Mark 2:15

ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτου : whose house? Not perfectly clear, but all things point to that of Levi. There is no mention of a return to Capernaum, where Jesus dwelt. The custom house may have been outside the town, nearer the shore. Then if the house of Jesus (Peter's) had been meant, the name of Jesus should have stood after οἰκία instead of at the close of the verse. The main point to note is that whatever house is meant, it must have been large enough to have a hall or court capable of accommodating a large number of people. Furrer assumes as a matter of course that the gathering was in the court. “Here in the court of one of these ruined houses sat the Saviour of the lost in the midst of publicans and sinners” (Wanderungen, p. 375). πολλοὶ, etc.: many to be taken in earnest, not slurred over, as we are apt to do when we think of this feast as a private entertainment given by Mt. to his quond m friends, Jesus being nothing more than a guest. ἦσαν γὰρ πολλοὶ καὶ ἠκολούθουν αὐτῷ : Mk. here takes pains to prevent us from overlooking the πολλοὶ of the previous clause = for they, the publicans, and generally the people who passed for sinners, were many, and they had begun to follow Him. Some (Schanz, Weiss, etc.) think the reference is to the disciples (μαθηταῖς), mentioned here for first time, therefore a statement that they were numerous (more, e.g., than four), quite apposite. But the stress of the story lies on the publicans, and Christ's relations with them. (So Holtz., H. C.) It was an interesting fact to the evangelist that this class, of whom there was a large number in the neighbourhood, were beginning to show an interest in Jesus, and to follow Him about. To explain the number Elsner suggests that they may have gathered from various port towns along the shore. Jesus would not meet such people in the synagogue, as they seem to have been excluded from it (vide Lightfoot and Wünsche, ad Matthew 18:17). Hence the necessity for a special mission.