{"commentary":{"id":"adam-clarke","name":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clarke","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"92e28c9363c876d215e296f2fe04abb3ab7e34a2aacebdf06bd62ae79c6e3dba","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":57,"totalNumberOfChapters":854,"totalNumberOfVerses":13318,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"MRK","commentaryId":"adam-clarke","name":"Mark","commonName":"Mark","introduction":"\nPreface to the Gospel According to St. MarkWith a Short Account of His Life\nFor an explication of the word Gospel, and the title Saint, see the Preface to Matthew.\nMark. This person, the second in the commonly received order of the four evangelists, was named John Mark, and was the son of a pious woman called Mary, who dwelt at Jerusalem: she was an early believer, and the disciples used to meet at her house. Peter, having been delivered out of prison by an angel, came to the house of Mary, mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying, Act 12:12. This very first mention of John Mark assures us of Peter's intimacy in that family: it is almost universally allowed that Mark, mentioned by Peter, Pe1 5:13, is this evangelist, and that he is the same with him who is called sister's son to Barnabas, Col 4:10, and is supposed to have been converted by Peter to the Christian faith. Mr. W. Whiston supposes him to have been Peter's own son. See his Primitive New Test. Notes at the end. He traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, Act 12:25, and some short time after he accompanied them to other countries as their minister, Act 13:5. When they returned to the continent, and came on shore at Perga in Pamphylia, he departed from them and returned to Jerusalem, Act 13:13. Afterwards he would have gone with Paul and Barnabas, but the former refused to take him, because of his having left them at Pamphylia; Paul and Barnabas then separated, and Mark accompanied his uncle Barnabas to Cyprus, Act 15:36-41. Afterwards Paul and he were fully reconciled, as evidently appears from Ti2 4:11 : Take Mark, and bring him with thee; for he is profitable to me for the ministry. This appears also from Plm 1:24, where Mark is styled Paul's fellow-laborer; and from Col 4:10, where we find the apostle recommending him in a particular manner to the Church of God at that place. He is generally supposed to have been particularly intimate with St. Peter, to have written his Gospel at Rome, a.d. 64, and to have died at Alexandria in Egypt, in the eighth year of the reign of Nero. Dr. Lardner has fully proved that Mark the evangelist, and John Mark nephew to Barnabas, were one and the same person. See his Works, vol. vi. p. 77, etc.\nHow Mark composed his Gospel, is a question not yet decided among learned men. Many of the primitive fathers, such as Papias, Clemens, Alexandrinus, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Eusebius, etc., believed that he was only the amanuensis of St. Peter; that this apostle, through modesty, would not put his name to the work, but dictated the whole account, and Mark wrote it down from his mouth. St. Augustine appears to have been the first who maintained that Mark abridged St. Matthew's Gospel; and that it is not to be considered as an original work: - on this opinion several remarks will be made in the course of these notes. Others suppose that Mark compiled it, partly out of Matthew's Gospel, and partly out of the Gospel of Luke. But most of these are conjectures which appear to have very little foundation. Critics are also divided concerning the language in which it was written, and the people to whom it was sent. Some have contended for a Latin original, because of several Latin words found in it, such as σπεκουλατωρ, Mar 6:27, one of the guard; κεντυριων, Mar 15:39, Mar 15:44, Mar 15:46, a centurion, a captain of one hundred men; συσσημον, Mar 14:44, a signal, a sign agreed on. But such words are better accounted for by supposing that his Gospel was written for the use of the Roman people; and that it is on this account that he wholly passes by the genealogy of our Lord, as being a point of no consequence to Gentile converts, though very necessary for the Jews, and especially the Jews of Palestine. That it was originally written in Greek, is a point now acknowledged by almost all learned men.\nIt may be necessary to state the things omitted by Mark in the beginning of his Gospel which are mentioned by Matthew and Luke.\n1. The Preface, found in Luke and John, Luk 1:1; Joh 1:1.\n2. The Conception of Elizabeth, Luke 1:5-25.\n3. The Salutation of Mary, Luk 1:26-38.\n4. Mary's Visit to Elizabeth, Luke 1:39-56.\n5. John Baptist's Birth, Luke 1:57-79.\n6. The Angel's Appearance to Joseph, Mat 1:18-25.\n7. The Birth of Christ, Mat 1:25; Luk 2:1-7.\n8. The Genealogy of Christ, Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38.\n9. The Appearance of the Angel to the Shepherds, Luk 2:8-20.\n10. The Circumcision of Christ, Mat 1:25; Luk 2:21.\n11. The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Luke 2:22-38.\n12. The Coming of the Magi, Mat 2:1-12.\n13. The Flight into Egypt, Mat 2:13-15.\n14. Herod's Murder of the Innocents, Mat 2:16-18.\n15. The Return of the Holy Family from Egypt, Mat 2:19-23; Luk 2:39.\n16. Christ's Journey to Jerusalem when twelve years of age, Luk 2:40-48.\nFrom the particulars enumerated here, it appears that the things omitted by Mark are also omitted by John, except the Preface; and that St. Luke is the most circumstantial.\nFor other particulars relative to this Gospel, see at the end of the last chapter.\n\n\n\n\nNext: Mark Chapter 1\n\n","order":41,"numberOfChapters":16,"sha256":"06a3a60d9dfe617a8dd4bc5851391b46a2e3528a59eb9d92f1e8e38a8a978045","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/MRK/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"MRK","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":16,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/MRK/16.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"MRK","chapter":16},"totalNumberOfVerses":336},"chapter":{"number":13,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":1,"content":["\nSee what manner of stones - Josephus says, Ant. b. xv. chap. 11: \"That these stones were white and strong, Fifty feet long, Twenty-Four broad, and Sixteen in thickness.\" If this account can be relied on, well might the disciples be struck with wonder at such a superb edifice, and formed by such immense stones! The principal contents of this chapter are largely explained in the notes on Matt. 24, and to these the reader is requested to refer. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["\nSaying, I am - The Christ, is added by eight MSS., Coptic, Armenian, Saxon, and four of the Itala. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["\nThe beginnings - For αρχαι, many MSS. and versions have αρχη, the beginning, singular. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["\nCouncils - Συνεδρια, Sanhedrins. The grand Sanhedrin consisted of seventy-two elders; six chosen out of each tribe; this was the national council of state; and the small Sanhedrins, which were composed of twenty-three counsellors.\nSynagogues - Courts of justice for villages, etc., consisting of three magistrates, chosen out of the principal directors of the synagogue in that place.\nRulers - Or governors. The Roman deputies, such as Pontius Pilate, etc.\nKings - The tetrarchs of Judea and Galilee, who bore this name. See Mar 6:27. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["\nAnd the Gospel must first be published among all nations. - Many of the Evangelistaria omit this verse. Its proper place seems to be after verse the thirteenth. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["\nNeither - premeditate - This is wanting in BDL, five others, Coptic, Ethiopic, Vulgate, Itala. Griesbach leaves it doubtful. On this verse see Mat 10:19 (note). \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["\nLet him that readeth understand - What he readeth, is added by D, and three of the Itala, perhaps needlessly. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":15,"content":["\nHouse-top - See on Mat 24:17 (note). \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":20,"content":["\nHad shortened those days - Because of his chosen, added by D, Armenian, and five of the Itala. See Mat 24:22. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":30,"content":["\nThis generation - Ἡ γενεα αὑτη, This very race of men. It is certain that this word has two meanings in the Scriptures; that given in the text, and that above. Generation signifies a period of a certain number of years, sometimes more, sometimes less. In Deu 1:35; Deu 2:14, Moses uses the word to point out a term of thirty-eight years, which was precisely the number in the present case; for Jerusalem was destroyed about thirty-eight years after our Lord delivered this prediction. But as there are other events in this chapter, which certainly look beyond the destruction of Jerusalem, and which were to take place before the Jews should cease to be a distinct people, I should therefore prefer the translation given above. See on Mat 24:34 (note). \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":32,"content":["\nNeither the Son - This clause is not found either in Matthew or Luke; and Ambrose says it was wanting in some Greek copies in his time. To me it is utterly unaccountable, how Jesus, who knew so correctly all the particulars which he here lays down, and which were to a jot and tittle verified by the event - how he who knew that not one stone should be left on another, should be ignorant of the day and hour when this should be done, though Daniel, Dan 9:24, etc., could fix the very year, not less than five hundred years before it happened: how he in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, and all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, should not know this small matter, I cannot comprehend, but on this ground, that the Deity which dwelt in the man Christ Jesus might, at one time, communicate less of the knowledge of futurity to him than at another. However, I strongly suspect that the clause was not originally in this Gospel. Its not being found in the parallel places in the other evangelists is, in my opinion, a strong presumption against it. But Dr. Macknight, and others, solve this difficulty in the following manner. They suppose the verb οιδεν to have the force of the Hebrew conjugation Hiphel, in which verbs are taken in a causative, declarative, or permissive sense; and that it means here, make known, or promulge, as it is to be understood in Co1 2:2. This intimates that this secret was not to be made known, either by men or angels, no, not even by the Son of man himself; but it should be made known by the Father only, in the execution of the purposes of his justice. I am afraid this only cuts the knot, but does not untie it. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":34,"content":["\nLeft his house - Οικιαν, family. Our blessed Lord and Master, when he ascended to heaven, commanded his servants to be faithful and watchful. This fidelity to which he exhorts his servants consists in doing every thing well which is to be done, in the heart or in the family, according to the full extent of the duty. The watchfulness consists in suffering no stranger nor enemy to enter in by the senses, which are the gates of the soul; in permitting nothing which belongs to the Master to go out without his consent; and in carefully observing all commerce and correspondence which the heart may have abroad in the world, to the prejudice of the Master's service. See Quesnel. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":35,"content":["\nWatch ye therefore - The more the master is expected, the more diligent ought the servants to be in working, watching, and keeping themselves in readiness. Can one who has received the sentence of his death, and has no right to live a moment, need any admonition to prepare to die? Does not a prisoner who expects his deliverance, hold himself in continual readiness to leave his dungeon? \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":36,"content":["\nHe find you sleeping - A porter asleep exposes the house to be robbed, and well deserves punishment. No wonder that the man is constantly suffering loss who is frequently off his guard.\nOur Lord shows us in this parable:\n1. That himself, ascended to heaven, is the man gone from home.\n2. That believers collectively are his family.\n3. That his servants are those who are employed in the work of faith and labor of love.\n4. That the porter represents the ministers of his Gospel, who should continually watch for the safety and welfare of the whole flock.\n5. That every one has his own work - that which belongs to himself and to none other, and for the accomplishment of which he receives sufficient strength from his Lord.\n6. That these servants and porters shall give an account to their Lord, how they have exercised themselves in their respective departments.\n7. And that as the master of the family will certainly come to require this account at a time when men are not aware, therefore they should be always watchful and faithful. And,\n8. That this is a duty incumbent on every soul of man, What I say unto you, I say unto All, Watch! If, after all these warnings, the followers of God be found careless, their misery and condemnation must be great.\n\n\n\n\nNext: Mark Chapter 14\n\n"]}],"introduction":"\nJesus predicts the destruction of the temple, Mar 13:1, Mar 13:2. His disciples inquire when this shall be, and what previous sign there shall be of this calamity, Mar 13:3, Mar 13:4; which questions he answers very solemnly and minutely, vv. 5-27; illustrates the whole by a parable, Mar 13:28, Mar 13:29; asserts the absolute certainty of the events, Mar 13:30, Mar 13:31; shows that the precise minute cannot be known by man, Mar 13:32; and inculcates the necessity of watchfulness and prayer, Mar 13:33-37. \n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/MRK/13.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"MRK","chapter":13},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/MRK/14.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"MRK","chapter":14},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/MRK/12.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"MRK","chapter":12},"numberOfVerses":14}