{"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":15,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":1,"content":["\nIn the morning - See Mat 27:1, etc. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["\nThe multitude crying aloud - Αναβοησας. The word itself strongly marks the vociferations, or, to come nearer the original word, the bellowing of the multitude. It signifies, properly, a loud and long cry, such as Christ emitted on the cross. See the whole history of these proceedings against our Lord treated at large, on Matthew 27 (note). \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":17,"content":["\nAnd platted a crown of thorns - In the note on Mat 27:29 (note), I have ventured to express a doubt whether our Lord was crowned with thorns, in our sense of the word; this crown being designed as an instrument of torture. I am still of the same opinion, having considered the subject more closely since writing that note. As there I have referred to Bishop Pearce, a man whose merit as a commentator is far beyond my praise, and who, it is to be regretted, did not complete his work on the New Testament, I think it right to insert the whole of his note here.\n\"The word ακανθων may as well be the plural genitive case of the word ακανθος as of ακανθη: if of the latter, it is rightly translated, of thorns; but the former would signify what we call bear's-foot, and the French, branche ursine. This is not of the thorny kind of plants, but is soft and smooth. Virgil calls it mollis acanthus, Ecl. iii. 45, Geor. iv. 137. So does Pliny, sec. Epist. ver. 6. And Pliny the elder, in his Nat. Hist. xxii. 22, p. 277, edit. Hard., says that it is laevis, smooth; and that it is one of those plants that are cultivated in gardens. I have somewhere read, but cannot at present recollect where, that this soft and smooth herb was very common in and about Jerusalem. I find nothing in the New Testament said concerning this crown, which Pilate's soldiers put on the head of Jesus, to incline one to think that it was of thorns, and intended, as is usually supposed, to put him to pain. The reed put into his hand, and the scarlet robe on his back, were only meant as marks of mockery and contempt. One may also reasonably judge, by the soldiers being said to plat this crown, that it was not composed of such twigs and leaves as were of a thorny nature. I do not find that it is mentioned by any of the primitive Christian writers as an instance of the cruelty used towards our Savior, before he was led to his crucifixion, till the time of Tertullian, who lived after Jesus's death at the distance of above 160 years. He indeed seems to have understood ακανθων in the sense of thorns, and says, De Corona Militar. sect. xiv. edit. Pamel. Franck. 1597, Quale, oro te, Jesus Christus sertum pro utroque sexu subiit? Ex spinis, opinor, et tribulis. The total silence of Polycarp, Barnabas, Clem. Romanus, and all the other Christian writers whose works are now extant, and who wrote before Tertullian, in particular, will give some weight to incline one to think that this crown was not platted with thorns. But as this is a point on which we have not sufficient evidence, I leave it almost in the same state of uncertainty in which I found it. The reader may see a satisfactory account of acanthus, bear's-foot, in Quincy's English Dispensatory, part ii. sect. 3, edit. 8, 1742.\"\nThis is the whole of the learned and judicious prelate's note; on which I have only to observed that the species of acanthus described by Virgil and the two Plinys, as mollis and laevis, soft and smooth, is, no doubt, the same as that formerly used in medicine, and described by Quincy and other pharmacopaeists; but there are other species of the same plant that are prickly, and particularly those called the acanthus spinosus, and the ilicifolius, the latter of which is common in both the Indies: this has leaves something like our common holly, the jagged edges of which are armed with prickles; but I do not conceive that this kind was used, nor indeed any other plant of a thorny nature, as the Roman soldiers who platted the crown could have no interest in adding to our Lord's sufferings; though they smote him with the rod, yet their chief object was to render him ridiculous, for pretending, as they imagined, to regal authority. The common wild acanthas or bear's-foot, which I have often met in the dry turf bogs in Ireland, though it have the appearance of being prickly, yet is not, in fact, so. Several shoots grow from one root, about four or five inches long, and about as thick as a little finger. A parcel of such branches, platted by their roots in a string, night be made to look even ornamental, tied about the temples and round the head. It would finely imitate a crown or diadem. But I know not if this plant be a native of Judea. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":21,"content":["\nA Cyrenian - One of Cyrene, a celebrated city in the Pentapolis of Libya.\nThe father of Alexander and Rufus - It appears that these two persons were well known among the first disciples of our Lord. It is not unlikely that this is the same Alexander who is mentioned, Act 19:33, and that the other is the Rufus spoken of by St. Paul, Rom 16:13. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":25,"content":["\nThe third hour - It has been before observed, that the Jews divided their night into four watches, of three hours each. They also divided the day into four general parts. The first began at sunrise. The second three hours after. The third at mid-day. The fourth three hours after, and continued till sunset. Christ having been nailed to the cross a little after mid-day, Joh 19:14-16, Joh 19:17, and having expired about three o'clock, Mar 15:33, the whole business of the crucifixion was finished within the space of this third division of the day, which Mark calls here the third hour. Commentators and critics have found it very difficult to reconcile this third hour of Mark, with the sixth hour of John, Joh 19:14. It is supposed that the true reading, in Joh 19:14, should be τριτη, the third, instead of ἑκτη the sixth; a mistake which might have readily taken place in ancient times, when the character γ gamma, which was put for τριτη, three, might have been mistaken for Ϛ episema, or sigma tau, which signifies six. And τριτη, the third, instead of ἑκτη, the sixth, is the reading of some very eminent MSS. in the place in question, Joh 19:14. See Bengel, Newcome, Macknight, Lightfoot, Rosenmuller, etc., on this perplexing point. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":27,"content":["\nTwo thieves - A copy of the Itala tells their names: One on the right hand - named Zoathon; and one on the left hand - named Chammatha. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":28,"content":["\nThe scripture was fulfilled - All this verse is wanting in many MSS., some versions, and several of the fathers. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":32,"content":["\nAnd believe - In him is added by DFGHPBHV, and upwards of sixty others; as also the Armenian, Slavonic, and four Itala. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":34,"content":["\nMy God, my God, etc. - See on Mat 27:46 (note). \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":37,"content":["\nGave up the ghost - This was about three o'clock, or what was termed by the Jews the ninth hour; about the time that the paschal lamb was usually sacrificed. The darkness mentioned here must have endured about two hours and a half. Concerning this eclipse, see on Mat 27:45 (note). \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":40,"content":["\nJoses - Some MSS. and versions read Joset, others Joseph. See on Mat 27:56 (note). \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":42,"content":["\nThe day before the Sabbath - What we would call Friday evening. As the law of Moses had ordered that no criminal should continue hanging on a tree or gibbet till the setting of the sun, Joseph, fearing that the body of our Lord might be taken down, and thrown into the common grave with the two robbers, came and earnestly entreated Pilate to deliver it to him, that he might bury it in his own new tomb. See on Mat 27:56, Mat 27:60 (note). \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":43,"content":["\nWent in boldly unto Pilate - He who was a coward before now acts a more open, fearless part, than any of the disciples of our Lord! This the Holy Spirit has thought worthy of especial notice. It needed no small measure of courage to declare now for Jesus, who had been a few hours ago condemned as a blasphemer by the Jews, and as a seditious person by the Romans; and this was the more remarkable in Joseph, because hitherto, for fear of the Jews, he had been only a secret disciple of our Lord. See Joh 19:38.\nThe apostle says, We have Boldness to enter into the holiest through his blood. Strange as it may appear, the death of Jesus is the grand cause of confidence and courage to a believing soul. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":47,"content":["\nBeheld where he was laid - The courage and affection of these holy women cannot be too much admired. The strength of the Lord is perfected in weakness; for here a timid man, and a few weak women, acknowledge Jesus in death, when the strong and the mighty utterly forsook him.\nHuman strength and human weakness are only names in religion. The mightiest Man, in the hour of trial, can do nothing without the strength of God; and the weakest Woman can do all things, if Christ strengthen her. These truths are sufficiently exemplified in the case of Peter and all his brother disciples on the one hand; and Joseph of Arimathea and the two Marys on the other. And all this is recorded, equally to prevent both presumption and despair. Reader, let not these examples be produced before thee in vain.\n\n\n\n\nNext: Mark Chapter 16\n\n"]}],"introduction":"\nJesus is brought before Pilate, examined, and accused, but makes no answer, Mar 15:1-5. The multitude clamor for the release of Barabbas, and the crucifixion of Christ, Mar 15:6-14. Pilate consents, and he is led away, mocked, insulted, and nailed to the cross, Mar 15:15-26. Two thieves are crucified with him, Mar 15:27, Mar 15:28. While hanging on the cross, he is mocked and insulted, Mar 15:29-32. The miraculous darkness and our Lord's death, Mar 15:33-37. The rending of the veil, and the confession of the centurion, Mar 15:38, Mar 15:39. Several women attend and behold his death, Mar 15:40, Mar 15:41. Joseph of Arimathea begs the body from Pilate, and buries it, Mar 15:42-46. Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Joses, note the place of his burial, Mar 15:47. \n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/MRK/15.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"MRK","chapter":15},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/MRK/16.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"MRK","chapter":16},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/MRK/14.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"MRK","chapter":14},"numberOfVerses":14}