8. Perceived (érvyvods). The preposition ézé gives the force of fully. He was not only immediately aware of their thought, but dearly and fudly aware.
Cu. IL] MARK. 171
9. Walk (wepimdres). Lit., walk about.
10. Power (é£ouclav) ; or better, authority, as Rev., in mav- gin. The word is derived from éfeore, it is permitted or lawful. Tt combines the ideas of right and might. Authority or right is the dominant meaning in the New Testament.
13. Resorted—taught (ipyeto—eSiSacxev). The imper- fects are graphic—kept coming, kept teaching.
14. See on Matt. ix. 9. 15. His house. Levi’s. See Luke v. 29.
16. Scribes and Pharisees. But the best texts read ypapparets Tov Papioaior, scribes of the Pharisees. So Rev. Scribes belonging to the sect of the Pharisees. They had fol- lowed him into the hall where the company were seated. This hall answered to the #Aawah of Arabian houses, which is thus described by William Gifford Palgrave : “The Phawah was a long, oblong hall about twenty feet in height, fifty in length, and sixteen or thereabouts in breadth. The walls were covered in a rudely decorative manner with brown and white wash, and sunk here and there into small triangular recesses, destined to the reception of books, lamps, and other such like objects. The roof was of timber, and flat; the floor was strewn with fine, clean sand, and garnished all yound alongside of the walls with long strips of carpet, upon which cushions, covered with faded silk, were disposed at suitable intervals. In poorer houses, felt rugs usually take the place of carpets” (“ Central and Eastern Arabia”).
17. They that are whole (oi txyvovtes). Lit., they that are strong. See on Luke xiv. 30, was not able; and 2 Inet aivene,
power.
No need. The Greek order throws the emphasis on these words: Wo need have they that are strong of a physician.
172 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. IL.
Wye., Whole men have no need to a leech, but they that have evil.
18. And of the Pharisees. But the of is wrong. Tead as Rev., John’s disciples and the Pharisees.
Used to fast (jcav vyotevovtes). The A. V. refers to the fact as a custom ; but Mark means that they were observiny a Jast at that time. Wence the use of the participle with the finite verb. Rev., correctly, were fasting. The threefold repe- tition of the word fast is characteristic of Mark. See Intro- duction.
19. Children of the bride-chamber (viol tod VULPAVOS). More correctly as Rev., sons. Itis noteworthy that Christ twice uses a figure drawn from marriage in his allusions to John the Baptist, the ascetic. Compare John iii. 29. The sons of the bride-chamber are different from the groomsmen. They are the guests invited to the bridal. The scene is laid in Galilee, where groomsmen were not customary, as in Judaea. Hence there is no mention of them in the account of the marriage at Cana. In Judaea there were at every marriage two grooms- men or friends of the bridegroom. See on John iii. 29.
20. Then—in those days. The proper reading is év éxeivy Th nuépa, in that day. So Rev. Another of Marks double expressions: then—in that day.
21. Seweth (émippdmre). A word found in Mark only. Matthew (ix. 16) and Luke (v. 36) use éruBarren, throweth upon, as we speak of clapping a patch upon.
23. He went (adtév raparropetecIa). Lit., went along be- side, along the stretches of standing grain. Matthew and Luke use dvd, through, as Mark does, but not TAp(.
Began, as they went, to pluck (jpEavro odov trovety TidXov- tes). Lit., began to make a way plucking the ears. This does
Cu. IL] MARK. 173
not mean that the disciples broke a way for themselves through the standing corn by plucking the ears, for in that event they would have been compelled to break down the stalks. They - eould not have madea way by plucking the heads of the grain. Mark, who uses Latin forms, probably adopted here the phrase iter facere, to make a way, which is simply to go. The same idiom occurs in the Septuagint, Judges xvii. 8; movfoas odov avtov, ashe journeyed. The offence given the Pharisees was the preparation of food on the Sabbath. Matthew says 7o eat, stating the motive, and Luke, rubbing with their hands, de- scribing the dct. See on Matt. xii. 2. The Rev. rightly re- tains the rendering of the A. V.