Mark 5 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

696 697 698 699a great crowd was gathered to him, and he was being beside the sea. 5.22 And695(...continued)the Old Latin Manuscripts aur, l, the Latin Vulgate, the Harclean Syriac and the BohairicCoptic.It is changed to read åò ô ðÝñáí ðÜëéí, eis to peran palin, “into the other sideagain,” by the first writer of Sinaiticus, Bezae, Minuscules 565, 700, a majority of the OldLatin witnesses and the Peshitta Syriac.It is changed to read only ðÜëéí, palin, “again,” by P45 and the Old Latin Manuscriptf. It is changed to read åò ô ðÝñáí, eis to peran, “into the other side,” by Theta, a fewother Greek manuscripts, the Sinaitic Syriac and some manuscripts of the Bohairic Coptic.It is changed to read pa,lin h=lqen eivj to. pe,ran, palin elthen eis to peran, “again hecame into the other side,” by Family 13 of Minuscules, a few other Greek manuscripts andthe Sahidic Coptic (see).In spite of this array of variants, none of them change the meaning of Mark. SeeFrance’s comment in footnote 694. We suspect that there has been a problem in theprimitive text at this point, and that later copyists and translators have dealt with it in thebest way they could. Here, to. pe,ran, to peran, "the other side," means the western shore,perhaps at Capernaum. Compare footnote 605 on Mark 4:35.696For Mark's references to a "great crowd," see 4:1; 5:21, 24; 6:34; 8:1; 9:14, and 12:37.Once again Mark emphasizes the difference between the ministry of Jesus and that ofthe ordinary rabbi of his day--in its openness and welcome to all people, regardless of theirsex or background, or ritual purity or impurity, or age. All were welcomed by Jesus.697 rdThe 3 person singular aorist passive verb óõíÞ÷èç, sunechthe, "was gatheredtogether," is the verb from which the noun sunagwgh, sunagoge, "synagogue" or "gatheringplace" has been formed.The sea-side has become Jesus’ chosen “synagogue.”698Literally, "...upon him." Mark's language can be understood as emphasizing the"pressure" of the crowd that was surrounding Jesus. See verse 24.699Mark means, of course, the "Sea of Galilee."434