Matthew 8:18

Challenging Professed Followers

8:18 Now when Jesus saw a large crowd ¹  around him, he gave orders to go to the other side of the lake. ² 

Matthew 8:23-27

Stilling of a Storm

8:23 As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ³  8:24 And a great storm developed on the sea so that the waves began to swamp the boat. But he was asleep. 8:25 So they came ⁴  and woke him up saying, “Lord, save us! We are about to die!” 8:26 But ⁵  he said to them, “Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked ⁶  the winds and the sea, ⁷  and it was dead calm. 8:27 And the men ⁸  were amazed and said, ⁹  “What sort of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!” ¹⁰ 

Mark 4:35-41

Stilling of a Storm

4:35 On that day, when evening came, Jesus ¹¹  said to his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” ¹²  4:36 So ¹³  after leaving the crowd, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat, ¹⁴  and other boats were with him. 4:37 Now ¹⁵  a great windstorm ¹⁶  developed and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was nearly swamped. 4:38 But ¹⁷  he was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?” 4:39 So ¹⁸  he got up and rebuked ¹⁹  the wind, and said to the sea, ²⁰  “Be quiet! Calm down!” Then ²¹  the wind stopped, and it was dead calm. 4:40 And he said to them, “Why are you cowardly? Do you still not have faith?” 4:41 They were overwhelmed by fear and said to one another, “Who then is this? ²²  Even the wind and sea obey him!” ²³ 

John 6:1

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

6:1 After this ²⁴  Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). ²⁵ 

[8:18]  ¹ tc ‡ Codex B and some Sahidic mss read simply ὄχλον (oclon, “crowd”), the reading that NA²⁷ follows; the first hand of א, as well as ˹ and a few others, has ὄχλους (oclous, “crowds”); other witnesses read πολὺν ὄχλον (polun oclon, “a large crowd”). But the reading most likely to be original seems to be πολλούς ὄχλους (pollou" oclou"). It is found in א² C L Θ 0233 ˹³ 33 Ï lat; it is judged to be superior on internal grounds (the possibility of accidental omission of πολλούς/πολύν in isolated witnesses) and, to a lesser extent, external grounds (geographically widespread, various texttypes). For reasons of English style, however, this phrase has been translated as “a large crowd.”

[8:18]  ² tn The phrase “of the lake” is not in the Greek text but is clearly implied; it has been supplied here for clarity.

[8:23]  ³ sn A boat that held all the disciples would be of significant size.

[8:25]  ⁴ tn The participle προσελθόντες (proselqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[8:26]  ⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:26]  ⁶ tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).

[8:26]  ⁷ sn Who has authority over the seas and winds is discussed in the OT: Ps 104:3; 135:7; 107:23-30. When Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea he was making a statement about who he was.

[8:27]  ⁸ tn It is difficult to know whether ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) should be translated as “men” or “people” (in a generic sense) here. At issue is whether (1) only the Twelve were with Jesus in the boat, as opposed to other disciples (cf. v. 23), and (2) whether any of those other disciples would have been women. The issue is complicated further by the parallel in Mark (4:35-41), where the author writes (4:36) that other boats accompanied them on this journey.

[8:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “the men were amazed, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) has been translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.

[8:27]  ¹⁰ sn Jesus’ authority over creation raised a question for the disciples about his identity (What sort of person is this?). This verse shows that the disciples followed Jesus even though they did not know all about him yet.

[4:35]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:35]  ¹² tn The phrase “of the lake” is not in the Greek text but is clearly implied; it has been supplied here for clarity.

[4:36]  ¹³ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the response to Jesus’ request.

[4:36]  ¹⁴ tn It is possible that this prepositional phrase modifies “as he was,” not “they took him along.” The meaning would then be “they took him along in the boat in which he was already sitting” (see 4:1).

[4:37]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[4:37]  ¹⁶ tn Or “a squall.”

[4:38]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[4:39]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[4:39]  ¹⁹ tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).

[4:39]  ²⁰ sn Who has authority over the seas and winds is discussed in the OT: Ps 104:3; 135:7; 107:23-30. When Jesus rebuked the wind and the sea he was making a statement about who he was.

[4:39]  ²¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[4:41]  ²² sn Jesus’ authority over creation raised a question for the disciples about who he was exactly (Who then is this?). This verse shows that the disciples followed Jesus even though they did not know all about him yet.

[4:41]  ²³ sn This section in Mark (4:35-5:43) contains four miracles: (1) the calming of the storm; (2) the exorcism of the demon-possessed man; (3) the giving of life to Jairus’ daughter; (4) the healing of the woman hemorrhaging for twelve years. All these miracles demonstrate Jesus’ right to proclaim the kingdom message and his sovereign authority over forces, directly or indirectly, hostile to the kingdom. The last three may have been brought together to show that Jesus had power over all defilement, since contact with graves, blood, or a corpse was regarded under Jewish law as causing a state of ritual uncleanness.

[6:1]  ²⁴ tn Again, μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta) is a vague temporal reference. How Jesus got from Jerusalem to Galilee is not explained, which has led many scholars (e.g., Bernard, Bultmann, and Schnackenburg) to posit either editorial redaction or some sort of rearrangement or dislocation of material (such as reversing the order of chaps. 5 and 6, for example). Such a rearrangement of the material would give a simple and consistent connection of events, but in the absence of all external evidence it does not seem to be supportable. R. E. Brown (John [AB], 1:236) says that such an arrangement is attractive in some ways but not compelling, and that no rearrangement can solve all the geographical and chronological problems in John.

[6:1]  ²⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Only John in the New Testament refers to the Sea of Galilee by the name Sea of Tiberias (see also John 21:1), but this is correct local usage. In the mid-20’s Herod completed the building of the town of Tiberias on the southwestern shore of the lake; after this time the name came into use for the lake itself.