The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 74

expressed their earnest wish for that interview, saying, "Sir, we would see Jesus." Aud now that Andrew, in the fulness of bis brotherly affection, had brought Petor to ChriMt, Andrew and Peter were bound together ever after, in a dearer, because a doublo, bond of brotherhood. Here is an exampl<l worthy of imitation, and that not only by the brethren of the same family, but by dwellers in the same neighbourhood and members of the same community, who may have shared with us in the amusements of childhood or the employments of youth, or who still walk side by side with us in manhood on the journey of life. Nay, as far as in us lies, by proxy, if not in person, we must seek to be instrumental in bringing our fellow-creatures of every name and clime to the foot of the cross, and in thus winning tbe world for Christ. III. THE EMPLOYMENT OF THESE DISCIPLES, While Andrew and Peter were brothers and joint-occupants of the same dwelling-as we learn from ver. 29, owing to SI Mark's attention. to minute details-we are informed by St. Luke that James and Joh1. were partners in trade (1<ow,.,vol), i.e. in a sort of fishing firm, with Simon, and so sharers in the general profits of the little company. 'l'hey were also fellow-workers, for they are called, some verses earlier in the same chapter, sharers in the work (p.e-rdxo,s). Diligence in business, whatever our employment may be, is an important duty, and one which God is sure to acknowledge and bless; while Satan is eyer ready to find mischief for idle hands to do. :M:oses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, when the angel of the Lord, appearing unto him in that bush that burned with fire and yet was not consumed, sent him to bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt. Gideon was threshing wheat by the wine-press, to hide it, when he was summoned to save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Saul was making search for the lost asses of his father, when he was taken by Samuel and anointed with oil to be captain over the Lord's inheritance. David was tending a few sheep in the wilderness, when God called him to the high office of shepherd of his people Israel. Elisha was " ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth,'' when Elijah cast his mantle upon him in token of his becoming his assistant and successor in the prophetic office. IV. THE PLACE OF THEIR WORK. 1. Name of the lake. "The Lake of Gennesaret," as St. Luke accurately calls this sheet of water so famous in sacred story, is termed" the Sea of Galilee" by St. Matthew and St. Mark, "the Sea of Tiberias" also by St. John, and in the Old Testament "the Sea of Chinnereth," i.e. harp-like in shape, of which "Gennesaret" may be a corruption, if the latter word be not derived from two Hebrew words meaning "gardens of princes" (gannesarim) or" garden of Sharon" (gan sharon); while it gets the designation" of Galilee" from the province in which it is situated and that of" Tiberias" from the Roman emperor Tiberius, in compliment to whom the town Tiberias was so named by Herod .Anti pas, its founder. From this, too, comes the modern name by which the lake is sometimes named Bahr-al-Tabariyeh. 2. The shape and size of the lake. We have already referred to its shape as resembling a h~rp. It is somewhat oval, and very like a pear in form; while its length is twelve miles and a quarter by six and three quarters in breadth at its widest part. The depression of the lake is remarkable- between six hundred and seven hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea. Its waters, reflecting the blue of the sky above, are clear, transparent, and sweet to the taste; while all sorts of fish, largely contributed by the numero~s streams that en~r i.t, abound therein. 3. Scenery and surroundings. The margm of the lake 1s surrounded by a level beach, here covered with smooth sand or small shells, there strewn with coarser shingle, and discernible as a white line encompassing the lake. This beach (al-y,ciAds), so often mentioned in the Gospels, while laved on one side by the bright waters of the lake, is fringed on the other side in many parts by shrubs and oleanders with their rosy-red blossoms. From this shore-line rise gradually in most places the s1m:ouncling ~lls, tho1:1gh to n_o considerable he_ight, ~ith_ brown outline but ever-varying tmts; while away m the distance are seen m white lmes along the sky the snowy peaks of Hermon; also on the eastern side the undulating table-lands com- mencing in Gaulonitis run southward from Cmsarea Philippi down to the Yarmuck, and onward through Perre&. But coming close to the lake and commencing at Kerak, we proceed northward to the hot springs, near to which extend the ruins of Tiberias now Tabariyeh. This was the noble city where once "the Jewish pontiff fixed his throne," e.nd where the Sanhedrin was established; where, moreover, existed for three centuries OH. J, 1-45.] TlIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. 71