Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 8:9
And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.
9. And they that had eaten wereabout four thousand: and he sent them awayHad not our Lorddistinctly referred, in this very chapter and in two successivesentences, to the feeding of the five thousand and of the fourthousand as two distinct miracles, many critics would have insistedthat they were but two different representations of one and the samemiracle, as they do of the two expulsions of the buyers and sellersfrom the temple, at the beginning and end of our Lord’s ministry. Buteven in spite of what our Lord says, it is painful to find such menas NEANDER endeavoring toidentify the two miracles. The localities, though both on the easternside of the lake, were different; the time was different; thepreceding and following circumstances were different; the periodduring which the people continued fasting was differentin the onecase not even one entire day, in the other three days; the number fedwas differentfive thousand in the one case, in the other fourthousand; the number of the loaves was differentfive in the onecase, in the other seven; the number of the fishes in the one case isdefinitely stated by all the four Evangeliststwo; in the othercase both give them indefinitely”a few small fishes”; inthe one case the multitude were commanded to sit down “upon thegreen grass”; in the other “on the ground”; in the onecase the number of the baskets taken up filled with the fragments wastwelve, in the other seven; but more than all, perhaps, becauseapparently quite incidental, in the one case the name given to thekind of baskets used is the same in all the four narrativesthecophinus (see on Mr 6:43);in the other case the name given to the kind of baskets used, whileit is the same in both the narratives, is quite differentthespuris, a basket large enough to hold a man’s body, for Paulwas let down in one of these from the wall of Damascus (Ac9:25). It might be added, that in the one case the people, in afrenzy of enthusiasm, would have taken Him by force to make Him aking; in the other case no such excitement is recorded. In view ofthese things, who could have believed that these were one and thesame miracle, even if the Lord Himself had not expresslydistinguished them?
Sign from Heaven Sought (Mr8:10-13).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they that had eaten were about four thousand,…. That is, men, besides women and children, as Matthew observes;
[See comments on Mt 15:38].
and he sent them away; some that came dumb, with their speech, and deaf, with their hearing; others that were maimed, with perfect healing of their wounds, and with their limbs sound and whole; others that came lame, he dismissed leaping; and others that were blind, with their sight restored to them, and all of them full.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Baskets. See on Mt 14:20.
Four thousand. Matthew (xv. 38) here adds a detail which we should rather expect in Mark : beside women and children.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And they that had eaten were about four thousand:” (hesan de hos tetrakischilioi) “Now they (the crowd) were about four thousand in number,” yet the disciples had more left than before the Lord blessed it, and they began giving it away, Luk 6:38.
2) “And He sent them away.” (kai apelusen autous) “And He dismissed them,” when they had finished eating and were ‘ full, when they were strengthened, able to make their journey home without fainting, Psa 132:15.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.
Ver. 9. See Trapp on “ Mat 15:38 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
four thousand. Mat 15:38 adds a Divine supplement:. “beside women and children”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Reciprocal: Mat 13:36 – Jesus Mat 14:20 – and they took Mat 15:37 – seven Mar 6:42 – General Luk 9:17 – eat Luk 18:31 – Behold Joh 6:12 – they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
ALL THINGS COME OF THEE
And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and He sent them away.
Mar 8:9
We may always conclude that a miracle had a deep abiding spiritual effect when, of the persons upon whom it was performed, nothing further is recorded. Of the Syro-Phenician woman, of the nobleman, of the centurion, of Jairus and his daughter, we hear no more. When, then, we read of the four thousand merely that He sent them away, we may conclude they departed with the blessing of God resting upon them.
I. Admonition.We learn from this passage that the duty of Gods ministers is to admonish men, in the words of their Divine Master, not to labour merely for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto them. The ordinance of labour imposed upon man at the Fall is not only good for him, but a necessity, and there is no great need to exhort the mass of our people to labour for the meat that perisheth. To reconcile these two duties, herein consists the difficulty. In order to profit by the Lords instruction, and so prepare our souls to receive Him as the Bread of Life, we must find time for searching the Scriptures, for self-examination, meditation, and prayer. It is to those only who seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, that the supply of all necessary things for the body and the soul is promised.
II. And why will men not believe this?Because, although this is the Divine promise, yet the fulfilment of it depends upon the Lords pleasure; and sometimes He sees fit to reduce men to the lowest distress before He extends to them His aid. The four thousand were three days in the wilderness before the miracle of relief was wrought. Our Lord thus tried His humble and devoted followers in the desert; so will He generally try and prove us before He visits us with His blessing; yes, in spiritual things as well as temporal.
III. The earth is the Lords, but in the things of earth He gives us a property for threescore years and ten; and He condescends to receive back, as an offering from us, what He may at any time require for His service. When He gathers a congregation, He receives at our hands a house wherein He may meet His people in sacraments and ordinances; and He appoints His servant, the bishop, to take possession of the same in His Name; and when, at the Holy Eucharist, He makes a spiritual banquet for His people in the wilderness of this world, He requires us, first of all, to make an oblation to Him of what is required for the feast, even as He took the loaves from His disciples. Thus is the Lord provided: and then, at His Holy Table, round which perhaps only two or three are gathered together in His Name, the Lord Jesus, according to His promise, is present unto the end of the world. All comes from Him; it is He Who gives the sacred food, while employing the agency of His ministers to dispense His bounties to believers.
Dean Hook.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
9
Mat 15:38 says this many men besides women and children.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 8:9. Mark again omits besides women and children.