Bible Commentaries
Matthew 8

Verses 1-99

(c) Illustrations of his work, 8:1-9:34

(1) Three miracles of healing, 8:1-17

8:1-4=Mark 1:40-45.

The next section in Mk. Isaiah 1:23-28, the account of the demoniac in the synagogue at Capharnaum. We should expect the editor to begin his account of Christ’s miracles with this incident. But he omits it, and, postponing several verses which follow, continues with the account of the leper, which in Mark 1:40-45 is found without notice of time and place, unless we may infer from Mark 1:39 that it took place during the journey throughout Galilee there mentioned. This change in Mk.’s order is difficult to explain. We have to account for (1) the omission of the incident of the demoniac, (2) the insertion of the account of the leper immediately after the Sermon, and before the entry into Capharnaum and the incidents there. (1) The omission of the account of the demoniac is probably intentional. (a) Both Mt. and Lk. seem to have disliked the story as found in Mk. We read there that the demon obeyed the Lord’s command to come out, but not until He had “rent” the patient and “cried with a loud voice.” Lk. materially modifies this when he omits the “crying,” and adds, “having in no way injured him.” A somewhat similar modification is found in the parallels to Mark 9:14-29, where Mt. altogether omits the details that the demon after the Christ’s command “cried out and tore him much,” and that the patient “became as one dead, insomuch that the more part said, He is dead”; Whilst Lk. retains indeed the “rending,” but places it before Christ’s command, and, like Mt., omits the “becoming as one dead.” (b) Mt. takes over two of Mk.’s narratives of expulsion of demons, 5:1-20 and 9:14-29, omitting, however, from the later all traces of demoniac possession except in v. 18. Elsewhere he sometimes omits references to this subject from Mk.; cf. his omission of Mark 1:34, Mark 1:39, Mark 1:3:11. (2) In view of his habit of arranging incidents and sayings in numerical groups, it is probable that he wished to begin his illustrations of Christ’s miracles with three incidents of healing of typical diseases—leprosy, paralysis, fever. The incident of the leper, which in Mk. seems to have no expressed details of time or place, is therefore substituted for that of the demoniac, and becomes the first miracle (8:1-4). The fact that this incident illustrates Christ’s attitude towards legal ceremonies may have co-operated in influencing the editor to place it immediately after the Sermon on the Mount. A healing of a paralytic, which Lk. also has in close connection with the Sermon, is inserted as the second (8:5-13); whilst the healing of Peter’s wife’s mother, which follows the omitted incident in Mk., supplies the third.

(E) 1. And when He came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.] In this way Mt. forms a connection with the following incident.

(M) 2. And behold a leper came and was worshipping Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst cleanse me.] Mk. has: “And there cometh to Him a leper, beseeching Him, and kneeling down, saying to Him, that if Thou wilt Thou canst cleanse me.” For καὶ ἰδού as a connecting link, see on 1:20. Mt. avoids Mk.’s historic present ἔρχεται, and substitutes his favourite word προσέρχεσθαι. See on 4:3. For Mk.’s vivid “beseeching Him, and kneeling down,” he substitutes another word (προσκυνεῖν) which is characteristic of the first Gospel. See on 2:2. Mt. omits Mk.’s ὄτι (see Introduction, p. xix). κύριε as a form of address to Christ is common in Mt. and Lk. In Mk. it occurs only 7:28, 10:51. καθαρίζειν is late, and rare outside the LXX. and N.T. It occurs in Jos. Ant. xi. 153, and two or three times in inscriptions in a ceremonial sense; cf. Deissm. Bib. Stud. p. 216, and Ditt. Syll. 633. 3, 653. 37.

3. And stretching out the hand, He touched him, saying, I will; be cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.] Mk. has: “And having compassion (D a ff2 Tat Eph. “being angry”), He stretched out His hand and touched (him), and saith to him, I will; be cleansed.” Since Mt. elsewhere omits words descriptive of human emotion in the case of Christ (see Introduction, p. xxxi), with the exception of σπλαγχνίζεσθαι which he has four times, it is probable that his copy of Mk. had ὀργισθείς, and that he intentionally omitted it.—ἥψατο αὐτοῦ λέγων] Mk. has ἥψατο καὶ λέγει; Mt. prefers subordinate to co-ordinate clauses; cf. 8:25 = Mark 4:38, Mark 9:14 = 2:18, 14:27 = 6:50, 20:30 = 10:47, 21:1, 2 = 11:1, 2, 26:67, 68 = 14:65, 21:23 = 11:27, 28.—ἐκαθαρίσθη αὐτοῦ ἡ λέπρα] Mt. combines two clauses in Mk. He elsewhere omits one of two synonymous clauses; see Introduction, p. xxiv.

(M) 4. And Jesus saith to him, See that thou tell no man; but go show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.] Mk. has: “And he urgently charged (ἐμβριμησάμενος) him, and immediately sent him out (ἐξέβαλεν); and saith to him, See that thou tell no man: but go show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.” Mt. omits Mk.’s first clause as unnecessarily strongly worded. For the omission of ἐμβριμησάμενος, cf. Introduction, p. xxxi. Mt. inserts ὁ Ἰησοῦς, and omits one of Mk.’s negatives; cf. Introduction, p. xxv. He also substitutes τὸ δῶρον for περὶ τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ σοῦ. For the offerings made by a leper, cf. Lev_14.—εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς] i.e. to the priests, but not to assure them that he was healed. The priests would exercise their own judgment as to this before the customary offerings were made at Jerusalem. The clause can only refer to the supposed hostility of Jesus to the law already implied in 5:17-20. The fact that Christ bade His patient present himself to the priests and offer the usual sacrifices, should convince them that He did not seek to undermine the Mosaic ritual. The illustration here given of Christ’s attitude towards legal ceremonies may be one reason why the editor places this incident immediately after the Sermon on the Mount. Mk. adds here: “But he went out and began to publish (it) much, and to spread abroad the matter, so that He could no longer openly enter into a city, but was without in desert places: and they came to Him from every quarter.” The words are ambiguous. The first “he” is probably the healed leper, the second “he” Jesus. But the subject in both cases may be Jesus. “He went forth from the place where He healed the leper, and began to preach much, and to spread abroad the word of the good news of the kingdom, so that in consequence of the thronging multitudes He was obliged to avoid the towns with their narrow streets, and to receive the people in the open country.” For τὸν λόγον = the Gospel message, cf. Mark 2:2, Mark 4:14ff, Mark 8:32. Mt. omits the verse partly because it does not suit the connection in which he has placed the incident. In his narrative, Christ, so far from being unable to enter into a city, is immediately to enter into Capharnaum, partly perhaps on account of the ambiguity in the words, partly also from a feeling of dislike to recording an act of direct disobedience to Christ’s expressed command, and of hesitation at the μὴ δύνασθαι as applied to Christ. He elsewhere omits clauses attributing failure or inability to Christ; cf. Mark 6:5 οὐκ ἐδύνατο—ποιῆσαι=Matthew 13:58 οὐκ ἐποίησεν; Mark 6:48 καὶ ἤθελεν παρελθεῖν αὐτούς, Mt. omits; Mark 9:30 καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἴνα τις γνοῖ, Mt. omits. Cf. also Mark 8:3 and 11:13 with Mt.’s parallels, and see Introduction, p. xxxi.

In one or two small points Mt. and Lk. agree in their account of this incident against Mk. Both have καὶ ἰδού and κύριε at the beginning, and ἤψατο—λέγων for ἥψατο καὶ λέγει. Both omit σπλαγχνισθείς and Mk 43a. Lk. paraphrases Mk 45 in such a way as to avoid the disobedience of the man, and the “could not” of Christ. Mt. omits the verse. This partial agreement in treatment and the omissions may be due to the same tendency operating independently in two writers. The other agreements may be due to the influence of one Gospel upon the other in respect of the original writers, or of later copyists assimilating one passage to another; to oral tradition independently influencing the original writers; or to some unknown cause. They are not sufficient to make it probable that Mt. and Lk. had any other written account of this incident before them in addition to Mk.

5-13. The Paralytic; cf. Luke 7:1-10.

(X) 5, 6. And when He entered into Capharnaum, there came to Him a centurion, beseeching Him, and saying, Lord, my boy lies in the house sick of the palsy, terribly tormented.]—αὐτοῦ—αὐτῷ] For the construction, cf. Blass, p. 251. For προσερχεσθαι as a characteristic word of Mt., cf. on 4:3.—ἑκατόταρχος] In Hellenistic writers ἑκατοντάρχης also occurs; cf. Blass, p. 28.—παρακαλῶν αὐτὸν καὶ λέγων] It is curious that the editor should omit παρακαλῶν in Mk v. 40 and insert it here. Perhaps he thought it more suitable in view of the long appeal which here follows, than in reference to the short sentence of v. 2. For κύριε, see on v. 2—ὁ παῖς μου] παῖς may be either “child” or “servant.”—παραλυτικός] See on 4:24.—βέβληται] Lies prostrate. The strong word represents a Semitic original.

(X) 7. And he saith to him, Shall I come and heal him?] The centurion was probably a Gentile. He had not ventured to bring his servant to a Jewish healer. Only in the case of Jairus’ daughter does Christ go to the patient. Elsewhere the sick are brought to Him. It matters little whether we translate the last clause as a question or as a simple statement, “I will come,” etc. In either case the main point is that Christ should be willing to enter the house of a foreigner.

(X) 8. And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest enter under my roof: but only speak, and my servant shall be healed.] For κύριε, see on v. 2.—ἱκανὸς ἵνα] Blass, 227 f. For the position of μου, cf. 7:24, 26; Blass, 168; and see on 9:5.

(X) 9. For I, too, am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.] The officer, impressed with the spiritual power of Christ, believes that He must have spiritual agencies at His command, who could carry out His command that the patient should be healed.

(X) 10. And Jesus hearing, marvelled, and said to those who followed, Verily I say to you, With no one did I find such faith in Israel.]—πίστιν] “Faith” here is “confidence,” “trust,” “assurance,” that Christ could, if He would, heal with a word.

(L) 11. And I say to you, That many from east and west shall come and sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of the heavens.] For this and the next verse, cf. Luke 13:28-30. The gap between this and the last verse must be bridged by the thought that such faith as that exhibited by the Gentilic centurion would admit him into the kingdom. And he was only typical of a class. Many in all parts of the world would be found to have this faith. When the kingdom came, they would come from the remote corners of the world, and, entering into it, would sit down to feast with the righteous patriarchs. The metaphor of a meal is frequently used in the N.T. to symbolise the joys of the kingdom. Cf. 26:29, Luke 14:15-24, Luke 22:30, Revelation 3:20, Revelation 19:9. It is common in Jewish literature. Cf. Aboth 3:20 “Everything is prepared for the banquet,” Secrets of Enoch 42:5 “At the last coming they will lead forth Adam with our forefathers, and conduct them there, that they may rejoice, as a man calls those whom he loves to feast with him”; and Pesikta 188b. Behemoth and Leviathan are reserved for the meal of the righteous. Cf. Volz, Jüd. Eschat. 331; Enoch 62:14, Apoc. Bar 29:4.

(L) 12. But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness: there shall be the wailing and the gnashing of teeth.] “Sons of the kingdom” is in Semitic idiom equivalent to those who should inherit it, its rightful heirs. Here it, no doubt, signifies the Jewish nation or people. Such of them as are lacking in the faith which the centurion possessed will be cast out of the kingdom, whilst Gentiles sit down with the righteous patriarchs at the banquet. For “sons of the kingdom,” cf. Bab. Shabb. 153a; “Who is a son of the world to come?” Pesaḥim 8a, and cf. 13:38. τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον occurs only in Matthew 22:13; Matthew 25:30Matthew 25:30. Cf. Enoch 103:8 “into darkness—will your spirits enter”; 108:14 “those who were born in darkness will be cast into darkness”; Ps.-Sol. 14:6 “their inheritance is—darkness,” 15:11 “the inheritance of the sinners is—darkness”; Sib. Or. 4:43 He will send back the ungodly into darkness. For the Rabbinical literature, cf. Vayyikra R. 27 (Wünsche, 183): “God names gehinnom ‘darkness.’ ” Shemoth R. 14 (Wünsche, 100): “the sinners in gehinnom will be covered with darkness.” Cf. Bousset, Rel. Jud. 266; Weber, Jüd. Theol. 393; Volz, Jüd. Eschat. 284 f.: ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων. This refrain is characteristic of Mt. It occurs again in 13:42, 50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30, and once in Luke 13:28. Cf. Enoch 108:3, the transgressors “will cry and make lamentation”; 5 “the voice of crying, and weeping, and lamentation, and strong pain”; Secrets of Enoch 40:12 “the mighty hell—full of lamentation.”

For the whole verse, cf. Philo, de Exsecr. vi. The proselyte (ἔπηλυς)—receive(s) for reward a sure and firm foundation in heaven, such as cannot be described. But the rightful heir (εὐπατρίδης) “will be dragged downwards, and brought into Tartarus and deep darkness.”

(X) 13. And Jesus said to the centurion, Go; as thou hast believed, be it to thee. And the boy was healed at that hour.] For the healing at the moment of Christ’s utterance, cf. 9:22, 15:28, 17:18.—ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὤρᾳ] is a formula of frequent occurrence in Rabbinical literature; cf. Schlatter, Die Sprache und Heimat des vierten Evangelisten, p. 64.—ὡς ἐπίστευσας] see on v. 10.

5. For “And when He entered into Capharnaum.” S1 k have: “After these things.” This abrupt introduction is quite unlike Mt.’s style, and may be original. S2 has: “After these things, when He entered into Capharnaum”; adding the last clause from a Greek MS. which had assimilated to Luke 7:1. The Gk MSS. vary between εἰσελθόντος δὲ αὐτοῦ, א B C Z, εἰσελθὁντι δὲ αὐτῷ, and εἰσελθόντι δὲ τῷ Ἰησοῦ.

ὲκατόνταρχος] So the Greek MSS. S1 has “chiliarch,” which may be original, ἑκατόνταρχος being in that case due to assimilation to Lk.

ὑπὸ ἐξουσίαν] א B add τασσόμενος, assimilating to Lk. S1 has: “I also am a man that hath authoriy.” S2 “I also am a man under authority, and I have authority also.” S1 has misinterpreted the rather ambiguous ὑπὸ ἐξουσίαν, and S2 has prefixed a more exact rendering.

10. παρʼ οὐδενὶ τοσαύτην πίστιν ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ] So B a k q S2 (“not even in any one of the house of Israel have I found aught like this faith,” Burk). The variant οὐδὲ ἐν τῷ Ἰσραἡλ τοσαύτην πίστιν, א C al S1 (“not even aught like this faith have I found in the house of Israel,” Burk), may be due to assimilation to Lk.

5-13. The Paralytic.

Luke 7:1-10 records a similar incident in a similar connection immediately on the entry into Capharnaum, which followed the Sermon. The narrative setting of the two Evangelists is very different. In Mt. the officer himself comes to Christ. In Lk. he sends, first, elders, and then friends, to intercede for him. On the other hand, the dialogue Mt 8-12 = Lk 6b-9 is almost verbally identical; but Mt. has two verse, 11-12, which are not found in Lk. The similar position of the story might be accounted for by supposing that Mt. and Lk. drew from a common documentary source. Against this is the divergent narrative setting. Or on the supposition that the incident was connected with the Sermon in oral tradition. The agreement in dialogue is not too great to be accounted for on this view. Or, lastly, the agreement in position may be due to reminiscence of Mt. by Lk. The reverse is on many grounds hardly probable. It seems probable that the two Evangelists record different versions of the same story. For a third, cf. John 4:46-54. The text of Mt. seems to have undergone considerable assimilation to Lk. See the critical notes.

14-16. From Mark 1:29-34.

The editor now returns to the incident in Mk. which follows the omitted section of the demoniac.

(M) 14. And Jesus came into the house of Peter, and saw his wife’s mother abed, and fever-sick.] Mk. has: “And straightway they went out of the synagogue, and came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. And the wife’s mother of Simon lay fever-sick, and straightway they tell Him of her.” Mt. must omit ἐκ τῆς συναγωγῆς ἐξελθόντες because he has omitted the previous scene in Mk. which took place in a synagogue. He abbreviates Mk.’s account by omitting as unnecessary καὶ Ἀνδρέου μετὰ Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰωάνου and καὶ εὐθὺς λέγουσιν αὐτῷ περὶ αὐτῆς. βεβλημένην for Mk.’s κατέκειτο is an assimilation to v. 6; see note there. Cf. a similar change in 9:2, and cf. Mark 7:30.

15. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered to Him.] Mk. has: “And He came and raised her, having taken hold of (her) hand; and the fever left her, and she ministered to them.” The editor slightly paraphrases Mk. ἥψατο for Mk.’s κρατήσας is an assimilation to v. 3. Mk. has the plural throughout, “they came—ministered to them,” because since 1:16-20 he has represented Christ as accompanied by the four disciples; cf. v. 21 “they come.” But Mt. has left the incident of the call so far behind that he has ceased to be influenced by it, and substitutes the singular.

(M) 16. And when it was evening, they brought to Him many demoniacs; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were in evil plight.] Mk has: “And when it was evening, when the sun set, they were bringing to Him all who were in evil plight, and the demoniacs. And the whole city was gathered at the door. And He healed many who were in evil plight, and cast out many demons; and did not suffer the demons to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.”

This passage is very characteristic of Mk.’s style. Notice the tautologous “When it was evening, when the sun set,” the repetition of τοὺς κακῶς ἔχοντας and of τὰ δαιμόνια, and the emphasis upon the multitude who thronged the door. Mt. omits “when the sun set”; cf. Introduction, p. xxiv. He substitutes the aorist προσήνεγκαν for Mk.’s imperfect ἔφερον. See Introduction, p. xx. προσφέρειν occurs fifteen times in Mt., three in Mk. The substitution of the composite for the simple verb carries with it the substitution of αὐτῷ for πρὸς αὐτόν; cf. the same change in 9:2 = Mark 2:3, the dat. for πρός με in 17:17 = Mark 9:19, the dot. for πρὸς αὐτόν in 22:23 = Mark 12:18, and the dat. for πρὸς τὸν ΙΙειλᾶτον in 27:57 = Mark 15:43. He abbreviates the rest in such a way as to omit one occurrence of τοὺς κακῶς ἔχοντας and of τὰ δαιμόνια, and by a slight transposition has “many brought, all healed” for Mk.’s “all brought, many healed.” Cf. Introduction, p. xxxii. λόγῳ is an assimilation to v. 8 It enhances the miraculous character of the healing. Cf. Introduction, p. xxxii.

(O) 17. The editor closes his first series of miracles with a quotation from Isaiah 53:4, which seems to be an independent translation of the Hebrew. The LXX is quite different (οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμων φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται), and would hardly have been applicable here. We need not ask as to the exact signification of the verbs. The translator’s thought was centred on the nouns “weaknesses and diseases.” Christ healed these, as the three illustrations of leprosy, paralysis, and fever just given show. In so doing, He “bore and carried” them in any sense in which these verbs can be predicated of a physician. The translator therefore chooses two colourless Greek verbs—λαμβάνειν, βαστάζειν—to represent the Hebrew originals, giving us no clue whether the thought in his mind was that Christ “took away” and “carried away” disease from the sufferer, or rather that He took upon Himself and carried in His own person these ailments in the weariness which such work caused Him. Cf. Deissm. Bib. Stud. 102 f.

(2) Three miracles of power, 8:18-9:17

18. The next section in Mk is 1:35-39. This the editor omits as being irrelevant to his purpose, since it contains no miracle. Mark 1:40-45 he has already inserted. He comes therefore to 2:1-22. But this occurred at a second visit to Capharnaum (Mark 2:1), and Mt., who has already inserted Mark 1:40-45, which separates the two visits, cannot by continuing with 2:1-22 confuse them. He therefore postpones 2:1-22. 2:23-3:6 contains controversial matter, which Mt. reserves for a special controversial section (12). 3:7-35 furnishes no miracle of healing. 4:1-34 is reserved for a special parable section (13). He therefore comes to 4:35, where Christ is described as surrounded by a multitude at evening time, and about to cross the lake, possibly being wearied with His ministry. Mt. adapts this situation to what he has just recorded, inserts 8:19-22, and then takes over Mark 4:35 = Matthew 8:23-34 with considerable omissions. These verses contain two incidents which form the first two of a second series of miracles illustrating Christ’s power over natural and supernatural forces.

(M) 18. And Jesus, seeing great multitudes1 about Him, gave command to depart to the other side.] Mk has: “And He saith to them on that day when it was evening, Let us cross to the other side.” Mt. omits “on that day when it was evening,” because he has already recorded the latter fact in v. 16.

(X) 19-22.Luke 9:57-62 has the story of these two claimants to discipleship, with the addition of a third, at a later stage in the ministry. The substantial agreement in language is no reason for supposing that both drew from the same documentary source. Lk.’s addition and the difference of context is against this. But it is not easy to see why Mt. should have placed the section here in his series of miracles. Possibly the thought of the sickness bearer suggested to him the companion picture of the homeless Son of Man.

(X) 19. And there came a scribe, and said to Him, Teacher, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest away.]

προσελθών] Cf. on 4:3.—εἷς γραμματεύς] For the Semitic use of εἷς = τις, cf. Blass, p. 144; Win.-Schm. p. 243. But contrast Moulton, p. 96; and for one= “a” in Aramaic, Dalm. Gram. 121. In Aramaic it is placed before the substantive, in Hebrew after it. Its use in Hebrew in this sense seems to be occasional and limited. Hatzidakis, Einl. 207, says that this use occurs in Greek writers since Polybius. Zahn refers to take εἷς γραμματεύς in apposition, “one, a scribe,” cf. 18:24 εἷς ὀφειλέτης, on the ground that when Mt. uses alt as εἷς as=τις, he places it after the substantive; cf. 9:18, 12:11, 18:5, 21:18. Lk. has simply τις.

διδάσκαλε] = ῥαββεί. See Dalman, Words, 336. What induced this scribe to wish to accompany Christ in His wanderings we cannot say. The next verse suggests that the Lord doubted his sincerity of purpose.

(X) 20. And Jesus saith to him, The foxes have earths and the birds of the heaven nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.] “Son of Man” is here quite clearly a self-designation of Himself by Christ. For its meaning, see the Introduction, p. lxxi.

(X) 21. And another of the disciples said to Him, Lord, suffer me first to go away and bury my father.]

ἕτερος] is used loosely for ἅλλος, as in 10:23, 12:45, 15:30.—τῶν μαθητῶν] loosely qualifies ἕτερος without implying that the γραμματεύς was a disciple.

(X) 22. And Jesus saith to him, Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.] It is generally suggested that τοὺς νεκρούς means the spiritually dead, i.e. those who had not felt the call to follow Christ, and were dead so far as He was concerned. They could perform the duties of burial. The questioner had received the call, and that was the more urgent duty. In this case, the burial of the dead parent would come under the rule that sometimes the call to follow Christ might necessitate the abandonment of human relations; cf. 19:29. But it is possible that “let the dead bury their dead” was a proverbial saying, meaning, “Cut yourself adrift from the past when matters of present interest call for your whole attention.”

(M) 23. And when He embarked into a boat, His disiples followed Him.] Mk. has: “And they left the multitude, and take Him as He was in the boat. And other boats were with Him.” The editor adapts Mk. to his context. In Mk. Christ was already in a boat, and had been speaking from it (Mark 4:1). Mt. is obliged to insert a statement of the embarkation, and omits the reference to the other boats as superfluous.

24. And, behold, there arose a great storm in the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves: but He was sleeping.] Mk. has: “And there arises a great hurricane of wind, and the waves were beating into the boat, so that the boat was already being filled. And He was in the stern upon the cushion sleeping.”

καὶ ἰδού] see on 1:20.—σεισμός] Mk. has the stronger phrase λαῖλαψ—ἀνέμου.—ἐγένετο] for Mk.’s historic present, cf. Introduction, p. xx.—καλύπτεσθαι] for Mk.’s stronger γεμίζεσθαι. Mt. avoids the repeated τὸ πλοῖον; see on v. 16.—αὐτὸς δέ] for Mk.’s καὶ αὐτός, cf. Introduction, p. xx. Mt. omits ἐν τῇ πρύμνῃ ἐπὶ τὸ προσκεφάλαιον; cf. Introduction, p. xvii.

(M) 25. And they came and aroused Him, saying, Lord, save; we are perishing.] Mk. has: “And they arouse Him, and say to Him, Teacher, dost Thou not care that we are perishing?” The editor inserts his characteristic προσελθόντες.—προσελθόντες ἤγειραν αὐτὸν λέγοντες] for Mk.’s ἐγείρουσιν αὐτὸν καὶ λέγουσιν, see note on 8:3. Mt. as usual avoids the historic present. Cf. Introduction, p. xx. —σῶσον�

(M) 26. And He saith to them, Why are ye cowardly, O ye of little faith ? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there, was a great calm.] Mk. has: “And He rose up, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Be silent, be muzzled. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said to them, Why are ye cowardly? have ye not yet faith?” The editor transposes Mk 39, 40 in order to bring the answer of Christ in close juxtaposition to the appeal of the disciples. He modifies the severity of the rebuke by substituting ὀλιγόπιστοι for οὔπω ἔχετε πίστιν. For other instances, cf. Introduction, p. xxxiii. ὀλιγόπιστος addressed to the disciples does not occur in Mk., but in Mt. here and 6:30, 14:31, 16:8, in Lk. only 12:28. Here the object of πίστις seems to be the power of Christ, for He was with them, and that should have kept them from fear of danger: or perhaps more generally the providence of God.—τότε] see Intro. lxxxv.—τοῖς�oratio recta; cf. v. 18 ἐκέλευσεν�

(M) 27. And men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him ?] Mk. has: “And they feared greatly, and were saying to one another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” The subject of the sentence in Mk. must be inferred to be the disciples from Mk vv. 34 and 36. In the whole of the succeeding section Mk. speaks ambiguously of “they” and “them.” Mt. has introduced “the disciples” in v. 23. οἱ ἄνθρωποι might mean “men.” It generally has this meaning in the first Gospel; cf. 5:13, 16:13 and 24 times. If so, the verse would mean that “men (hearing of the miracle) marvelled,” cf. 9:8. This is more probable than that the editor should refer to the disciples as “οἱ ἄνθρωποι.” Feeling that Mk.’s “and they feared greatly” refers to the disciples, he substitutes “marvelled” to soften the expression, and then to remove all reference to the disciples inserts οἱ ἄνθρωποι as subject to the sentence. Cf. 9:8, where he inserts οἱ ὄχλοι to remove all possible reference to the disciples.

23-27. There are some small points of agreement between Mt. and Lk. as against Mk. Both report the embarkation. Mt. ἐμβάντι αὐτῷ εἰς πλοῖον ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ; Lk. αὐτὸς ἐνέβη εἰς πλοῖον καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ. But since both editors have broken Mk.’s connection, it is necessary for them to say that Christ entered into, rather than that He was in, a boat. έμβαίνειν is the common synoptic word for embarkation, and in other respects the two clauses could hardly agree less. Both agree almost verbatim in the words προσελθόντες ἤγειραν (Lk. διήγειραν) αὐτὸν λέγοντες. The main point here is the agreement in the insertion of προσελθόντες. Both agree in ἐθαύμασαν (Mt 27., Lk 25) and in the plural ἄνεμοι. Lastly, both agree in omitting Mk 36c, in paraphrasing 37b, in omitting all or part of 38a, in omitting or paraphrasing οὐ μέλει σοι in 38b, in omitting the direct command in 39, in modifying the rebuke in 40. It does not, however, seem necessary to suppose that they had another written source besides Mk. These agreements are probably in part independent changes, and in part may be due to reminiscence of Mt. by Lk. and to assimilation in process of transmission.

(M) 28. And when He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, there met Him two demoniacs coming forth from the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no one could pass by that way.] In these words Mt. paraphrases and abbreviates Mark 5:1-5. The two most striking changes introduced are the “two” and Gadara for Gerasa. In view of the brevity of Mt. as compared with Mk. in this section and the following, and to a less extent in the preceding one, it seems not improbable that when the editor came to Mark 1:45 and was proposing to pass on to Mark 4:35, he did not unroll Mk.’s Gospel to these verses, but summarised them from memory, perhaps purposely shortening them. If that was the course adopted, δύο may be a slip of the memory; but it should be borne in mind that, having omitted a previous history of a demoniac, he may purposely have duplicated here by way of compensation. Cf. 20:30, where he has two blind men and Mk. has one, with the fact that he had previously omitted a history of a blind man, Mark 8:22-26. The change of Gadara for Gerasa is probably intentional. The best known Gerasa lay 30 miles to the south-east of the lake. Mk.’s Gerasa is therefore a geographical crux, and has been corrected into Gadara by A C ΙΙ Σ Φ S2, and into Gergesa by אc a L U Δ S1, in that Gospel. Mt. seems to have felt the difficulty, and to have substituted Gadara. This city lay 6 miles south-east of the lake, and the miracle might be supposed to have taken place within its district (χώρα). He does not say, as does Mk., that the demoniacs met Christ immediately on His landing, but seems to imply that Christ had come into the district of Gadara when the meeting took place. The herd of swine by the lake was “far from them,” v. 30, when the demons entered into them. That is to say, Christ had left the lake “far” behind Him.

δαιμονιζόμενοι] Mk. has ἄνθρωπος ἐν πνεύματι�M) 29. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with Thee, Thou Son of God? art Thou come here before the time to torment us?] Mk. has: “And seeing Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped Him. And cried with a loud voice, and saith, What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure Thee by God, do not torment me.”

For καὶ ἰδού, see Introduction, p. lxxxv.

υἱὲ τοῦ θεοῦ] We may suppose that the fame of Christ’s miracles had preceded Him, cf. 4:24. The demoniacs, seeing Him approaching, guessed Him to be the great healer. They address Him as “Son of God,” meaning no more than one who was endowed with divine power, or possibly using it as equivalent to Messiah. Cf. Dalm. Words, 274 ff.—βασανίσαι] The word carries us into the atmosphere of the then current belief about demons, their activity and their destiny. See the art. “Demon” in DB. It was believed that evil demons could enter into human beings and dominate their personality. They could also be expelled by magic. Josephus speaks of one Eleazer whom he had seen curing demoniacs by holding a magical ring to the nose of the patient. He then drew the demon out through his nostrils (Ant. viii. 46, 47). The demons have power to afflict mankind until the day of judgment, when they will be punished, Enoch 15-16. Cf. Weber, Jüd. Theol. 254 ff.; Bousset, Rel. Jüd. 331 ff. The demons who have taken possession of the two men here spoken of see coming one whose fame as an exorcist had preceded His arrival. They beg Him not to anticipate for them the destined torments of hell by casting them out homeless into the wilderness. Mt. here omits Mk vv. 8-10, which are not necessary to the story, and contain a question: “What is thy name?” ascribed to Christ. Cf. the omission of such questions from the parallels to Mark 5:30, Mark 5:6:38, Mark 5:8:Mark 5:19-20, Mark 5:23, Mark 5:9:12, Mark 5:16, Mark 5:21, Mark 5:38, Mark 5:10:3, Mark 5:14:14; and see introduction, p. xxxii.

(M) 30. And there was far from them a herd of many swine feeding.] Mk. has: “And there was there at the mountain a great herd of swine feeding.” For μακρὰν�

(M) 31. And the demons were beseeching Him, saying, If Thou cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.] Mk. has: “And they were beseeching Him (παρεκάλουν, A D al latt Syrr), saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.”—οἱ δέ] For Mk.’s καί, cf. Introduction, p. xx. The editor omits Mk.’s tautologous ἵνα εἰς αὐτοὺς εἰσέλθωμεν; cf. Introduction, p. xxiv.

(M) 32. And He said to them, Go. And they went out, and went away into the swine: and, behold, all the herd ran down the declivity into the sea, and perished in the waters.] Mk. has: “And He suffered them. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine. And the herd ran down the declivity into the sea, and were choked in the sea.”—οἱ δὲ ὲξελθόντες] For Mk.’s καὶ ἐξελθόντα, cf. Introduction, p. xx.—καὶ ἰδού] see on 2:1. For the omission of Mk.’s ὡς δισχίλιοι, cf. Introduction, p. xviii.—ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν] Mt. avoids the repeated θάλασσα of Mk. See note on 8:16.

(M) 33. And the herdsmen fled, and went away into the city, and reported all things, and the (affairs) of the demoniacs.] Mk. has: “And the herdsmen fled, and reported into the city and into the country.”—οἱ δέ] For Mk.’s καί as usual, see Introduction, p. xx.—εἰς τὴν πόλιν] Mk. adds καὶ εἰς τοὺς άγρούς. Mk. uses�

(M) 34. And, behold, all the city went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they besought (Him) that He would depart from their frontiers.] With these words Mt. abbreviates Mk vv. 14c-17.—παρεκάλεσαν] For Mk.’s ἤρξαντο παρακαλεῖν, cf. Introduction, p. xxi.

εἰς ὑπάντησιν τῷ Ἰησοῦ] For the construction, see Moulton, p. 14, n. 3.

Mk. has here three verses which Mt. omits.

28. Γαδαρηνῶν] So B al S1 Γερασηνῶν latt; Γεργεσηνῶν, אc al; Γαζαρηνῶν, א*.

28-34. Mt. and Lk. have a few points of agreement against Mk. in the following:

δαιμονιζόμενοι, Matthew 28:0 = δαιμόνια, Lk 27.

δαίμονες, Mt 30; cf. δαιμόνια, Lk 33.

δέ, Mt 32, Lk 33, for καί, Mark 13:0.

δέ, Mt 33, Lk 34, for καί, Mark 14:0.

ἐξῆλθεν, Mt 34 = ἐξῆλθον, Lk 35, for ἦλθον, Mark 14:0.

E editorial passages.

M the Second Gospel.

LXX. The Septuagint Version.

Jos. Josephus.

Deissm. Deissmann.

Ditt. Dittenberger Sylloge.

Eph. Ephrem Syrus.

X passages in which Mt. and Lk. agree closely, borrowed from an unknown source or sources.

L the Matthæan Logia.

Bab. Babylonian Talmud.

Ps.-Sol. The Psalms of Solomon.

Sib. Or. Sibylline Oracles.

S Syriac version: Sinaitic MS.

S Syriac version: Curetonian.

al i.e. with other uncial MSS.

O quotations from the Old Testament borrowed from a collection of Messianic prophecies. See pp.61 f.

1 πολλοὐς ὄχλους, cf. 8:1. So א* C al latt; ὄχλους, א*; ὄχλον, B, assimilating to Mark 4:36 “the great multitude,” S1 S2; turbam multam, cg1; ὅχλος πολύς, a b ff1 h k q. In a half editorial note of this kind the plural is more probable; cf. Introduction, p. lxxvi.

Win.-Schm. Winer-Schmiedel.

Dalm. Dalman.

DB. Dictionary of the Bible (Hastings).