---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible"
author: "Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Commentaries"
section: 611 of 927
url: https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/611/
cite: "Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, section 611. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/611/"
---

# Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

*Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown*

The Victorian standard commentary, critical and practical, from Genesis to Revelation.

## 611. Mark · 9 of 21

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/611/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/611/#p-N

[¶0] [Mt 14:30]:

[¶1] But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid: and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me--The wind was as boisterous before, but Peter "saw" it not, seeing only the power of Christ, in the lively exercise of faith. Now he "sees" the fury of the elements, and immediately the power of Christ to bear him up fades before his view, and this makes him "afraid"--as how could he be otherwise, without any felt power to keep him up? He then "begins to sink"; and finally, conscious that his experiment had failed, he casts himself, in a sort of desperate confidence, upon his "Lord" for deliverance!

[¶2] [Mt 14:31]:

[¶3] And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?--This rebuke was not administered while Peter was sinking, nor till Christ had him by the hand: first reinvigorating his faith, and then with it enabling him again to walk upon the crested wave. Useless else had been this loving reproof, which owns the faith that had ventured on the deep upon the bare word of Christ, but asks why that distrust which so quickly marred it.

[¶4] [Mt 14:32]:

[¶5] And when they--Jesus and Peter.

[¶6] were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

[¶7] 51. And he went up unto them into the ship--John ([Joh 6:21]) says, "Then they willingly received him into the ship"--or rather, "Then were they willing to receive Him" (with reference to their previous terror); but implying also a glad welcome, their first fears now converted into wonder and delight. "And immediately," adds the beloved disciple, "they were at the land whither they went," or "were bound." This additional miracle, for as such it is manifestly related, is recorded by the fourth Evangelist alone. As the storm was suddenly calmed, so the little bark--propelled by the secret power of the Lord of nature now sailing in it--glided through the now unruffled waters, and, while they were wrapt in wonder at what had happened, not heeding their rapid motion, was found at port, to their still further surprise.

[¶8] "Then are they glad, because at rest

[¶9] And quiet now they be;

[¶10] So to the haven He them brings

[¶11] Which they desired to see."

[¶12] Matthew ([Mt 14:33]) says, "Then they that were in the ship came [that is, ere they got to land] and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth Thou art the Son of God." But our Evangelist is wonderfully striking.

[¶13] and the wind ceased and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered--The Evangelist seems hardly to find language strong enough to express their astonishment.

[¶14] 52. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves; for their heart was hardened--What a singular statement! The meaning seems to be that if they had but "considered [reflected upon] the miracle of the loaves," wrought but a few hours before, they would have wondered at nothing which He might do within the whole circle of power and grace.

[¶15] Incidents on Landing ([Mr 6:53-56]).

[¶16] The details here are given with a rich vividness quite peculiar to this charming Gospel.

[¶17] 53. And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret--from which the lake sometimes takes its name, stretching along its western shore. Capernaum was their landing-place ([Joh 6:24], ).

[¶18] and drew to the shore--a nautical phrase, nowhere else used in the New Testament.

[¶19] 54. And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him--"immediately they recognized Him"; that is, the people did.

[¶20] 55. and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was--At this period of our Lord's ministry the popular enthusiasm in His favor was at its height.

[¶21] 56. and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment--having heard, no doubt, of what the woman with the issue of blood experienced on doing so ([Mr 5:25-29]), and perhaps of other unrecorded cases of the same nature.

[¶22] and as many as touched him--or "it"--the border of His garment.

[¶23] were made whole--All this they continued to do and to experience while our Lord was in that region. The time corresponds to that mentioned ([Joh 7:1]), when He "walked in Galilee," instead of appearing in Jerusalem at the passover, "because the Jews," that is, the rulers, "sought to kill Him"--while the people sought to enthrone Him!

### Chapter 7

### Mr 7:1-23. Discourse on Ceremonial Pollution. ( = Mt 15:1-20)

[¶26] See on [Mt 15:1-20].

### Mr 7:24-37. The Syrophoenician Woman and Her Daughter--A Deaf and Dumb Man Healed. ( = Mt 15:21-31)

[¶28] The Syrophoenician Woman and Her Daughter ([Mr 7:24-30]).

[¶29] The first words of this narrative show that the incident followed, in point of time, immediately on what precedes it.

[¶30] 24. And from thence he arose, and went into the borders--or "unto the borders."

[¶31] of Tyre and Sidon--the two great Phoenician seaports, but here denoting the territory generally, to the frontiers of which Jesus now came. But did Jesus actually enter this heathen territory? The whole narrative, we think, proceeds upon the supposition that He did. His immediate object seems to have been to avoid the wrath of the Pharisees at the withering exposure He had just made of their traditional religion.

[¶32] and entered into an house, and would have no man know it--because He had not come there to minister to heathens. But though not "sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" ([Mt 15:24]), He hindered not the lost sheep of the vast Gentile world from coming to Him, nor put them away when they did come--as this incident was designed to show.

[¶33] but he could not be hid--Christ's fame had early spread from Galilee to this very region ([Mr 3:8]; [Lu 6:17]).

[¶34] 25. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit--or, as in Matthew ([Mt 15:22]), "was badly demonized."

[¶35] heard of him--One wonders how; but distress is quick of hearing.

[¶36] and fell at his feet:

[¶37] 26. The woman was a Greek--that is, "a Gentile," as in the Margin.

[¶38] a Syrophoenician by nation--so called as inhabiting the Phoenician tract of Syria. Juvenal uses the same term, as was remarked by Justin Martyr and Tertullian. Matthew ([Mt 15:22]) calls her "a woman of Canaan"--a more intelligible description to his Jewish readers (compare [Jud 1:30], 32, 33).

[¶39] and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter--"She cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David: my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil" ([Mt 15:22]). Thus, though no Israelite herself, she salutes Him as Israel's promised Messiah. Here we must go to [Mt 15:23-25] for some important links in the dialogue omitted by our Evangelist.

[¶40] [Mt 15:23]:

[¶41] But he answered her not a word--The design of this was first, perhaps, to show that He was not sent to such as she. He had said expressly to the Twelve, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles" ([Mt 10:5]); and being now among them Himself, He would, for consistency's sake, let it be seen that He had not gone thither for missionary purposes. Therefore He not only kept silence, but had actually left the house, and--as will presently appear--was proceeding on His way back, when this woman accosted Him. But another reason for keeping silence plainly was to try and whet her faith, patience, and perseverance. And it had the desired effect: "She cried after them," which shows that He was already on His way from the place.

[¶42] And His disciples came and besought Him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us--They thought her troublesome with her importunate cries, just as they did the people who brought young children to be blessed of Him, and they ask their Lord to "send her away," that is, to grant her request and be rid of her; for we gather from His reply that they meant to solicit favor for her, though not for her sake so much as their own.

[¶43] [Mt 15:24]:

[¶44] But He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel--a speech evidently intended for the disciples themselves, to satisfy them that, though the grace He was about to show to this Gentile believer was beyond His strict commission, He had not gone spontaneously to dispense it. Yet did even this speech open a gleam of hope, could she have discerned it. For thus might she have spoken: "I am not SENT, did He say? Truth, Lord, Thou comest not hither in quest of us, but I come in quest of Thee; and must I go empty away? So did not the woman of Samaria, whom when Thou foundest her on Thy way to Galilee, Thou sentest away to make many rich!" But this our poor Syrophoenician could not attain to. What, then, can she answer to such a speech? Nothing. She has reached her lowest depth, her darkest moment: she will just utter her last cry: