---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Mark 8"
description: "CHAPTER 8   :-. FOUR THOUSAND
MIRACULOUSLY FED—A
SIGN FROM HEAVEN
SOUGHT AND REFUSED—THE
LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES
AND SADDUCEES—A
BLIND MAN
AT BETHSAIDA
RE"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark/8"
---

CHAPTER 8

. FOUR THOUSAND
MIRACULOUSLY FED—A
SIGN FROM HEAVEN
SOUGHT AND REFUSED—THE
LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES
AND SADDUCEES—A
BLIND MAN
AT BETHSAIDA
RESTORED TO SIGHT.
( = [Matthew 15:32-16](../../../kjv/matthew/15/32-16)).
This section of miscellaneous
matter evidently follows the preceding one in point of time, as will
be seen by observing how it is introduced by Matthew.
*Feeding of the Four Thousand*
([Mark 8:1-9](../../../kjv/mark/8/1-9)).

**1. In those days the multitude being
very great,** &c.

**2. I have compassion on the
multitude**—an expression of that deep emotion in the Redeemer's
heart which always preceded some remarkable interposition for relief.
(See [Matthew 14:14](../../../kjv/matthew/14/14); [Matthew 20:34](../../../kjv/matthew/20/34);
[Mark 1:41](../../../kjv/mark/1/41); [Luke 7:13](../../../kjv/luke/7/13);
also [Matthew 9:36](../../../kjv/matthew/9/36), before the
mission of the Twelve; compare [Judges 2:18](../../../kjv/judges/2/18);
[Judges 10:16](../../../kjv/judges/10/16)).
**because they have now been
with me**—in constant attendance.
**three days, and have nothing
to eat:**

**3. And if I send them away fasting
to their own houses, they will faint by the way**—In their
eagerness they seem not to have thought of the need of provisions for
such a length of time; but the Lord thought of it. In Matthew () it is, "I will not send them away fasting"—or
rather, "To send them away fasting I am unwilling."

**4. From whence can a man satisfy
these men with bread here in the wilderness?**—Though the
question here is the same as when He fed the five thousand, they
evidently *now* meant no more by it than that *they* had
not the means of feeding the multitude; modestly leaving the Lord to
decide what was to be done. And this will the more appear from His
not now trying them, as before, by saying, "They need not
depart, give ye them to eat"; but simply asking what they had,
and then giving His directions.

**5. And he asked them, How many
loaves have ye? And they said, Seven**—It was important in this
case, as in the former, that the precise number of the loaves should
be brought out. Thus also does the distinctness of the two miracles
appear.

**9. And they that had eaten were
about four thousand: and he sent them away**—Had not our Lord
distinctly referred, in this very chapter and in two successive
sentences, to the feeding of the five thousand and of the four
thousand as two distinct miracles, many critics would have insisted
that they were but two different representations of one and the same
miracle, as they do of the two expulsions of the buyers and sellers
from the temple, at the beginning and end of our Lord's ministry. But
even in spite of what our Lord says, it is painful to find such men
as NEANDER endeavoring to
identify the two miracles. The localities, though both on the eastern
side of the lake, were different; the time was different; the
preceding and following circumstances were different; the period
during which the people continued fasting was different—in the one
case not even one entire day, in the other three days; the number fed
was different—five thousand in the one case, in the other four
thousand; the number of the loaves was different—five in the one
case, in the other seven; the number of the fishes in the one case is
definitely stated by all the four Evangelists—two; in the other
case both give them indefinitely—"a few small fishes"; in
the one case the multitude were commanded to sit down "upon the
green grass"; in the other "on the ground"; in the one
case the number of the baskets taken up filled with the fragments was
twelve, in the other seven; but more than all, perhaps, because
apparently quite incidental, in the one case the name given to the
kind of baskets used is the same in all the four narratives—the
*cophinus* (see on [Mark 6:43](../../../kjv/mark/6/43));
in the other case the name given to the kind of baskets used, while
it is the same in both the narratives, is quite different—the
*spuris,* a basket large enough to hold a man's body, for Paul
was let down in one of these from the wall of Damascus ([Mark 6:43](../../../kjv/mark/6/43)). It might be added, that in the one case the people, in a
frenzy of enthusiasm, would have taken Him by force to make Him a
king; in the other case no such excitement is recorded. In view of
these things, who could have believed that these were one and the
same miracle, even if the Lord Himself had not expressly
distinguished them?
*Sign from Heaven Sought* ([Mark 6:43](../../../kjv/mark/6/43)).

**10. And straightway he entered into
a ship**—"into the ship," or "embarked."
**with his disciples, and came
into the parts of Dalmanutha**—In Matthew () it is "the coasts of Magdala." Magdala and
Dalmanutha were both on the western shore of the lake, and probably
not far apart. From the former the surname "Magdalene" was
probably taken, to denote the residence of Mary Magdalene. Dalmanutha
may have been a village, but it cannot now be identified with
certainty.

**11. seeking of him a sign from
heaven, tempting him**—not in the least desiring evidence for
their conviction, but hoping to entrap Him. The first part of the
answer is given in Matthew alone ([Matthew 16:2](../../../kjv/matthew/16/2);
[Matthew 16:3](../../../kjv/matthew/16/3)): "He answered and
said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather;
for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather
to-day: for the sky is red and lowering [sullen, gloomy]. Hypocrites!
ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs
of the times?" The same simplicity of purpose and careful
observation of the symptoms of approaching events which they showed
in common things would enable them to "discern the signs of the
times"—or rather "seasons," to which the prophets
pointed for the manifestation of the Messiah. The scepter had
departed from Judah; Daniel's seventy weeks were expiring, c. and
many other significant indications of the close of the old economy,
and preparations for a freer and more comprehensive one, might have
been discerned. But all was lost upon them.

**12. And he sighed deeply in his
spirit**—The language is very strong. These glimpses into the
interior of the Redeemer's heart, in which our Evangelist abounds,
are more precious than rubies. The state of the Pharisaic heart,
which prompted this desire for a fresh sign, went to His very soul.
**and saith, Why doth this
generation**—"this wicked and adulterous generation"
([Matthew 16:4](../../../kjv/matthew/16/4)).
**seek after a sign?**—when
they have had such abundant evidence already.
**There shall no sign be given
unto this generation**—literally, "If there shall be given
to this generation a sign"; a Jewish way of expressing a solemn
and peremptory determination to the contrary (compare [Hebrews 4:5](../../../kjv/hebrews/4/5);
[Psalms 95:11](../../../kjv/psalms/95/11), *Margin*). "A
generation incapable of appreciating such demonstrations shall not be
gratified with them." In [Psalms 95:11](../../../kjv/psalms/95/11) He added, "but the sign of the prophet Jonas."
(See on [Psalms 95:11](../../../kjv/psalms/95/11).)

**13. And he left them**—no doubt
with tokens of displeasure.
**and entering into the ship
again, departed to the other side.**
*The Leaven of the Pharisees and
Sadducees* ([Mark 8:14-21](../../../kjv/mark/8/14-21)).

**14. Now the disciples had forgotten
to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one
loaf**—This is another example of that graphic circumstantiality
which gives such a charm to this briefest of the four Gospels. The
circumstance of the "one loaf" only remaining, as WEBSTER
and WILKINSON remark, was
more suggestive of their Master's recent miracles than the entire
absence of provisions.

**15. And he charged them, saying,
Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees**—"and of
the Sadducees" ([Matthew 16:6](../../../kjv/matthew/16/6)).
**and of the leaven of
Herod**—The teaching or "doctrine" ([Matthew 16:6](../../../kjv/matthew/16/6)) of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees was quite different,
but both were equally pernicious; and the Herodians, though rather a
political party, were equally envenomed against our Lord's spiritual
teaching. See on [Matthew 16:6](../../../kjv/matthew/16/6). The
*penetrating* and *diffusive* quality of leaven, for good
or bad, is the ground of the comparison.

**16. And they reasoned among
themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread**—But a little
while ago He was tried with the obduracy of the Pharisees; now He is
tried with the obtuseness of His own disciples. The *nine*
questions following each other in rapid succession () show how deeply He was hurt at this want of spiritual
apprehension, and worse still, their low thoughts of Him, as if He
would utter so solemn a warning on so petty a subject. It will be
seen, however, from the very form of their conjecture, "It is
because *we* have no bread," and our Lord's astonishment
that they should not by that time have known better with what He took
up His attention—that He ever left *the whole care for His own
temporal wants to the Twelve:* that He did this so entirely, that
finding they were reduced to their last loaf they felt as if unworthy
of such a trust, and could not think but that the same thought was in
their Lord's mind which was pressing upon their own; but that in this
they were so far wrong that it hurt His feelings—sharp just in
proportion to His love—that such a thought of Him should have
entered their minds! Who that, like angels, "desire to look into
these things" will not prize such glimpses above gold?

**17. have ye your heart yet
hardened?**—How strong an expression to use of true-hearted
disciples! See on [Mark 6:52](../../../kjv/mark/6/52).

**18. Having eyes, see ye not? and
having ears, hear ye not?**—See on .
**and do ye not remember?**

**19. When I brake the five loaves
among five thousand**—"the five thousand."
**how many baskets full of
fragments took ye up?** &c.

**21. How is it that ye do not
understand?**—"do not understand that the warning I gave you
could not have been prompted by any such petty consideration as the
want of loaves in your scrip." Profuse as were our Lord's
miracles, we see from this that they were not wrought at random, but
that He carefully noted their minutest details, and desired that this
should be done by those who witnessed, as doubtless by all who read
the record of them. Even the different kind of baskets used at the
two miraculous feedings, so carefully noted in the two narratives,
are here also referred to; the one smaller, of which there were
twelve, the other much larger, of which there were seven.
*Blind Man at Bethsaida Restored
to Sight* ([Mark 8:22-26](../../../kjv/mark/8/22-26)).

**22. And he cometh to
Bethsaida**—Bethsaida Julias, on the northeast side of the lake,
whence after this He proceeded to Cæsarea Philippi ().
**and they bring a blind man
unto him, and besought him to touch him**—See on .

**23. And he took the blind man by the
hand, and led him out of the town**—Of the deaf and dumb man it
is merely said that "He took him aside" (); but this blind man He *led by the hand* out of the
town, doing it Himself rather than employing another—great
humility, exclaims BENGEL—that
He might gain his confidence and raise his expectation.
**and when he had spit on his
eyes**—the organ affected—See on .
**and put his hands upon him,
he asked him if he saw aught.**

**24. And he looked up, and said, I
see men as trees, walking**—This is one of the cases in which one
edition of what is called the received text differs from another.
That which is decidedly the best supported, and has also internal
evidence on its side is this: "I see men; for I see [them] as
trees walking"—that is, he could distinguish them from trees
only by their motion; a minute mark of truth in the narrative, as
ALFORD observes,
describing how human objects had appeared to him during that gradual
failing of sight which had ended in blindness.

**25. After that he put his hands
again upon his eyes, and made him look up; and he was restored, and
saw every man clearly**—Perhaps the one operation perfectly
restored the *eyes,* while the other imparted immediately the
*faculty of using them.* It is the only recorded example of a
*progressive* cure, and it certainly illustrates similar methods
in the spiritual kingdom. Of the four recorded cases of sight
restored, all the patients save one either *came* or *were
brought* to the Physician. In the case of the man born blind, *the
Physician came* to the patient. So some seek and find Christ; of
others He is found who seek Him not.

**26. Neither go into the town, nor
tell it to any in the town**—Besides the usual reasons against
going about "blazing the matter," retirement in this case
would be salutary to himself.
. PETER'S NOBLE
CONFESSION OF CHRIST—OUR
LORD'S FIRST
EXPLICIT ANNOUNCEMENT
OF HIS APPROACHING
SUFFERINGS, DEATH,
AND RESURRECTION—HIS
REBUKE OF PETER,
AND WARNING TO ALL
THE TWELVE. ( =
[Matthew 16:13-27](../../../kjv/matthew/16/13-27); [Luke 9:18-26](../../../kjv/luke/9/18-26)).
For the exposition, see on [Luke 9:18-42](../../../kjv/luke/9/18-42).

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