tn thalassan\\). Another
 nature miracle. Some scholars actually explain it all away by
 urging that Jesus was only walking along the beach and not on the
 water, an impossible theory unless Matthew's account is
 legendary. Matthew uses the accusative (extension) with \\epi\\ in
 verse
 # 25
 and the genitive (specifying case) in
 # 26

00479
 \\They were troubled\\ (\\etarachthsan\\). Much stronger than that. They
 were literally "terrified" as they saw Jesus walking on the sea.
 \\An apparition\\ (\\phantasma\\), or "ghost," or "spectre" from
 \\phantaz\\ and that from \\phain\\. They cried out "from fear" (\\apo\\
 \\tou phobou\\) as any one would have done. "A little touch of sailor
 superstition" (Bruce).

00480
00481
 \\Upon the waters\\ (\\epi ta hudata\\). The impulsiveness of Peter
 appears as usual. Matthew alone gives this Peter episode.

00482
00483
 \\Seeing the wind\\ (\\blepn ton anemon\\). Cf.
 # Ex 20:18
 and
 # Re 1:12
 "to see the voice" (\\tn phnn\\). "It is one thing to see a storm
 from the deck of a stout ship, another to see it in the midst of
 the waves" (Bruce). Peter was actually beginning to sink
 (\\katapontizesthai\\) to plunge down into the sea, "although a
 fisherman and a good swimmer" (Bengel). It was a dramatic moment
 that wrung from Peter the cry: "Lord, save me" (\\Kurie, sson me\\),
 and do it quickly the aorist means. He could walk on the water
 till he saw the wind whirl the water round him.

00484
 \\Didst thou doubt?\\ (\\edistasas?\\). Only here and
 # 28:17
 in the N.T. From \\distaz\\ and that from \\dis\\ (twice). Pulled two
 ways. Peter's trust in the power of Christ gave way to his dread
 of the wind and waves. Jesus had to take hold of Peter
 (\\epelabeto\\, middle voice) and pull him up while still walking on
 the water.

00485
 \\Ceased\\ (\\ekopasen\\). From \\kopos\\, toil. The wind grew weary or
 tired, exhausted itself in the presence of its Master (cf.
 # Mr 4:39
 Not a mere coincidence that the wind ceased now.

00486
 \\Worshipped him\\ (\\prosekunsan auti\\). And Jesus accepted it. They
 were growing in appreciation of the person and power of Christ
 from the attitude in
 # 8:27
 They will soon be ready for the confession of
 # 16:16
 Already they can say: "Truly God's Son thou art." The absence of
 the article here allows it to mean a Son of God as in
 # 27:54
 (the centurion). But they probably mean "the Son of God" as Jesus
 was claiming to them to be.

00487
 \\Gennesaret\\ (\\Gennsaret\\). A rich plain four miles long and two
 broad. The first visit of Jesus apparently with the usual
 excitement at the cures. People were eager to touch the hem of
 Christ's mantle like the woman in
 # 9:20
 Jesus honoured their superstitious faith and "as many as touched
 were made whole" (\\hosoi hpsanto diesthesan\\), completely (\\di-\\)
 healed.

00488
00489
00490
 \\From Jerusalem\\ (\\apo Ierosolumn\\). Jerusalem is the headquarters
 of the conspiracy against Jesus with the Pharisees as the leaders
 in it. Already we have seen the Herodians combining with the
 Pharisees in the purpose to put Jesus to death
 # Mr 3:6; Mt 12:14; Lu 6:11
 Soon Jesus will warn the disciples against the Sadducees also
 # Mt 16:6
 Unusual order here, "Pharisees and scribes." "The guardians of
 tradition in the capital have their evil eye on Jesus and
 co-operate with the provincial rigorists" (Bruce), if the
 Pharisees were not all from Jerusalem.

00491
 \\The tradition of the elders\\ (\\tn paradosin tn presbutern\\). This
 was the oral law, handed down by the elders of the past in _ex
 cathedra_ fashion and later codified in the Mishna. Handwashing
 before meals is not a requirement of the Old Testament. It is, we
 know, a good thing for sanitary reasons, but the rabbis made it a
 mark of righteousness for others at any rate. This item was
 magnified at great length in the oral teaching. The washing
 (\\niptontai\\, middle voice, note) of the hands called for minute
 regulations. It was commanded to wash the hands before meals, it
 was one's duty to do it after eating. The more rigorous did it
 between the courses. The hands must be immersed. Then the water
 itself must be "clean" and the cups or pots used must be
 ceremonially "clean." Vessels were kept full of clean water ready
 for use
 # Joh 2:6-8
 So it went on _ad infinitum_. Thus a real issue is raised between
 Jesus and the rabbis. It was far more than a point of etiquette
 or of hygienics. The rabbis held it to be a mortal sin. The
 incident may have happened in a Pharisee's house.

00492
 \\Ye also\\ (\\kai hmeis\\). Jesus admits that the disciples had
 transgressed the rabbinical traditions. Jesus treats it as a
 matter of no great importance in itself save as they had put the
 tradition of the elders in the place of the commandment of God.
 When the two clashed, as was often the case, the rabbis
 transgress the commandment of God "because of your tradition"
 (\\dia tn paradosin hmn\\). The accusative with \\dia\\ means that,
 not "by means of." Tradition is not good or bad in itself. It is
 merely what is handed on from one to another. Custom tended to
 make these traditions binding like law. The Talmud is a monument
 of their struggle with tradition. There could be no compromise on
 this subject and Jesus accepts the issue. He stands for real
 righteousness and spiritual freedom, not for bondage to mere
 ceremonialism and tradition. The rabbis placed tradition (the
 oral law) above the law of God.

00493
00494
 \\But ye say\\ (\\hmeis de legete\\). In sharp contrast to the command
 of God. Jesus had quoted the fifth commandment
 # Ex 20:12,16
 with the penalty "die the death" (\\thanati teleutat\\), "go on to
 his end by death," in imitation of the Hebrew idiom. They dodged
 this command of God about the penalty for dishonouring one's
 father or mother by the use "Corban" (\\korban\\) as Mark calls it
 # Mr 7:11
 All one had to do to evade one's duty to father or mother was to
 say "Corban" or "Gift" (\\Dron\\) with the idea of using the money
 for God. By an angry oath of refusal to help one's parents, the
 oath or vow was binding. By this magic word one set himself free
 (\\ou m timsei\\, he shall not honour) from obedience to the fifth
 commandment. Sometimes unfilial sons paid graft to the rabbinical
 legalists for such dodges. Were some of these very faultfinders
 guilty?

00495
 \\Ye have made void the word of God\\ (\\ekursate ton logon tou\\
 \\theou\\). It was a stinging indictment that laid bare the hollow
 pretence of their quibbles about handwashing. \\Kuros\\ means force
 or authority, \\akuros\\ is without authority, null and void. It is a
 late verb, \\akuro\\ but in the LXX,
 # Gal 3:17
 and in the papyri Adjective, verb, and substantive occur in legal
 phraseology like cancelling a will, etc. The moral force of God's
 law is annulled by their hairsplitting technicalities and immoral
 conduct.

00496
 \\Well did Isaiah prophesy of you\\ (\\kals eprophteusen peri hmn\\
 \\Esaias\\). There is sarcasm in this pointed application of Isaiah's
 words
 # Isa 29:13
 to these rabbis. He "beautifully pictured" them. The portrait was
 to the very life, "teaching as their doctrines the commandments
 of men." They were indeed far from God if they imagined that God
 would be pleased with such gifts at the expense of duty to one's
 parents.

00497
00498
