And it came to pass afterwards, &c;] After Christ had healed the centurion’s servant at Capernaum, and had raised a widow’s son that was dead, to life, at Naim; after John’s disciples had been with and he had dismissed them, and had said many things in commendation of John, and in vindication both…

And certain women which had been healed of evil spirits, &c.] Of devils, who had possessed them, and were healed by Christ, dispossessing them; (See Gill on Luke 7:21).

And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward Joanna, or Juchan, as the Syriac version calls her, was a name, among the Jews, for a woman, as Jochanan, or John, was for a man. In the Talmud [[4]] we read of one Jochani, or Joanni, the daughter of Retibi, the same name with this.

And when much people were gathered together To Jesus, as he was by the sea side, the sea of Galilee, or Tiberias: and were come to him out of every city; of Galilee, to hear him preach, and see miracles: he spake by a parable; the following things.

A sower went out to sow his seed By whom Jesus Christ is chiefly designed; though it is true of every preacher of the Gospel: who goes forth, being sent by Christ, with the precious seed of the word: for the phrase, “his seed”, which only Luke has, best agrees with Christ, he being the proprietor…

And some fell upon a rock Which the other evangelists call “stony places”, and “stony ground”; by which are meant such hearers whose hearts are, hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, and continue so notwithstanding the preaching of the word unto them.

And some fell among thorns On ground which had within it the roots of thorns and briars; and design such hearers who have their hearts filled with worldly cares, and sensual lusts and pleasures: and the thorns sprang up with it; and grew faster than that: and choked it; as the above things do the…

And other fell on good ground The Syriac version reads, “on good and beautiful ground”; and so the Cambridge copy of Beza’s; ground which both looked well, and proved well; and signifies such hearers who have good and honest hearts, made so by the Spirit of God; who receive the word in the love of…

And his disciples asked him That is, as Mark says, “when he was alone”; after the multitude were departed, and they were by themselves, it may be in some house with other disciples: saying, what might this parable be? what is the sense and meaning of it? According to Matthew, they asked why he…

And he said, unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God The doctrines of the Gospel, which to have spiritual knowledge is a special and peculiar gift of God.

Now the parable is this, &c] “Or this is the sense of the parable”, as the Arabic version renders it: “the seed is the word of God”, the Gospel, as preached by Christ, his apostles, and faithful ministers, which has God for its author, is concerning the grace of God, and is what he blesses, and…

Those by the wayside are they that hear The word of God, though only by accident, and very carelessly, and without understanding what they hear: then cometh the devil; signified by the fowls of the air: and taketh away the word out of their hearts, or memories; that little of it, which is retained…

They on the rock are they, which when they hear The seed that fell upon the rock, or stony ground, signify such sort of hearers, who receive the word with joy. The Ethiopic version reads, “with joy of heart”.

And that which fell among thorns are they The seed that fell among thorns, or were sown on thorny ground, represent such hearers: which, when they have heard, go forth; from hearing the word to their worldly business; or go on in the pursuit of their worldly lusts and pleasures notwithstanding; for…

But that on the good ground are they The seed that fell on good ground design such hearers, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it: who hear with an honest and good intention, and faithfully keep it, and hold it fast: and bring forth fruit with patience; with great…

No man, when he hath lighted a candle Christ by this, and some proverbial sentences following, observes to his disciples, that though the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven were delivered in parables for the present, that they might not be seen and understood by some; and though he gave to them the…

For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, &c.] Meaning, whatever was then wrapped up in parables and dark sayings, or was secretly, and in a private manner, committed to them, should be made manifest by them to others hereafter: neither any thing hid, that shall not be made known, and…

Take heed therefore how ye hear That ye hear not in a careless and negligent manner, since what truths and doctrines ye now hear with the ear, are to be preached by you unto others: for whosoever hath; that is, hath knowledge of the doctrines of the Gospel, and hath gifts and abilities to preach…

Then came to him his mother and his brethren It was when Christ was preaching in an house at Capernaum, that Mary his mother, and some of his near kinsmen with her, came from Nazareth to him: these brethren of his were relations according to the flesh, either by Joseph, or his mother’s side: who…

And it was told him by certain, which said The phrase, “which said”, is omitted in the Vulgate Latin version, and in Beza’s most ancient copy. The Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions only read, “and they said unto him”; and the Persic version renders it, “a certain person said”; some one person,…

And he answered and said unto them Not to his mother and brethren, but to those that told him of them, who either designed to reproach him with them, by reason of the meanness of them, or to interrupt him in his work: my mother and my brethren are these; pointing to his disciples: which hear the…

Now it came to pass on a certain day The same day at even, as Mark says, in which he delivered the parables of the sower, and of the seed cast into the ground, and of the grain of mustard seed: that he went into a ship with his disciples; they following him into it, and he said unto them, let us go…

But as he sailed he fell asleep On a pillow, in the hinder part of the ship, as in and there came down a storm of wind on the lake, (See Gill on Matt. 8:24).

And they came to him, and awoke him That is, the disciples came from some part of the ship, to the hinder part of it, where Christ was asleep; and by their shrieks and cries, and repeated vociferations, awaked him out of sleep: saying, Master, Master, we perish.

And he said unto them, where is your faith? &c.] That is, he said so to his disciples, who had professed faith in him, but now discovered very little: and they being afraid, wondered; being filled with awful sense of his majesty, were amazed at his power and authority, in rebuking the wind and sea,…

And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes In it is called the country of the Gergesenes, (See Gill on Matt. 8:28) as it is here, in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions; and “of the Gerasenes”, in the Vulgate Latin; but the Syriac and Persic versions read, “of the Gadarenes”, as in .

And when he went forth to land The Persic and Ethiopic versions read, when they went forth to land; when Christ and his disciples came out of the ship, and went ashore: there met him out of the city a certain man; or rather, there met him a certain man of the city; that is, one that belonged to,…

When he saw Jesus Even afar off, at some considerable distance, he ran towards him, . He cried out, and fell down before him; that is, the man possessed with the devil did so, under his impulse, and through his agitation of him: and with a loud voice said; which was the unclean spirit in the man:…

For he had commanded the unclean spirit. &c.] That had the rest of the devils under his authority, and power, to come out of the man; this he had done, either before, or just as he came up to him; (See Gill on Mark 5:8).

And Jesus asked him, saying, what is thy name? &c.] This question was put, not out of ignorance in Christ, but for the sake of those that were with him; and partly, that the miserable condition of this man might be the more known; and partly, that his own power might be the more manifest in the…

And they besought him That is, all the devils, the whole legion of them, entreated Jesus, under whose power, and at whose dispose they were: that he would not command them to go out into the deep; meaning, not the deep waters of the sea, for thither they ran the swine at their own request; but the…

And there was there an herd of many swine About two thousand, , Feeding on the mountain; (See Gill on Mark 5:11) And they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them; which they could not do, without his leave: and he suffered them: (See Gill on Mark 5:12) (See Gill on Mark 5:13)

Then went the devils out of the man Being obliged by the power of Christ, sore against their wills, having had possession of him a long time: and entered into the swine; possessed them: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake; that is of Gennesaret; or the sea, as the Syriac and…

When they that fed them saw what was done That the devils went out of the man possessed by them, and entered into the herd of swine, which becoming mad therewith, ran furiously down the precipice into the sea, and were drowned: they fled; as persons affrighted, at these uncommon and surprising…

Then they went out to see what was done That is, the inhabitants of the city, or cities and villages, and houses in the fields; these went out from their respective places of abode, to see with their own eyes, what the swine herds had related to them, concerning the man that had been possessed with…

They also which saw it The disciples of Christ, or the men of the ship, or persons who lived hard by in the fields, who were eyewitnesses of these several things: told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed; (See Gill on Mark 5:16).

Then the whole multitude For it seems, a very large number of people were presently gathered together, from all parts of the country, upon the report of the swine herds, who fled, it is very likely, some one way, and some another: of the country of the Gadarenes round about; of the country that was…

Now the man out of whom the devils were departed Sensible of the power of Christ, and of the favour he had received from him, was of a quite different mind from his countrymen: and besought him that he might be with him; (See Gill on Mark 5:18).

Return to thine own house Which very likely was in the city of Gadara, whither he went, and throughout the whole of which he published the account of the dispossession of the devils from him: Mark adds, “to thy friends”; relations, acquaintance, and countrymen: and show how great things God hath…

And it came to pass, that when Jesus was returned From the country of the Gadarenes, to the other side of the sea of Tiberias, to Galilee; and particularly to his own city, Capernaum; .

And behold, there came a man named Jairus (See Gill on Mark 5:22). and he was a ruler of the synagogue; at Capernaum; and it was the more remarkable, that such an one should come to Christ, and express any regard to his person, or faith in his power, and therefore a “behold” is prefixed to this…

For he had one only daughter And so exceedingly dear to him: about twelve years of age; (See Gill on Matt. 9:18) And she lay a dying, or “was near death”, as the Syriac and Persic versions; or “was just ready to die”, as the Ethiopic version.

And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years The Persic version reads, “there was a woman in that city” in the city of Capernaum; (See Gill on Matt. 9:20).

Came behind him In the press and crowd of people, being ashamed to come before him, and tell him her case: and touched the border of his garment the fringe the Jews were obliged to wear at the bottom of their garments, and which the more religious sort did, for by this they were distinguished from…

And Jesus said, who touched me? &c.] This he said, not as ignorant of the person that had done it, but in order to discover her to the people, and the cure she had received, as well as her faith; (See Gill on Mark 5:30).

And Jesus said, somebody hath touched me Not in a common and accidental way, but with design, and in the strength of faith: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me: for the cure of the person that had touched him, and that not without his knowledge and will; (See Gill on Luke 6:19).

And when the woman saw that she was not hid From Christ, among the crowd, nor the thing that she had done. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it, “that he had not forgot her”; she hoping he would be diverted from taking any notice of her and her action, through the crowd of people about him; she…

And he said unto her, daughter Instead of frowning upon her, and chiding her for what she had done, he addressed her in a very affable and affectionate manner; bidding her be of good comfort; and not be afraid; this clause is left out in the Vulgate Latin version, as in but is in the copies, and…

While he yet spake The above words to the woman; there cometh one: Mark suggests there were more than one, , (See Gill on Mark 5:35) and the Persic version here reads, “some of the ruler’s family came”; that is, to him, who was now with Jesus: from the ruler of the synagogue’s house; so the word…

But when Jesus heard it The message that was brought to the ruler, and the hint that was given, that it was needless to give him any further trouble: he answered him; not the messenger, but the father of the child, as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read: saying, fear not:…

And when he came into the house Of the ruler of the synagogue; he suffered no man to go in: to the room, where the dead body lay: save Peter, James and John; not one of the multitude that followed him, nor any of the disciples, but these three; who were his favourite ones, and were a sufficient…

And all wept and bewailed her Not only her relations and friends, and the servants of the house, but the mourning women, that were hired on this occasion, and employed for this purpose: but he said, weep not; neither in show, as the mourning women did, nor in reality, as the friends of the…

And they laughed him to scorn The servants, neighbours, and relations, the pipers, and mourning women: these, from weeping for the dead, fell to laughing at Christ, having him and his words in the utmost derision: knowing that she was dead: some of them having been employed in laying her out, and…

And he put them all out Of the room, where the maiden lay, all the mourners and pipers; all excepting the parents of the child, and his three disciples, This clause is left out in the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions; nor was it in two of Beza’s ancient copies, and in two of Stephens’s; but in…

And her spirit came again Her soul, which was departed from her, upon the all-powerful voice of Christ, returned to her body; and “re-entered”, as the Ethiopic version adds: this shows that the soul is immortal, and dies not with the body; that it exists in a separate state from it after death, and…

And her parents were astonished At the miracle that was wrought, to see their child restored to life; to see her arise, walk, and eat, being in perfect health and strength, and no disorder attending her; but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.