Verse 37. A great storm of wind] See Clarke on Mt 8:24.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

37. And there arose a great storm ofwind“a tempest of wind.” To such sudden squalls theSea of Galilee is very liable from its position, in a deep basin,skirted on the east by lofty mountain ranges, while on the west thehills are intersected by narrow gorges through which the wind sweepsacross the lake, and raises its waters with great rapidity into astorm.

and the waves beat into theshipkept beating or pitching on the ship.

so that it was nowfullrather, “so that it was already filling.” InMatthew (Mt 8:24), “insomuchthat the ship was covered with the waves”; but this is toostrong. It should be, “so that the ship was getting covered bythe waves.” So we must translate the word used in Luke (Lu8:23) not as in our version”And there came down astorm on the lake, and they were filled [with water]”but”they were getting filled,” that is, those who sailed;meaning, of course, that their ship was so.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And there arose a great storm of wind,…. Called Laelaps, a wind that is suddenly whirled about upwards and downwards, and is said to be a storm, or tempest of wind with rain; it was a sort of a hurricane:

and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was full; of water, and ready to sink. Beza says in one copy it read, , and so in one of Stephens’s. It was immersed, covered all over with water, and was going down at once to the bottom; so that they were in imminent danger, in the utmost extremity; [See comments on Mt 8:24].

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

There ariseth a great storm of wind ( ). Mark’s vivid historical present again. Mt 8:24 has (arose) and Lu 8:23 (came down). Luke has also , but Matthew (tempest), a violent upheaval like an earthquake. is an old word for these cyclonic gusts or storms. Luke’s “came down” shows that the storm fell suddenly from Mount Hermon down into the Jordan Valley and smote the Sea of Galilee violently at its depth of 682 feet below the Mediterranean Sea. The hot air at this depth draws the storm down with sudden power. These sudden storms continue to this day on the Sea of Galilee. The word occurs in the LXX of the whirlwind out of which God answered Job (Job 38:1) and in Jon 1:4.

The waves beat into the boat ( ). Imperfect tense (were beating) vividly picturing the rolling over the sides of the boat “so that the boat was covered with the waves” (Mt 8:24). Mark has it: “insomuch that the boat was now filling” ( ). Graphic description of the plight of the disciples.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Storm [] . So Luke. Distinctively furious storm or hurricane. Compare Septuagint, Job 38:1, of the whirlwind out of which God answered Job. See, also, Job 21:18. Matthew uses seismov, a shaking. See on Mt 8:24. Mr. Macgregor (” Rob Roy on the Jordan “) says that “on the sea of Galilee the wind has a singular force and suddenness; and this is no doubt because that sea is so deep in the world that the sun rarefies the air in it enormously, and the wind, speeding swiftly above a long and level plateau, gathers much force as it sweeps through flat deserts, until suddenly it meets this huge gap in the way, and it tumbles down here irresistible.”

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And there arose a great storm of wind,” (kai ginetai lailaps megale anemou) “And there came to be, out of the wind, a great storm,” Short journeys are often met with perils, Jas 4:13-15.

2) “And the waves beat into the ship,” (kai’ta kumata epeballen eis to ploion) “And the waves struck or dashed overboard into the boat or ship,” where Jesus and His apostles were, so that they were overcome with its evil, Rom 12:21.

3) “So that it was now full,” (hoste ede gemizesthai to ploion) “So that now (at this moment) the boat came to be filled,” was about to sink. The ship sailed well with its cargo on the waters of the sea, but when the sea got into the ship it began to sink – – – 0 church of God, keep the world out of your church, lest it sink! 1Jn 2:15-17.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(37) Beat into the ship, so that it was now full.Better, were beating upon the ship, so that it was filling. Both verbs describe continuous action.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

‘And there arises a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the boat insomuch that the boat was now filling. And He Himself was on the cushion in the stern, sleeping.’

The sudden arousal of strong winds to lash the lake up into a fury without warning was a common feature of the Lake of Galilee, surrounded as it was by mountains, and defiles through which the winds could be caught and compressed and then let loose on the lake. Whoever is describing this knew the lake well. But this was a storm of unusual ferocity even for this lake, for it terrified even these experienced sailors, and they were too familiar with the lake to be frightened by any normal storm.

The wind lashed around them in the darkness, the huge waves pounded into the small boat, and the more they tried to bale it out the more they saw that the boat was filling with water. They realised that the end was near. They knew that their boat could not last long and must soon go under. If this went on nothing could save it. They had seen exactly the same thing happen before to other boats (and the other boats of disciples were no doubt in a similar state). If this was a similar type of fishing boat to that discovered and housed at Ginosar in 1968 it would be roughly eight metres by two and a half metres (twenty five foot by eight foot) and have low sides, making it vulnerable to high waves.

This may well be seen as an attempt by Satan to end Jesus’ mission when it had only just begun, hoping to destroy the whole band at one go. Compare Job 1:19. The same agent was probably seen as at work. But it is not portrayed as the work of demons.

‘And He Himself was on the cushion in the stern, sleeping.’ What a sublime picture is presented here. He was totally unconcerned. Not because He did not care but because He knew that they were safe in the Father’s hands. In a boat such as this there would be a special seat at the stern which was the place of honour for any distinguished person aboard, where there would be a cushion and possibly a carpet. This was the place occupied by the exhausted Jesus.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

Ver. 37. See Trapp on “ Mat 8:24 “ See Trapp on “ Mat 8:25 “

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

37.] . . is also in Luke, whose account is in the main so differently worded.

] not . but . , intransitive: see reff.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mar 4:37 . : cf. Jon 1:4 , . , were dashing (intransitive) against and into ( ) the ship. , so that already ( ) the ship was getting full .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Mark

THE STORM STILLED

Mar 4:35 .

Mark seldom dates his incidents, but he takes pains to tell us that this run across the lake closed a day of labour, Jesus was wearied, and felt the need of rest, He had been pressed on all day by ‘a very great multitude,’ and felt the need of solitude. He could not land from the boat which had been His pulpit, for that would have plunged Him into the thick of the crowd, and so the only way to get away from the throng was to cross the lake. But even there He was followed; ‘other boats were with Him.’

I. The first point to note is the wearied sleeper.

The disciples ‘take Him, . . . even as He was,’ without preparation or delay, the object being simply to get away as quickly as might be, so great was His fatigue and longing for quiet. We almost see the hurried starting and the intrusive followers scrambling into the little skiffs on the beach and making after Him. The ‘multitude’ delights to push itself into the private hours of its heroes, and is devoured with rude curiosity. There was a leather, or perhaps wooden, movable seat in the stern for the steersman, on which a wearied-out man might lay his head, while his body was stretched in the bottom of the boat. A hard ‘pillow’ indeed, which only exhaustion could make comfortable! But it was soft enough for the worn-out Christ, who had apparently flung Himself down in sheer tiredness as soon as they set sail. How real such a small detail makes the transcendent mystery of the Incarnation! Jesus is our pattern in small common things as in great ones, and among the sublimities of character set forth in Him as our example, let us not forget that the homely virtue of hard work is also included. Jonah slept in a storm the sleep of a skulking sluggard, Jesus slept the sleep of a wearied labourer.

II. The next point is the terrified disciples.

The evening was coming on, and, as often on a lake set among hills, the wind rose as the sun sank behind the high land on the western shore astern. The fishermen disciples were used to such squalls, and, at first, would probably let their sail down, and pull so as to keep the boat’s head to the wind. But things grew worse, and when the crazy, undecked craft began to fill and get water-logged, they grew alarmed. The squall was fiercer than usual, and must have been pretty bad to have frightened such seasoned hands. They awoke Jesus, and there is a touch of petulant rebuke in their appeal, and of a sailor’s impatience at a landsman lying sound asleep while the sweat is running down their faces with their hard pulling. It is to Mark that we owe our knowledge of that accent of complaint in their words, for he alone gives their ‘Carest Thou not?’

But it is not for us to fling stones at them, seeing that we also often may catch ourselves thinking that Jesus has gone to sleep when storms come on the Church or on ourselves, and that He is ignorant of, or indifferent to, our plight. But though the disciples were wrong in their fright, and not altogether right in the tone of their appeal to Jesus, they were supremely right in that they did appeal to Him. Fear which drives us to Jesus is not all wrong. The cry to Him, even though it is the cry of unnecessary terror, brings Him to His feet for our help.

III. The next point is the word of power.

Again we have to thank Mark for the very words, so strangely, calmly authoritative. May we take ‘Peace!’ as spoken to the howling wind, bidding it to silence; and ‘Be still!’ as addressed to the tossing waves, smoothing them to a calm plain? At all events, the two things to lay to heart are that Jesus here exercises the divine prerogative of controlling matter by the bare expression of His will, and that this divine attribute was exercised by the wearied man, who, a moment before, had been sleeping the sleep of human exhaustion. The marvellous combination of apparent opposites, weakness, and divine omnipotence, which yet do not clash, nor produce an incredible monster of a being, but coalesce in perfect harmony, is a feat beyond the reach of the loftiest creative imagination. If the Evangelists are not simple biographers, telling what eyes have seen and hands have handled, they have beaten the greatest poets and dramatists at their own weapons, and have accomplished ‘things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.’

A word of loving rebuke and encouragement follows. Matthew puts it before the stilling of the storm, but Mark’s order seems the more exact. How often we too are taught the folly of our fears by experiencing some swift, easy deliverance! Blessed be God! He does not rebuke us first and help us afterwards, but rebukes by helping. What could the disciples say, as they sat there in the great calm, in answer to Christ’s question, ‘Why are ye fearful?’ Fear can give no reasonable account of itself, if Christ is in the boat. If our faith unites us to Jesus, there is nothing that need shake our courage. If He is ‘our fear and our dread,’ we shall not need to ‘fear their fear,’ who have not the all-conquering Christ to fight for them.

‘Well roars the storm to them who hear

A deeper voice across the storm.’

Jesus wondered at the slowness of the disciples to learn their lesson, and the wonder was reflected in the sad question, ‘Have ye not yet faith?’-not yet, after so many miracles, and living beside Me for so long? How much more keen the edge of that question is when addressed to us, who know Him so much better, and have centuries of His working for His servants to look back on. When, in the tempests that sweep over our own lives, we sometimes pass into a great calm as suddenly as if we had entered the centre of a typhoon, we wonder unbelievingly instead of saying, out of a faith nourished by experience, ‘It is just like Him.’

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

storm = squall. The earlier storm in Matthew was caused by an earthquake (Greek. seismos). That storm was before the calling of the Twelve (Mat 8:24 and Mar 10:1). This storm was subsequent (Compare Mar 3:13).

beat = were beating Thecefoer an open boat.

fullfilling. In the earlier storm it was gettingcovered.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

37.] . . is also in Luke, whose account is in the main so differently worded.

] not .-but . ,-intransitive: see reff.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mar 4:37. ) i.e. , …, An agitation and commotion of the clouds after a calm [fair weather].-Eustathius.-, dashed into) viz. dashed themselves into.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

there arose: Mat 8:23, Mat 8:24, Luk 8:22, Luk 8:23

great storm: Job 1:12, Job 1:19, Psa 107:23-31, Jon 1:4, Act 27:14-20, Act 27:41, 2Co 11:25

Reciprocal: Psa 93:4 – mightier Jon 1:6 – arise

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

7

After starting across the sea a violent storm arose. It was now full is a figure of speech meaning that the boat was filling, and unless something could be done it would soon be literally filled and sink.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mar 4:37. All three accounts of this storm and its effects differ in form, but agree in substance. From Mar 4:35, we infer that it was already night when the storm arose. The lake was and is still subject to sudden storms, but very few boats are seen there now.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 37

A great storm. Lakes situated in mountainous regions are very much exposed to sudden storms.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

4:37 {6} And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

(6) They that sail with Christ, although he seems to sleep ever so soundly when they are in danger, yet they are preserved by him in due time, being awakened.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The Sea of Galilee was susceptible to sudden violent storms because of its geography.

"The atmosphere, for the most part, hangs still and heavy, but the cold currents, as they pass from the west, are sucked down in vortices of air, or by the narrow gorges that break upon the lake. Then arise those sudden storms for which the region is notorious." [Note: G. A. Smith, The Historical Geography of the Holy Land, pp. 441-42.]

Jesus was probably sleeping on a seat at the stern of the boat that had a cushion on it. The fact that Jesus could sleep in such a storm reflects His physical exhaustion, another indication of His full humanity. This is the only place where Matthew, Mark, and Luke recorded Jesus sleeping, though He slept at other times, of course.

Mark alone recorded the disciples’ rebuke. It was inappropriate because of who Jesus was. However the disciples did not fully appreciate who He was yet. They did not like the fact that Jesus appeared to be unconcerned about their safety. Note the contrast between the disciples’ anxiety and Jesus’ lack of concern.

"It was a cry of distrust, but one often matched by believers today in difficult circumstances when they feel that the Lord has forsaken them." [Note: Hiebert, p. 115.]

The disciples should not have been fearful. Jesus had told them that they were going to the other side; He promised they would arrive there (Mar 4:35). Second, He was with them; they would not die because He would not die before His time. Third, Jesus was sleeping peacefully and was not afraid of the storm. Fourth, He had demonstrated compassion for them and the multitudes many times.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)