Mark 8

Listen to this chapter

Jesus miraculously feeds four thousand people with seven loaves and a few fishes, demonstrating his compassion. He then warns his disciples against the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Herod, rebuking their lack of understanding. After healing a blind man in stages, Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, but Jesus immediately teaches of his coming suffering and the necessity of self-denial for true discipleship.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand 1–9

¶ 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 now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat:

And if 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 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 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 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 they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.

And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

Pharisees Demand a Sign 10–13

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

And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign 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.

And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod 14–21

Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they 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 the leaven of Herod.

And they reasoned among themselves, 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 hardened?

Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?

When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.

And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.

And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

The Blind Man Healed at Bethsaida 22–26

¶ And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto 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 if he saw ought.

And he looked up, and said, I see men as 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 clearly.

And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ 27–30

¶ And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?

And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection 31–33

And 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 spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

The Cost of Discipleship 34–38

And when he had called the people unto 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 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 whole world, and lose his own soul?

Or what shall a man give 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.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Mark 8

Verse 2

I have compassion on the multitude — Splagchnizomai, to be moved with pity, the verb of the leper’s cleansing (Mark 1:41) and of the people ‘as sheep not having a shepherd’ (6:34). Jesus himself states the need, ‘three days, and have nothing to eat’, after calling ‘his disciples unto him’ (v.1).

Verse 4

satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness — ‘Satisfy’ is chortazo, the verb of 6:42, where the five thousand ‘were filled’. The question is close to Ps 78:19, ‘Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?’, asked of Israel in the desert. Jesus’ next question is practical, ‘How many loaves have ye?’ (v.5), and they answer ‘Seven’.

Verse 8

seven baskets — The word is spuris, not the kophinos of the five thousand (6:43; 8:19), which held twelve. Jesus keeps the two apart in vv.19–20, ‘Twelve’ and ‘Seven’, and Matt 16:9–10 repeats both words. The seven baskets answer the seven loaves of v.5, and the men fed were ‘about four thousand’ (v.9).

Verse 10

the parts of Dalmanutha — Dalmanutha is named only here. Matthew’s account of the same crossing, after the same feeding of four thousand, says ‘the coasts of Magdala’ (Matt 15:39). Mark’s ‘straightway’ joins the landing to the demand for a sign that follows at once in v.11.

Verse 11

seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him — ‘Tempting’ is peirazo, to put to the test, the verb Mark uses of Satan in the wilderness (1:13). Luke 11:16 reports a like demand in nearly the same words, ‘tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven’. Moses warned, ‘Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah’ (Deut 6:16).

Verse 12

he sighed deeply in his spirit — Anastenazo is found only here; its simple form stenazo describes the sigh at the deaf man’s healing (7:34). ‘In his spirit’ is as in 2:8. Matthew and Luke give the one exception to ‘no sign’: ‘the sign of the prophet Jonas’ (Matt 12:39), the three days of v.31 (Matt 12:40).

Verse 15

the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod — Leaven (zyme) is a working that spreads through the whole lump. Luke names the Pharisees’ leaven as ‘hypocrisy’ (Luke 12:1) and Matthew as ‘doctrine’ (Matt 16:12). Pharisees and Herodians had together ‘took counsel… against him, how they might destroy him’ (Mark 3:6).

Verse 17

have ye your heart yet hardened? — ‘Hardened’ is poroo, the participle of 6:52, ‘they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened’. It occurs in Mark only at these two places. ‘Understand’ is syniemi, the word of 7:14. Jesus then asks about the baskets, ‘how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?’ (vv.19–20).

Verse 22

he cometh to Bethsaida — Bethsaida is the city of Andrew and Peter (John 1:44) and one of the towns named in Jesus’ woes (Matt 11:21). The blind man (typhlos) is brought and others ‘besought him to touch him’, as friends of the deaf man had ‘beseech him to put his hand upon him’ (7:32).

Verse 23

led him out of the town — Taking the man by the hand and leading him out recalls the deaf man taken ‘aside from the multitude’ (7:33). ‘Spit’ is ptyo, found only here, in 7:33 and in John 9:6. Jesus asks a question, ‘if he saw ought’, and the man’s answer in v.24 guides the second laying on of hands in v.25.

Verse 24

I see men as trees, walking — Anablepo means both to look up and to receive sight; the KJV renders it ‘receive my sight’ for Bartimaeus (10:51–52). The man can tell men from trees by their walking, so the sight is partial. In v.25 he is ‘restored, and saw every man clearly’. Isa 35:5 says, ‘the eyes of the blind shall be opened’.

Verse 27

Whom do men say that I am? — The question is put ‘by the way’, on the road; Luke adds that he was ‘alone praying’ (Luke 9:18). The answers in v.28, John the Baptist, Elias, one of the prophets, are those already heard in 6:14–15. The second question, ‘But whom say ye that I am?’ (v.29), is put to the disciples themselves.

Verse 29

Thou art the Christ — Christos is the Greek for the Hebrew Messiah, ‘the Christ’ by interpretation (John 1:41), the anointed one. Mark gives Peter’s answer in its shortest form. Matthew adds ‘the Son of the living God’ (Matt 16:16) and Luke ‘The Christ of God’ (Luke 9:20).

Verse 30

he charged them that they should tell no man of him — Epitimao, to rebuke or sternly charge, is the verb used to the unclean spirits that they ‘should not make him known’ (3:12). Mark uses it again of Peter’s rebuking Jesus (v.32) and of Jesus’ rebuking Peter (v.33). The silence is limited in 9:9: ‘till the Son of man were risen from the dead’.

Verse 31

must suffer many things, and be rejected — ‘Must’ is dei, divine necessity: ‘Ought not Christ to have suffered these things?’ (Luke 24:26). ‘Rejected’ is apodokimazo, to reject after testing, the verb of Mark 12:10, ‘The stone which the builders rejected’. The ‘elders… chief priests and scribes’ are the three groups assembled in 14:53.

Verse 32

he spake that saying openly — Parrhesia is plain speech without a veil, the word of John 16:29, ‘now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb’. Jesus states the passion without a parable. Peter ‘took him’ and ‘began to rebuke’ him (epitimao, as in v.30); Matthew records his words, ‘Be it far from thee, Lord’ (Matt 16:22).

Verse 33

thou savourest not the things that be of God — Phroneo, to set the mind on, the verb of Rom 8:5 and of ‘Set your affection on things above’ (Col 3:2). Jesus uses the name he gave the tempter in the wilderness (Matt 4:10). He first ‘looked on his disciples’, so the rebuke was given in front of the others; Matthew adds ‘thou art an offence unto me’ (Matt 16:23).

Verse 34

deny himself, and take up his cross — ‘Deny’ is aparneomai, the verb of Peter’s denial, ‘thou shalt deny me thrice’ (Mark 14:30). ‘Cross’ (stauros) is spoken before Jesus’ own crucifixion; Simon of Cyrene is later compelled ‘to bear his cross’ (15:21). He calls ‘the people… with his disciples also’, so the saying is addressed to all.

Verse 35

whosoever will save his life — ‘Life’ is psyche, the same word as ‘soul’ in v.36, so vv.35–37 turn on one noun. ‘For my sake and the gospel’s’ is joined again in 10:29. The saying is also given as ‘He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal’ (John 12:25).

Verse 36

gain the whole world, and lose his own soul — ‘Soul’ is psyche, the ‘life’ of v.35. ‘Lose’ here is zemioo, to suffer loss, a different verb from the ‘lose’ (apollymi) of v.35. Ps 49:17 says of the rich, ‘when he dieth he shall carry nothing away’. Verse 37 sets the question of price: ‘what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’

Verse 38

ashamed of me and of my words — Epaischynomai is the verb Paul denies in Rom 1:16, ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ’. ‘Adulterous’ (moichalis) is the word of Matt 12:39 for the sign-seeking generation. The Son of man coming ‘in the glory of his Father with the holy angels’ agrees with Dan 7:13 and Matt 25:31.