And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
25. in the fourth watch ] i. e. early in the morning. Cp. “Et jam quarta canit venturam buccina lucem,” Propert. iv. 4. 63. At this time the Jews had adopted the Greek and Roman custom of four night watches. Formerly they divided the night into three watches, or rather according to Lightfoot ( Hor. Heb.) the Romans and Jews alike recognised four watches, but with the Jews the fourth watch was regarded as morning, and was not included in the three watches of “deep night.” The four watches are named (Mar 13:35) 1 Even; 2 Midnight; 3 Cockcrowing; 4 Morning. St John states that they had rowed 25 or 30 furlongs.
Jesus went unto them ] Mark adds “He would have passed by them.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And in the fourth watch of the night – The Jews anciently divided the night into three parts of four hours each, usually called watches. The first of these watches is mentioned in Lam 2:19, the middle watch in Jdg 7:19, and the morning watch in Exo 14:24. In the time of our Saviour they divided the night into four watches, the fourth having been introduced by the Romans. These watches consisted of three hours each. The first commenced at six and continued until nine; the second from nine to twelve; the third from twelve to three; and the fourth from three to six. The first was called evening; the second midnight; the third cock-crowing; the fourth morning, Mar 13:35. It is probable that the term watch was given to each of these divisions from the practice of placing sentinels around the camp in time of war, or in cities, to watch or guard the camp or city; and that they were at first relieved three times in the night, but under the Romans four times. It was in the last of these watches, or between three and six in the morning, that Jesus appeared to the disciples, so that he had spent most of the night alone on the mountain in prayer.
Walking on the sea – A manifest and wonderful miracle. It was a boisterous sea. It was in a dark night. The little boat was 4 or 5 miles from the shore, tossed by the billows.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 25. The fourth watch] Anciently the Jews divided the night into three watches, consisting of four hours each. The first watch is mentioned, La 2:19: the second, Jdg 7:19; and the third, Ex 14:24; but a fourth watch is not mentioned in any part of the OLD Testament. This division the Romans had introduced in Judea, as also the custom of dividing the day into twelve hours: see Joh 11:9. The first watch began at six o’clock in the evening, and continued till nine; the second began at nine, and continued till twelve; the third began at twelve, and continued till three next morning; and the fourth began at three, and continued till six. It was therefore between the hours of three and six in the morning that Jesus made his appearance to his disciples.
Walking on the sea.] Thus suspending the laws of gravitation was a proper manifestation of unlimited power. Jesus did this by his own power; therefore Jesus showed forth his Godhead. In this one miracle we may discover three:-
1. Though at a distance from his disciples, he knew their distress.
2. He found them out on the lake, and probably in the midst of darkness.
3. He walked upon the water.
Job, speaking of those things whereby the omnipotence of God was demonstrated, says particularly, Job 9:8, He walketh upon the waves of the sea: intimating that this was impossible to any thing but Omnipotence.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And in the fourth watch of the night,…. This is said, according to the division of the night into four watches, by the Jews; who o say, that
“there are four watches in the night, and four watches in the day.”
It is true indeed, that it is disputed among them, whether there were four watches, or only three in the night: some say there were four, others say there were but three p; not but that these made a division of the night into four parts, the three first of which, they thought were properly the watches of the night, and the fourth was the morning. The first watch began at six o’clock in the evening, and lasted till nine; the second began at nine, and ended at twelve, which was midnight; the third began at twelve, and closed at three; the fourth began at three, and ended at six in the morning. But since some q Jewish writers are so positive for the division of the night into three watches only, and a watch is with them called r the third part of the night; and it is dubious with some, whether the Jewish division is here referred to; and since it is so clear a point, that the Romans s divided their night into four watches, and their writers speak not only of the first, second, and third watches, but also of the fourth watch t; it is thought by some, that the evangelist speaks after the Roman manner: but however, certain it is, that within this period, probably at the beginning of it, after three o’clock in the morning, Christ came to his disciples, when they had been almost all the night at sea, tossed with waves, and in great danger.
Jesus went unto them; from the mountain where he had been praying, the greatest part of the night, to the sea side, and so upon the waters to them; for it follows,
walking upon the sea; as on dry land: though it was so stormy and boisterous, that the disciples, though in a ship, were in the utmost danger, yet he upon the waves, was in none at all; by which action he showed himself to be the Lord of the sea, and to be truly and properly God; whose character is, that he “treadeth upon the waves of the sea”, Job 9:8.
o T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 2. 4. Echa Rabbati, fol. 54. 4. p T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 3. 1, 2. q Jaschi & Kimchi in Jud vii. 19. & in Psal. cxix. 147. r Gloss. in T. Bab. Betacot, fol. 2. 1. s Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. 1. 4. c. 20. t Liv. Hist. 1. 36, c. 24.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Walking upon the sea ( ). Another nature miracle. Some scholars actually explain it all away by urging that Jesus was only walking along the beach and not on the water, an impossible theory unless Matthew’s account is legendary. Matthew uses the accusative (extension) with in verse 25 and the genitive (specifying case) in 26.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And in the fourth watch of the night,” (tetarte de phulake tes nuktos) “Then in the fourth watch of the night,” between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., Mr 6:48.
2) “Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.” (elthen pros autous peripaton epi ten thslassan) “He (Jesus) came toward them walking upon the sea,”, upon the waters of the sea, Mr 6:48; Jesus went to the disciples miraculously to help them, Joh 6:20-21. He came to them, out on the sea, actually walking on the water, not walking on the land in the distance, above the level of the sea, as suggested by cynics and skeptics. Note also, that later He “went up unto them into the ship,” not down to them, Mr 6:51.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(25) In the fourth watch of the night.The Jews, since their conquest by Pompeius, had adopted the Roman division of the night into four watches, and this was accordingly between 3 A.M. and 6 A.M., in the dimness of the early dawn. St. John adds, as from a personal reminiscence, and as guarding against explanations that would minimise the miracle (such as that our Lord was seen on the shore, or was swimming to the boat), that they were about twenty-five or thirty furlongs from the point from which they had startedi.e., as the lake was five miles wide, nearly three-fourths of the way across.
Walking on the sea.Here, again, we have to choose between the simple acceptance of the supernatural fact as another instance of His sovereignty, or rejecting it as a legend. On the former supposition. we may see in it something like an anticipation (not unconnected, it may be, with the intensity of that crisis in His life) of that spiritual body of which we see another manifestation in the Transfiguration, and which became normal after the Resurrection, reaching its completeness in the wonder of the Ascension. We speculate almost involuntarily on the nature, and, as it were, process of the miracle, asking whether the ordinary laws that govern motion were broken or suspended, or counteracted by higher laws. No such questions would seem to have suggested themselves to the disciples. They, as yet not free from the popular superstitions of their countrymen, thought that it was a spirit (better, a phantom, or spectre) taking the familiar form, it might be, to lure them to their destruction, or as a token that some sudden mischance had deprived them of that loved Presence, and, therefore, in their vague terror, they were troubled, and cried out for fear.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. Fourth watch of the night A watch is the regular period which a soldier or sentinel keeps guard by night before he is relieved by a successor. The ancient Jewish watches were three a night, the middle being at midnight. But just before Matthew wrote, the Jews had adopted the Roman custom of four watches of three hours each. These watches began at six, nine, twelve, and three, so that it was about three in the morning that our Lord made himself visible to his disciples. The disciples, starting from Butaiha toward Bethsaida, had toiled in rowing from eve until near morning, and had made but a little more than three miles from their starting place, having been driven southward, below the route to Capernaum, in the direction of the plain of Gennesaret. At three of the morning the dim form of Jesus walking upon the surface of the heaving billows is descried by the disciples in the ship. Stier eloquently says:
“What is that? they ask among themselves in terror; and the fear which now first breaks out in earnest, precisely when the helper comes, answers, It is an apparition, a phantasm; and when the terrifying word is spoken they cry out for fear. Is it a welcome from the Sheol, to which they fancy they are now near? This it cannot be, for the thing upon the sea assuredly looks like the Lord. It is more likely, therefore, to occur to them, that their excited imagination now morbidly deludes them with the figure of Him who has been so much in their thoughts if, indeed, they have any definite idea at all of this phantasm. Man, in his present state, in the fear and perplexity of spirit which may so easily overtake him, sees apparitions; and takes even his Saviour, as he draws nigh in divine power, at first to be such. This, however, is always better than, in the opposite folly of boldness, to take a phantasm of his own thoughts as the Lord and Saviour.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.’
The fourth watch of the night was 3:00 am to 6:00 am (The Roman night watch was divided into four). It was daybreak, after a night of toil. And it was at this stage that He came to them, walking on the Sea.
His people had good cause to remember God’s power over the sea (Exo 15:8; Exo 15:10; Exo 15:19), for in the Exodus they had escaped through the Sea which had swallowed up their antagonists (just as it would have swallowed up Peter without Jesus’ help). Then they could say of Him ‘Your way was in the sea and Your paths in the great waters’ at the time when He ‘led His people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron’ (Psa 77:19-20 compare Isa 43:16). The sea was always an unknown force, the control of which by God was looked on with awe (Psa 74:13; Psa 89:9). Thus Jesus may well here have expected them to remember the Exodus experience, especially when Peter was almost overwhelmed by the Sea, and would have been without His assistance.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The miracle:
v. 25. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
v. 26. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
v. 27. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. Almost the entire night Jesus had spent in prayer, almost the entire night had His disciples struggled to reach the opposite shore. It was in the fourth and last watch of the night, between three and six in the morning, when the extreme darkness was dissolving into a gray dawn, that Jesus went out to them, walking along over the sea, on the water, as the evangelist says twice. The disciples, who were given to superstition, as were most of the Jews, were filled with the most extravagant fear, the dread of phantoms, ghosts, or spirits being very strong. They screamed for fear. But the calm voice of Jesus assures them. Thus the believers, as Luther says, in the midst of their tribulation, do not believe that God is God, but think He is a ghost come to frighten them and to destroy them, surrounded, as they are, by their troubles. But He will always prove to be the gracious and merciful Lord.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Ver. 25. And in the fourth watch, &c. ] Then, and not till then. His time is best, whatever we think of it: his help most sweet, because most seasonable: his hand commonly kept for a deadlift.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
25. ] The fourth watch according to the Roman calculation, which was by this time common among the Jews (who themselves divided the night into three parts or watches). This would be, near the vernal equinox which this was, between three and six in the morning .
. ] a mixed construction for . The words . . (or , the gen. of the mere appearing on the spot, the accus. of motion, over the sea . Webst. and Wilk. cite Od. . 120, Od. . 577) are common to the three Evangelists, and can have no other meaning here, than that the Lord walked bodily on the surface of the water . The passages commonly cited to shew that with a gen. can mean ‘on the bank of,’ are not applicable here, being all after verbs of rest , not of motion. 4 Kings Mat 2:7 : Dan 8:2 Theod.: Joh 21:1 . In ref. Job we read of the Almighty, . Mark adds : John, . See notes on John.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 14:25 . . = 3 to 6, in the early morning, . . .: the readings in this and the next verse vary between genitive and accusative. The sense is much the same. The evangelist means to represent Jesus as really walking on the sea, not on the land above the sea level (Paulus, Schenkel). Holtz. (H. C.), regarding it as a legend, refers to O. T. texts in which God walks on the sea.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the fourth watch. See App-51.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
25.] The fourth watch according to the Roman calculation, which was by this time common among the Jews (who themselves divided the night into three parts or watches). This would be,-near the vernal equinox which this was,-between three and six in the morning.
.] a mixed construction for . The words . . (or ,-the gen. of the mere appearing on the spot, the accus. of motion,-over the sea. Webst. and Wilk. cite Od. . 120,- Od. . 577) are common to the three Evangelists, and can have no other meaning here, than that the Lord walked bodily on the surface of the water. The passages commonly cited to shew that with a gen. can mean on the bank of, are not applicable here, being all after verbs of rest, not of motion. 4 Kings Mat 2:7 : Dan 8:2 Theod.: Joh 21:1. In ref. Job we read of the Almighty, . Mark adds : John, . See notes on John.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 14:25. , fourth) and last. The Jews also divided the night into four watches. The disciples were subjected to great straits for some time, till He brought them help.-, He departed) His prayers, though they had lasted a long while, being as it were broken off, He departed to help His disciples.-, …, walking) though the wind blew strong.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the fourth watch: The Jews at this time divided the night into four watches; the first was from six o’clock in the evening till nine, the second from nine to twelve, the third from twelve till three, and the fourth from three till six; so that it probably began to be daylight before our Lord came to his disciples. Mat 24:43, Luk 12:38
walking: This suspension of the laws of gravitation was a proper manifestation of omnipotence. Job 9:8, Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4, Psa 104:3, Mar 6:48, Joh 6:19, Rev 10:2, Rev 10:5, Rev 10:8
Reciprocal: Psa 90:4 – and as Psa 135:6 – in the seas Lam 2:19 – watches Mar 6:49 – supposed Act 23:23 – at
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:25
The fourth watch was the same as our three o’clock in the morning, as the twelve hours of the night were divided into four divisions of three hours each, beginning at six in the evening. Thus the hour that Jesus went toward the disciples was still in darkness although not very far from the time of daylight.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
[In the fourth watch of the night.] That is, after cock crowing: the Jews acknowledge only three watches of the night, for this with them was the third; The watch is the third part of the night. Thus the Gloss upon the place now cited. See also the Hebrew commentators upon Jdg 7:19. Not that they divided not the night into four parts, but that they esteemed the fourth part, or the watch, not so much for the night as for the morning. So Mar 13:35; that space after cockcrowing is called the morning. See also Exo 14:24. There were, therefore, in truth, four watches of the night, but only three of deep night. When, therefore, it is said that Gideon set upon the Midianites in the “middle watch of the night,” Jdg 7:19; it is to be understood of that watch which was indeed the second of the whole night, but the middle watch of the deep night: namely, from the ending of the first watch to midnight.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 14:25. In the fourth watch of the night. Between three and six oclock in the morning. Their danger had lasted nearly all night. Deliverance is often long delayed, but while the Master prayed, the disciples could not be lost.
He came unto them. Mark adds: and would have passed by them, i.e., to try them.
Walking upon the sea. The main point here is His coming over the sea to join the disciples. The narrative implies an exercise of supernatural power.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Christ having seen the distress of his disciples on the shore, he hastens to them on the sea. It was not a stormy and tempestuous sea that could separate betwixt him and them: he that waded through a sea of blood, and through a sea of wrath, to save his people, will walk upon a sea of water to succour and relieve them.
But observe, the time when Christ came to help them, not till the fourth watch, a little before the morning. They had been many hours upon the waters, conflicting with the waves, with their fears and danger. God oft-times lengthens out the troubles of his children before he delivers them; but when they are come to an extremity, that is the season of his succours. As God suffers his church to be brought into extremities before he helps her, so he will help her in extremity. In the fourth watch Jesus came, &c.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 14:25. And in the fourth watch of the night The Jews, as well as the Romans, usually divided the night into four watches of three hours each. The first watch began at six, the second at nine, the third at twelve, the fourth at three. During these many tedious and distressing hours of storm and tempest, of darkness and danger, Jesus saw his disciples, though they saw not him: he beheld their perplexity and fear, while they were conflicting with the winds and waves, and observed how they toiled in rowing: Mar 6:48; yet he delayed all this time to go to their relief; seeing it proper so long to try their faith and patience. But in the fourth watch When, it is probable, as the storm was not at all abated, they had begun to despair of deliverance; Jesus went unto them, walking on the water agitated, stormy, and tumultuous as its billows were. Thus God often lengthens out the troubles of his people, and defers the time of their deliverance. But when things are come to an extremity, and they are ready to think he hath forgotten them, he unexpectedly appears for their relief and rescue; of a sudden the storm becomes a calm, and they are happily brought into a safe port. Thus, in the morning watch he appeared for Israel in the Red sea, troubled and dismayed their pursuing enemies, and delivered his people: and in all ages the extremity of his church has been his opportunity to visit and appear for her. He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps, but has constantly his eye upon them, and, when there is need, walks in darkness for their succour, support, and comfort. What a wonderful proof have we here of Christs sovereign power over the creatures, which are all under his feet, and at his command, forgetting their natures, and changing their most essential qualities at his word! To walk on the sea was thought so impracticable, that the picture of two feet walking on the sea, was an Egyptian hieroglyphic for an impossible thing. And in the Scripture it is mentioned, as the prerogative of God, that he alone treadeth on the waves of the sea, Job 9:8. Doddridge.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 25
The fourth watch; near the morning.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
14:25 And in the {c} fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
(c) By the fourth watch is meant the time nearer to day break: for in ancient times they divided the night into four watches in which they posted watches.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Jews divided the night, from sunset to sunrise, into three watches (Jdg 7:19; Lam 2:19). The Romans, however, divided it into four. Matthew used the Roman division of watches. The fourth watch was between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. Jesus had spent most of the night praying, and the disciples had spent most of the night rowing.
Some translators rendered the Greek word phantasma as "ghost," but it means an apparition (cf. Mar 6:49). The disciples saw Jesus, but to them His appearance resembled that of a ghost. Perhaps rain or fog was responsible as well as poor light. They may have believed the popular superstition that evil spirits lived in the sea and that those who had drowned haunted the water. [Note: France, The Gospel . . ., p. 569.]
Jesus’ response centered on, "It is I." Note the chiasm of His response. The disciples could take courage and not fear because Jesus was there. The words, "I am," were a term Jesus used to claim deity (cf. Exo 3:14; Isa 43:10; Isa 51:12). The fourth Gospel stressed Jesus’ use of this term especially. The disciples may not have realized this claim in the terror of the moment, but later they undoubtedly saw the significance of what He had said more clearly.
"Fear is unwarranted where Jesus is present [cf. Mat 1:23; Mat 28:20]." [Note: Hagner, Matthew 14-28, p. 425.]
God had ordained that man rule over the sea before the Fall (Gen 1:28). Here Jesus was doing precisely that; He was fulfilling God’s purpose for humankind. This action gave testimony to His being the Second Adam (cf. Mat 8:27; Rom 5:12-17), the man who succeeded where Adam had failed. The Old Testament speaks of God walking on or through the sea (Job 9:8; Psa 77:19; Isa 43:16; cf. Psa 18:16; Psa 144:7).