37. All. All the people of Capernaum, all are seeking thee. The continuous present tense. So Rev., better than A. V. The all is peculiar to Mark.
38. Towns (xwpordres). Lit., véllage-towns, suburban towns.
41. Moved with compassion. Only Mark.
Cu. IL] MARK. 169
43. Strictly charged (€u8piuncduevos). Rev., sternly, in margin. The word is originally to snort, as of mettlesome horses. Hence, to fret, or chafe, or be otherwise strongly moved; and then, as a result of this feeling, to admonish or re- buke urgently. The Lord evidently spoke to him peremptorily. Compare sent him out (€&€Banrev) ; lit., drove or cast him out. The reason for this charge and dismissal lay in the desire of Jesus not to thwart his ministry by awaking the premature vio- lence of his enemies; who, if they should see the leper and hear his story before he had been officially pronounced clean by the priest, might deny either that he had been a leper or had been truly cleansed.
45. The city. Properly, as Rev., @ city; any city.
1. It was noised (jxovc9n). Lit., 2¢ was heard.
That he was in the house (é7u eis oixov éotiv). The dre, that, is recitative, introducing the report in the direct form. Lt was reported—he is in the house! The preposition én is lit- erally into, carrying the idea of the motion preceding the stay in the house. ‘‘ He has g gone into the house, and is there.” But the best texts read év ol, i the house. The.account of this rumor is peculiar to Mark.
He preached (éddAev). Lit., spake, as Rev. Imperfect tense. He was speaking when the occurrence which follows ‘took place.
3. Borne of four. A detail peculiar to Mark. 4. Come nigh unto him Sekar sa) The word does
not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. But some read mpocevéeyKas, bring him unto him. So Rev., in margin.
170 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. II.
_ They uncovered (aecréyacav). The only use of the word in New Testament.
Broken it up (éfopufavtes). Lit., scooped it out. Very graphic and true to fact. A modern roof would be wntiled or unshingled ; but an oriental roof would have to be dug to make such an opening as was required. A composition of mortar, tar, ashes, and sand is spread upon the roofs, and rolled hard, and grass grows in the crevices. On the houses of the poor in the country the grass grows more freely, and goats may be seen on the roofs cropping it. In some cases, as in this, stone slabs are laid across the joists. See Luke v. 19, where it is said they let him down through the tiles y so that they would be obliged, not only to dig through the grass and earth, but also to pry up the tiles. Compare Ps. exxix. 6.
The bed (xpaBarrov). One of Mark’s Latin words, gr aba- tus, and condemned by the grammarians as inelegant. A rude pallet, merely a thickly padded quilt or mat, held at the cor- ners, and requiring no cords to let it down. They could easily reach the roof by the steps on the outside, as the roof is low ; or they could have’ gone into an adjoining house and passed along the roofs. Some suppose that the crowd was assembled in an upper chamber, which sometimes extended over the whole area of the house. It is not possible accurately to reproduce the details of the scene. Dr. Thomson says that Jesus probably stood in the ewan or reception-room, a hall which is entered from the court or street by an open arch; or he may have taken his stand in the covered court in front of the house itself, which usually has open arches on three sides, and the crowd was around and in front of him.
6. Reasoning (Suaroyfouevor). The word dialogue is de- rived from this, and the meaning literally is, that they held a dialogue with themselves.