Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 6:40
And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
40. in ranks ] Literally, they reclined in parterres ( areolatim). “As they sat in these orderly groups upon the grass, the gay red and blue and yellow colours of the clothing, which the poorest Orientals wear, called up in the imagination of St Peter a multitude of flowerbeds in some well-cultivated garden.” Farrar’s Life of Christ, p. 402. “Our English ‘ in ranks ’ does not reproduce the picture to the eye, giving rather the notion of continuous lines. Wyclif was better, ‘by parties;’ perhaps in groups would be as near as we could get to it in English.” Trench, Miracles, p. 265. St Mark here, as elsewhere, doubtless reproduces the description of the scene by St Peter.
by hundreds, and by fifties ] “Two long rows of 100, a shorter one of 50 persons. The fourth side remained, after the manner of the tables of the ancients, empty and open.” Gerlach.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
40. And they sat down in ranks, byhundreds, and by fiftiesDoubtless this was to show at a glancethe number fed, and to enable all to witness in an orderly mannerthis glorious miracle.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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, , “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 , 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They sat down in ranks ( ). They half-way reclined (, verse 39). Fell up here (we have to say fell down), the word means. But they were arranged in groups by hundreds and by fifties and they looked like garden beds with their many-coloured clothes which even men wore in the Orient. Then again Mark repeats the word, , in the nominative absolute as in verse 39 instead of using or with the accusative for the idea of distribution. Garden beds, garden beds. Peter saw and he never forgot the picture and so Mark caught it. There was colour as well as order in the grouping. There were orderly walks between the rows on rows of men reclining on the green grass. The grass is not green in Palestine much of the year, mainly at the passover time. So here the Synoptic Gospels have an indication of more than a one-year ministry of Jesus (Gould). It is still one year before the last passover when Jesus was crucified.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
In ranks [ ] . Lit., like beds in a garden. The former adverb, by companies, describes the arrangement; this the color. The red, blue, and yellow clothing of the poorest Orientals makes an Eastern crowd full of color; a fact which would appeal to Peter’s eye, suggesting the appearance of flower beds in a garden.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And they sat down in ranks,” (kai anepesan prasiai) “And they reclined in ranks,” in symphonic or orderly ranks, like flower plots, as directed by the Lord and His disciples, presided over or assisted by the disciples and apostles, as they also later did, Mar 8:6.
2) “By hundreds, and fifties.” (kata hekaton kai kata pentakonta) “By ranks of hundreds and by ranks of fifties,” in the separate groups, so that they might be served in a more rapid and orderly manner, as nightfall was rapidly coming, Mar 6:35; Mat 14:15. The description of the sitting is peculiar to Mark, unlike any other description in the New Testament.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(40) In ranks.The primary meaning of the Greek word is a bed of flowers or herbs, and it comes in here effectively, with the same distributive reduplication as in the last verse, to paint the whole scene to the minds eye.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
Ver. 40. Sat down in ranks ] Gr. ranks, ranks, that is, rank by rank, a as rows or borders of beds in a garden. Ordinatim res in Ecclesia faciendae. Church work is to be done decently, and in order.
a , Hebraismus, ut Exo 8:14 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
40. ] (ref. Sir.) , . Theophylact. Similarly Suidas, who adds , viz. hore-hound: but the derivation is more probably from , a leek. The word occurs in Hom. Od. . 127, | , where the Schol., , . The distributive repetitions of these words are Hebraisms: see reff., and note on Mar 6:7 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 6:40 . = , in garden flower plots, or squares, picturesque in fact and in description, bespeaking an eye-witness of an impressionable nature like Peter.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
in rankest in divisions (like garden beds).
by. Greek. ana. App-104. All the texts read kata. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
40.] (ref. Sir.) , . Theophylact. Similarly Suidas, who adds , viz. hore-hound: but the derivation is more probably from , a leek. The word occurs in Hom. Od. . 127, | , where the Schol., , . The distributive repetitions of these words are Hebraisms: see reff., and note on Mar 6:7.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 6:40. , they sat down) A proof of faith on the part of the people.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
by hundreds: It is generally supposed that they were so arranged as to be a hundred in rank, or depth, and fifty in front, or file; which would make the number just five thousand, and will reconcile this account with Luke’s, who only speaks of their sitting down by fifties. Luk 9:14, Luk 9:15
Reciprocal: Mat 15:35 – to sit Mar 8:6 – to sit
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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By hundred and fifties. This was according to the uneven condition of the land, making it more convenient to have smaller groups in some places and larger groups in others, adapting the size of the groups to the surface conditions.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
[By ranks.] Rank by rank; in Talmudic language. The university of Jabneh is very frequently celebrated under the name of the vineyard in Jabneh. And R. Solomon gives the reason; Because the scholars sat there ranks by ranks, like a vineyard which is planted rank by rank.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mar 6:40. In ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties, This is the fullest account of the way they were placed, though all four Evangelists intimate that the crowd was arranged in an orderly manner. Some have thought there were 50 seats in breadth and 100 in length, thus making 5,000 (Mar 6:44). Gerlach: Two longer rows of 100, a shorter one of 50 persons. The fourth side remained, after the manner of the ancients tables, empty and open.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 40
By hundreds, and by fifties; in irregular groups, from fifty to a hundred together.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
6:40 And they sat down in {u} ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
(u) The word signifies the beds in a garden, and it is literally, “by beds and beds”, meaning by this that they sat down in rows one by another, as beds in a garden.