Matthew 14:22-33

Walking on Water

14:22 Immediately Jesus ¹  made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dispersed the crowds. 14:23 And after he sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. 14:24 Meanwhile the boat, already far from land, ²  was taking a beating from the waves because the wind was against it. 14:25 As the night was ending, ³  Jesus came to them walking on the sea. ⁴  14:26 When ⁵  the disciples saw him walking on the water ⁶  they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out with fear. 14:27 But immediately Jesus ⁷  spoke to them: ⁸  “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” 14:28 Peter ⁹  said to him, ¹⁰  “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” 14:29 So he said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. 14:30 But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, ¹¹  “Lord, save me!” 14:31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 14:32 When they went up into the boat, the wind ceased. 14:33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

John 6:15-21

6:15 Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone. ¹² 

Walking on Water

6:16 Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹³  6:17 got into a boat, and started to cross the lake ¹⁴  to Capernaum. ¹⁵  (It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.) ¹⁶  6:18 By now a strong wind was blowing and the sea was getting rough. 6:19 Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, ¹⁷  they caught sight of Jesus walking on the lake, ¹⁸  approaching the boat, and they were frightened. 6:20 But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” 6:21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land where they had been heading.

[14:22]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:24]  ² tn Grk “The boat was already many stades from the land.” A stade (στάδιον, stadion) was a unit of distance about 607 feet (187 meters) long.

[14:25]  ³ tn Grk “In the fourth watch of the night,” that is, between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.

[14:25]  ⁴ tn Or “on the lake.”

[14:26]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[14:26]  ⁶ tn Grk “on the sea”; or “on the lake.” The translation “water” has been used here for stylistic reasons (cf. the same phrase in v. 25).

[14:27]  ⁷ tc Most witnesses have ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsous, “Jesus”), while a few lack the words (א* D 073 892 pc ff¹ sy^c sa bo). Although such additions are often suspect (due to liturgical influences, piety, or for the sake of clarity), in this case it is likely that ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς dropped out accidentally. Apart from a few albeit important witnesses, as noted above, the rest of the tradition has either ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς αὐτοῖς (Jo Ihsous autois) or αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (autois Jo Ihsous). In uncial letters, with Jesus’ name as a nomen sacrum, this would have been written as autoisois_ or ois_autois. Thus homoioteleuton could explain the reason for the omission of Jesus’ name.

[14:27]  ⁸ tn Grk “he said to them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[14:28]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[14:28]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “answering him, Peter said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[14:30]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he cried out, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[6:15]  ¹² sn Jesus, knowing that his “hour” had not yet come (and would not, in this fashion) withdrew again up the mountainside alone. The ministry of miracles in Galilee, ending with this, the multiplication of the bread (the last public miracle in Galilee recorded by John) aroused such a popular response that there was danger of an uprising. This would have given the authorities a legal excuse to arrest Jesus. The nature of Jesus’ kingship will become an issue again in the passion narrative of the Fourth Gospel (John 18:33ff.). Furthermore, the volatile reaction of the Galileans to the signs prepares for and foreshadows the misunderstanding of the miracle itself, and even the misunderstanding of Jesus’ explanation of it (John 6:22-71).

[6:16]  ¹³ tn Or “sea.” The Greek word indicates a rather large body of water, but the English word “sea” normally indicates very large bodies of water, so the word “lake” in English is a closer approximation.

[6:17]  ¹⁴ tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in the previous verse.

[6:17]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[6:17]  ¹⁶ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[6:19]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “about twenty-five or thirty stades” (a stade as a unit of linear measure is about 607 feet or 187 meters).

[6:19]  ¹⁸ tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16. John uses the phrase ἐπί (epi, “on”) followed by the genitive (as in Mark, instead of Matthew’s ἐπί followed by the accusative) to describe Jesus walking “on the lake.”