Mark 4:33

And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. AND WITH MANY SUCH PARABLES SPAKE HE THE WORD UNTO THEM, AS THEY WERE ABLE TO HEAR IT. Had this been said in the corresponding passage of Matthew, we should have concluded that what that Evangelist recorded was but a specimen of other parables spoken on the same occasion. But Matthew () says, "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables;" and as Mark records only some of the parables which Matthew gives, we are warranted to infer that the "many such parables" alluded to here mean no more than the full complement of them which we find in Matthew....

21-34 These declarations were intended to call the attention of the disciples to the word of Christ. By his thus instructing them, they were made able to instruct others; as candles are lighted, not to be covered, but to be placed on a candlestick, that they may give light to a room. This parable of the good seed, shows the manner in which the kingdom of God makes progress in the world. Let but the word of Christ have the place it ought to have in a soul, and it will show itself in a good conversation. It grows gradually: first the blade; then the ear; after that the full corn in the ear. When it is sprung up, it will go forward. The work of grace in the soul is, at first, but the day of small things; yet it has mighty products even now, while it is in its growth; but what will there be when it is perfected in heaven!...

Verse 33. _WITH MANY SUCH PARABLES_] πολλαις, _many_, is omitted by L, _sixteen_ others; the _Syriac_, both the _Persic_, one _Arabic,_ _Coptic, Armenian, AEthiopic_, and two of the _Itala_. _Mill_ approves of the omission, and _Griesbach_ leaves it doubtful. It is probably an interpolation: the text reads better without it. _AS THEY WERE ABLE TO HEAR_] ακουειν, or to _understand_ always suiting his teaching to the _capacities_ of his hearers. I have always found that preacher most useful, who could adapt his phrase to _that_ of the people to whom he preached. Studying different _dialects_, and _forms_ of _speech_, among the common people, is a more _difficult_ and a more _useful_ work than the study of _dead languages._ The one a man _should do_, and the other he _need_ not leave _undone_....

SPAKE HE THE WORD - The word of God. The doctrines of his gospel. AS THEY WERE ABLE TO HEAR IT - As they could comprehend it. They were like children; and he was obliged to lead them along cautiously and by degrees to a full understanding of the plan of salvation....

EXPOSITION MARK 4:1 AND AGAIN HE BEGAN TO TEACH BY THE SEASIDE. This return to the seaside is mentioned by St. Mark only. From this time our Lord's teaching began to be more public. The room and the little courtyard no longer sufficed for the multitudes that came to him. The Authorized Version says that "a great multitude was gathered unto him." The Greek adjective, according to the most approved reading, is πλεῖστος the superlative of πολὺς,_ _and should be rendered "a very great" multitude. They bad probably been waiting for him in the neighborhood of Capernaum. HE ENTERED INTO A BOAT—probably the boat mentioned at Mark 3:9—AND SAT IN THE SEA, _i.e. _in the boat afloat on the water, so

AND WITH MANY SUCH PARABLES,.... As those of the tares, of the leaven in three measures of meal, of the treasure hid in the field, the pearl of great price, the net cast into the sea, and of the Scribe instructed unto the kingdom of God; which though not related at length here, are by the Evangelist Matthew, in Matthew 13:24 together with others elsewhere: SPAKE HE THE WORD UNTO THEM; preached the Gospel to the multitude, AS THEY WERE ABLE TO HEAR IT: meaning either that he condescended to their weakness, accommodated himself to their capacities, and made use of the plainest similes; and took his comparison from things in nature, the most known and obvious, that what he intended might more easily be understood; or rather, he spoke the word to them in parables, as they were able to hear, without understanding them; and in such a manner, o

CHAPTER 4 _ 1. Teaching by the Seaside. The Parable of the Sower. (Mark 4:1. Matthew 13:1; Luke 8:4 .)_ 2. The Word to shine forth in testimony. (Mark 4:21 .Luke 8:16 .) 3. The Parable of the Growth of the Seed and the Harvest. (Mark 4:26 .) 4. The Parable of the Mustard Seed. (Mark 4:30 .Matthew 13

MARK 4:33 F. These verses seem to apply to the general practice of Jesus at this period rather than to the events of one day. Mark 4:33 gives the true purpose of parabolic teaching; Mark 4:34 embodies the evangelist's later theory, which leads him to regard such a saying as Mark 7:15 as a parable....

TEACHING IN PARABLES (Mark 4:1-2)...

SPAKE. was He speaking. AS THEY WERE ABLE TO HEAR. Occurs only in Mark....