Crowds Follow Jesus(A)

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.(B) When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.(C) Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 10 For he had healed many,(D) so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him.(E) 11 Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”(F) 12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.(G)

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Crowds by the Sea

Then[a] Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him.[b] And from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan River,[c] and around Tyre and Sidon[d] a great multitude came to him when they heard about the things he had done. Because of the crowd, he told his disciples to have a small boat[e] ready for him so the crowd[f] would not press toward him. 10 For he had healed many, so that all who were afflicted with diseases pressed toward him in order to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits[g] saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But[h] he sternly ordered them not to make him known.[i]

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 3:7 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
  2. Mark 3:7 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
  3. Mark 3:8 tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. The region referred to here is sometimes known as Transjordan (i.e., “across the Jordan”).
  4. Mark 3:8 sn These last two locations, Tyre and Sidon, represented an expansion outside of traditional Jewish territory. Jesus’ reputation continued to expand into new regions.
  5. Mark 3:9 sn See the note at Mark 1:19 for a description of the first-century fishing boat discovered in 1986 near Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
  6. Mark 3:9 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  7. Mark 3:11 sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
  8. Mark 3:12 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
  9. Mark 3:12 sn Jesus did not permit the demons to make him known because the time for such disclosure was not yet at hand, and such a revelation would have certainly been misunderstood by the people. In all likelihood, if the people had understood him early on to be the Son of God, or Messiah, they would have reduced his mission to one of political deliverance from Roman oppression (cf. John 6:15). Jesus wanted to avoid, as much as possible, any premature misunderstanding about who he was and what he was doing. However, at the end of his ministry, he did not deny such a title when the high priest asked him (14:61-62).