Mark 6:40

And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. AND THEY SAT DOWN IN RANKS, BY HUNDREDS, AND BY FIFTIES. Doubtless this was to show at a glance the number fed, and to enable all to witness in an orderly manner this glorious miracle....

30-44 Let not ministers do any thing or teach any thing, but what they are willing should be told to their Lord. Christ notices the frights of some, and the toils of others of his disciples, and provides rest for those that are tired, and refuge for those that are terrified. The people sought the spiritual food of Christ's word, and then he took care that they should not want bodily food. If Christ and his disciples put up with mean things, surely we may. And this miracle shows that Christ came into the world, not only to restore, but to preserve and nourish spiritual life; in him there is enough for all that come. None are sent empty away from Christ but those who come to him full of themselves. Though Christ had bread enough at command, he teaches us not to waste any of God's bounties, remembering how many are in want. We may, some time, need the fragments that we now throw away....

Verse 40. _BY HUNDREDS, AND BY FIFTIES._] "That is," says Mr. Wesley, "fifty in a rank, and a hundred in file. So, a hundred multiplied by fifty, made just five thousand." But if they sat fifty _deep_, how could the disciples conveniently serve them with the bread and fish?...

See this narrative explained in the notes at Matthew 14:13. Mark 6:32 BY SHIP - By a boat or a small vessel. PRIVATELY - Without making their plan known. They intended to go privately. It appears, however, that their intention became known, and multitudes followed them. Mark 6:33 AFOOT THITHER - On foot to the place where they saw them going. OUT OF ALL CITIES - All cities or large towns in the neighborhood. Mark 6:34...

EXPOSITION MARK 6:1 Our Lord now left the neighbourhood of Capernaum, and came INTO HIS OWN COUNTRY, the district of Nazareth, where he had been, not born indeed, but brought up, and where his kinsfolk after the flesh still lived. Nazareth would be about a day's journey from Capernaum. This was not the first public exercise of his ministry at Nazareth. Of that and its results St. Luke gives us the account (Luke 4:16). It would seem reasonable to suppose that, after the fame which he had now acquired, he should again visit the place where he had been brought up. His sisters were still living there. St. Mark here again uses the historical present ἔρχεται, "he cometh," for which there is better authority than for ἧλθεν_. _HIS

AND THEY SAT DOWN IN RANKS,.... Or "beds": in such form as little beds are placed in a garden, or as rows of vines in a vineyard, in which form the scholars of the wise men sat in their schools: it is said g, "R. Eliezer ben Azariah expounded before the wise men in the vineyard (i.e. the university) of Jabneh: though was there a vineyard there? but these are the disciples of the wise men, who are made, or placed, שורות שורות, "rows, rows", or "in ranks", as a vineyard.'' BY HUNDREDS, AND BY FIFTIES; that is, an hundred in "each" bed, or row, and fifty in "each" bed, or row, as the word ανα, signifies: each distinct bed, or row, had either a hundred, or fifty in it. g T. Hieros. Beraeot, fol. 7. 4. Vid. Gloss. in T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 42. 2....

CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The Servant rejected in Nazareth. (Mark 6:1. Matthew 13:54; Luke 4:16)_ 2. The Servant sends forth the Twelve. (Mark 6:7 .Matthew 10:5; Luke 9:1) 3. King Herod troubled. (Mark 6:14. Matthew 14:1; Luke 9:7)...

THE FEEDING OF THE MULTITUDE. Mk. regards the disciples-' need of rest after their missionary labours as the occasion for retirement. The hostility of Herod may also have contributed to the decision to withdraw to a desert place. The pressure of the public on the time and energies of the disciple-band is, however, put in the foreground. The eagerness of the crowd defeats the purpose of Jesus. Though He has withdrawn to avoid them. He goes forth to welcome them. To Him they seem like the shepherdless flock described in Ezekiel 34. Their political and religious leaders are worthless, and their first need is teaching. Jesus is touched by the crowd's half-unconscious search for leadership. Mk. preserves (Mark 6:34) his tantalizing silence as to the content of Jesus-' teaching. He is more interested in the care of Jesus for men's physical hunger than in His concern for their spiritual and pol...

WITHOUT HONOR IN HIS OWN COUNTRY (Mark 6:1-6)...

IN RANKEST IN DIVISIONS (like garden beds). BY. Greek. _ana_. App-104. All the texts read _kata_. App-104....