Mark 3:7-12, A Multitude at the Seaside (The Study of Mark)

     7 And Jesus withdrew to the sea1 with his disciples, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him. And a great multitude, hearing about the great things he was doing,2 also came to him from Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, the other side of the Jordan river, and around Tyre and Sidon3 . 9 And he spoke to his disciples that a boat should be ready4 for him because of the crowd, that they would not crush5 him. 10 For he healed many, therefore, as many as were having illnesses6 crowded around him in order to touch him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, were falling down before him and were crying out saying, “You are the Son of God7!” 12 And he was strongly8 warning9 them to not tell who he was10. Mark 3:7-12

The Sea of Galilee at sunset

1 Sea of Galilee

2 ἀκούοντες ὅσα ἐποίει (hearing about the great things he was doing)

This could also be translated, “hearing how great he was doing”. A very interesting “gloss”, but that’s not why the crowd was coming. The were coming because of the things he was doing.

3 Verse Separations

If you consult other translations, you may find that the translators tried to stay within the confines of verse separation that Stephanus did to the New Testament in 1555. Verses 7 and 8 represent how those divisions are sometimes not a good idea. The the people in the Galilee followed Jesus and people in the the other regions came to Jesus. One final personal note on verse separations; although verses make it easier to find passages in the Bible, they also provide the ability for people to take those same verses out of the context from the overall passage.

4 προσκαρτερῇ (should be ready) 

Greek: “should be close at hand”.

5 θλίβωσιν (crush) 

Greek: “crowd” or “press”

6 μάστιγας (illnesses)

μάστιξ: to beat severely with a whip — ‘to whip, to beat with a whip, whipping, flogging.’ This gives a clear picture of what 1st century Jews thought of sicknesses.

7 “You are the Son of God”

This is the first time that “Son of God” is used in Mark, save the variant reading in 1:1. It is interesting that the unclean spirits are the first to acknowledge it.

8 πολλὰ (strongly) 

Greek: “much”

9 ἐπετίμα (was warning)

or “was rebuking”.

10 ἵνα μὴ αὐτὸν φανερὸν ποιήσωσιν (to not tell who he was) 

Greek: “to not make him known” or “to not make him revealed”

The Greek

Μάρκον 3·7 Καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἀνεχώρησεν πρὸς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ πολὺ πλῆθος ἀπὸ τῆς Γαλιλαίας [ἠκολούθησεν], καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας 8 καὶ ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύμων καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰδουμαίας καὶ πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου καὶ περὶ Τύρον καὶ Σιδῶνα πλῆθος πολὺ ἀκούοντες ὅσα ἐποίει ἦλθον πρὸς αὐτόν. 9 καὶ εἶπεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ἵνα πλοιάριον προσκαρτερῇ αὐτῷ διὰ τὸν ὄχλον ἵνα μὴ θλίβωσιν αὐτόν· 10 πολλοὺς γὰρ ἐθεράπευσεν, ὥστε ἐπιπίπτειν αὐτῷ ἵνα αὐτοῦ ἅψωνται ὅσοι εἶχον μάστιγας. 11 καὶ τὰ πνεύματα τὰ ἀκάθαρτα, ὅταν αὐτὸν ἐθεώρουν, προσέπιπτον αὐτῷ καὶ ἔκραζον λέγοντες ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. 12 καὶ πολλὰ ἐπετίμα αὐτοῖς ἵνα μὴ αὐτὸν φανερὸν ποιήσωσιν.