Markchapter 10
52 verses · Mark · AD 55 to 65 · The Gospels
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Introduction
Mark, The Gospels, Mark Overview.
Mark follows Jesus in this chapter on the last stretch of road to Jerusalem, and the teaching along the way deals with the ordinary matters of life. He wrote for believers in Rome, where marriage, wealth and rank were governed by Roman law and custom. The questions Jesus answers here come from Pharisees, from parents, from a rich man and from His own disciples. Listen for how often His answers turn the expected order upside down. Listen also for the third prediction of His death, and for the blind man who closes the chapter. Read it as teaching for disciples on the road to the cross.
Context
- Who
- Roman readers living under Roman marriage law, where a wife could divorce her husband
- What
- Teaching on marriage, children, wealth and greatness, the third prediction of Jesus' death, and the healing of blind Bartimaeus.
- Where
- The region of Judea beyond the Jordan, the road up to Jerusalem, and the town of Jericho.
- When
- The last road to Jerusalem, about AD 30, shortly before the Passover.
- Why
- To show what it means to follow Jesus on the road to the cross, and to state that the Son of Man came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.
Historical context
Mark's version of the divorce teaching contains a clause aimed straight at his readers: if she divorces her husband and marries another. Under Jewish law a woman generally could not initiate divorce; under Roman law she could, and it happened often among the propertied classes. Mark applies the ruling to the world his church actually lived in.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The camel and the needle's eye is meant to be impossible, and the disciples hear it that way, they are astonished, because wealth was widely read as evidence of God's favour. Explanations involving a small gate of that name in Jerusalem's wall have no ancient support.
The request from James and John assumes a royal court, where the seats at a king's right and left were the two great offices of state. Jesus answers with a cup and a baptism, both Old Testament images for a portion assigned by God, here a portion of suffering, and then names what the Son of Man came to do: to give his life as a ransom for many.
The road from Jericho to Jerusalem is a serious climb: about seventeen miles, rising over three thousand feet from the Jordan valley to the ridge. Jericho was prosperous, sitting on the balsam trade with one of Herod's palaces nearby, and the pilgrim traffic through it during festival season is why a beggar worked its roadside.
Significance
Mark names the beggar, Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, where the other Gospels do not. Naming a minor character usually meant he was known to the community that told the story, someone a reader might have met.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
For a church in the imperial capital, the sharpest line in the chapter is about rulers who lord it over their subjects and great men who exercise authority over them. Not so among you. That was not a devotional thought; it was a different constitution.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
What God Has Joined Together
the region of Judea, beyond the Jordan: Jesus went into the region of Judea, beyond the Jordan, leaving Galilee for the last time on the southward route that avoided Samaria. He taught the crowds as was His custom, while the road turns toward the city that will kill Him.
Mark 10:1
“He arose - Κακειθεν αναϚας may be translated, he departed thence. The verb ανιϚημι has this sense in some of the purest Greek writers. See Kypke. Many transactions took place between those mentioned in the preceding chapter, and these that follow, which are omitted by Matthew and Mark; but they are related both by Luke and John. See Lightfoot, and Bishop Newcome.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 10:2-4
Some Pharisees tested Him with Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife, while the rabbinic schools were divided over Deuteronomy's provision. Jesus turns the test to the text: What did Moses command you.
Mark 10:2
“Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? This was a good question, if it had been well put, and with a humble desire to know the mind of God in this matter; but they proposed it, tempting him, seeking an occasion against him, and an opportunity to expose him, which side soever he should take of the question.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew and Mark order this exchange differently. Augustine judges that the difference makes nothing against the truth of the event. John Gill thinks both questions were put, and that Jesus wisely sent them back to what Moses had actually said.
Mark 10:3
“But Christ, Self-Existent Wisdom, answers them in such a way that He escapes their snares. He asks them: what did Moses command them?”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Markpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:3
“And he answered and said unto them,.... Very prudently and wisely, what did Moses command you? according to Matthew, he put another question to them; see Mat 19:4; no doubt but both were put, and this after they had urged the authority and law of Moses: and therefore be very pertinently asks them, what Moses had said about divorces, what law he had left; and puts them upon producing and repeating it, that the sense of it might be examined, and it be considered, upon what account it was given.”
Matthew Henry notes that the Pharisees themselves admit Moses only permitted divorce. The law in Deuteronomy 24 set terms for it. The certificate had to be written and put into the wife's own hand, and the parting was final.
Mark 10:4
“Christ asked, What did Moses command you? They own that Moses only suffered, or permitted, a man to write his wife a bill of divorce, and to put her away, Deut. xxiv. "If you will do it, you must do it in writing, delivered into her own hand, and so put her away, and never return to her again." 4.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Mark 10:5-9
because of your hardness of heart: Jesus calls the provision a concession, written because of your hardness of heart, and reaches past Moses to creation. There God made them male and female and the two will become one flesh, so what God has joined together, let man not separate.
Mark 10:5
“So true, moreover, is it that divorce "was not from the beginning," that among the Romans it is not till after the six hundredth year from the building of the city that this kind of "hard-heartedness" is set down as having been committed.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Monogamypatristic
Augustine notes that Jesus answers them from Moses' own books. The same witness refutes those who later denied that God made and joined male and female. Tertullian adds that one man and one woman at the beginning set the pattern for all who followed.
Mark 10:6
“I will call your attention to the law of monogamy. The very origin of the human race sanctions it. It is abundantly clear that God ordained it at the beginning as a pattern for posterity. For after he had made Adam, and had foreseen the necessity of providing a helpmate for him, he borrowed from his loins one alone. One woman only did he design for man.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Exhortation to Chastity 5patristic
Cross references
Mark 10:6
- QuotingGenesis 1:27“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
'made them male and female' (divorce dispute)
leave his father and mother: Jesus cites Genesis 2:24, as John Gill notes. Matthew Henry reads the word for being united as a mark of both nearness and permanence. A man is to hold so fast to his wife that he is never separated from her.
Mark 10:7
“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother,.... The Persic version adds, "and brethren and sisters", though without any foundation in the original text, in Gen 2:24, from whence this passage is cited; or in any copy of the evangelist: and cleave to his wife; See Gill on Mat 19:5.”
Cross references
Mark 10:7
one flesh: Matthew Henry calls marriage a divine institution, to be kept with reverence. He adds a second reason. It pictures the inseparable union between Christ and his church.
Mark 10:8
Where are we to find language adequately to express the happiness of that marriage which the church cements, the oblation confirms, the benediction signs and seals, the angels celebrate, and the Father holds as approved? For all around the earth young people do not rightly and lawfully wed without their parents' consent. What kind of yoke is that of two believers who share one hope, one desire, one discipline, one service? They enjoy kinship in spirit and in flesh. They are mutual servants with no discrepancy of interests. Truly they are "two in one flesh."
Tertullian · written before 220 · To His Wife 2.8patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:8
“Marriage is not an invention of men, but a divine institution, and therefore is to be religiously observed, and the more, because it is a figure of the mystical inseparable union between Christ and his church.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
what God has joined together: John Chrysostom argues from the lesser to the greater. If a couple joined by God may not be parted, it is far worse to separate the church from Christ. Clement of Alexandria faced teachers who called marriage fornication brought in by the devil.
Mark 10:9
“There are some who say outright that marriage is fornication and teach that it was introduced by the devil. They proudly say that they are imitating the Lord who neither married nor had any possession in this world, boasting that they understand the gospel better than anyone else. The Scripture says to them: "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble." Further, they do not know the reason why the Lord did not marry.”
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · The Stromata Book 3patristic
Mark 10:10-12
the disciples asked Jesus about this matter: The clause if a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery meets a case Jewish law hardly allowed. Roman law, familiar to Mark's Gentile readers, did allow it, and husband and wife stand equally bound.
Mark 10:10
“And in the house,.... To which Christ retired, after he had put the Pharisees to silence, and dismissed the multitude: his disciples asked him again of the same matter; concerning the affair of divorces, be bad been discoursing with the Pharisees about; some things being said, they had not been used to, and which they did not thoroughly understand; and therefore chose privately to converse with him on this subject, for their further information.”
commits adultery against her: Matthew Henry explains the words against her. The wrong is done to the wife put away, a breach of his contract with her. John Gill reads the saying with Matthew 5:32 and 19:9, which name unfaithfulness to the marriage bed as the one exception.
Mark 10:11
“And he saith unto them,.... The same things as in Mat 5:32, 19:9; See Gill on Mat 5:32, See Gill on Mat 19:9, whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another; when there is no uncleanness in the case; when his former wile has not injured him by violating the marriage bed: committeth adultery against her; to the injury of his lawful wife; or "upon her", or "with her", with the person he marries. The Syriac and Persic versions leave out the phrase, "against her".”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:11
“This declaration of the Lord applies equally to man and woman. It prohibits departing from marriage except in the case of fornication.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · Letter 188, to Amphilochius 9patristic
if a woman divorces her husband: Adam Clarke notes that the law of Moses gave the wife no such right, yet some wives assumed it. John Gill thinks the practice came late, from the Gentiles. Basil of Caesarea draws the plain point: the Lord's word binds man and woman alike.
Mark 10:12
“And if a woman shall put away her husband - From this it appears that in some cases, the wife assumed the very same right of divorcing her husband that the husband had of divorcing his wife; and yet this is not recorded any where in the Jewish laws, as far as I can find, that the women had such a right.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:12
“See this question about divorce explained in the notes at Mat 19:1-12. Mar 10:12 And if a woman shall put away her husband - It would seem, from this, that a woman, among the Jews, had the power of separating herself from her husband, yet this right is not given her by the law of Moses. There is not, however, any positive evidence that females often claimed or exercised this right. Cases had occurred, indeed, in which it had been done. The wife of Herod had rejected her former husband and married Herod.”
Receiving the Kingdom Like a Child
Mark 10:13-14
the disciples rebuked those who brought them: , treating children as a distraction from a teacher's work. Jesus was indignant and told them, Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them.
Mark 10:13
“And they brought young children to him,.... The parents, or friends, or nurses of the children in those parts, having heard of the fame of Jesus; and having entertained an high opinion of him, as a great prophet, and a holy, good man, brought their children in their arms, or hands, that he should touch them; as he did when he healed diseased persons, as these might be, though not expressed: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them; See Gill on Mat 19:13.”
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 10:13
“See the notes at Mat 19:13-15. Mar 10:13 Should touch them - That is, should lay his hands on them, and pray for them, and bless them. Compare Mat 19:13. It was common to lay the hands on the head of a person for whom a blessing was asked. See the case of Jacob, Gen 48:14. Mar 10:14 Saw it - Saw the conduct of his disciples.”
Mark 10:13
“MY attention has been specially directed to this passage by the fact that it has been quoted against me by most of the authors of those sermons and letters which are, by a stretch of imagination, called “replies” to my sermon upon “Baptismal Regeneration.” Replies they certainly are not, except to one another. I marvel that a Church so learned as the Anglican, cannot produce something a little more worthy of the point in hand.”
Ryle notes that Jesus had little time on earth, yet he gave it to children. The church should give their souls the same care. Basil of Caesarea draws a like lesson: every time of life, even the earliest, is fit for receiving people into the community of faith.
Mark 10:14
“He came to set up the kingdom of God among men, and took this occasion to declare that that kingdom admitted little children to be the subjects of it, and gave them a title to the privileges of subjects. Nay, the kingdom of God is to be kept up by such: they must be taken in when they are little children, that they may be secured for hereafter, to bear up the name of Christ.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:14
“The apostle praised one [Timothy] who had known the holy Scripture from infancy. He also instructed that children be reared "in the discipline and correction of the Lord." So we consider every time of life, even the very earliest, suitable for receiving persons into the community of faith.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · The Long Rules 15patristic
Mark 10:15-16
receive the kingdom of God like a little child: Jesus says anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. The child's part is dependence, with no claim to earn what is given.
Mark 10:15
“Little children depend upon their parents' wisdom and care, are carried in their arms, go where they send them, and take what they provide for them; and thus must we receive the kingdom of God, with a humble resignation of ourselves to Jesus Christ, and an easy dependence upon him, both for strength and righteousness, for tuition, provision, and a portion.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
took the children in His arms: John Gill notes that several old versions render it that he took them into his bosom, which shows great tenderness. Adam Clarke sees in it Christ's particular care for children. He credits their daily safety amid so many dangers to that providence.
Mark 10:16
“And he took them up in his arms - One of the Itala reads in sinu suo - “in his bosom.” Jesus Christ loves little children; and they are objects of his most peculiar care. Who can account for their continual preservation and support, while exposed to so many dangers, but on the ground of a peculiar and extraordinary providence? And blessed them - Then, though little children, they were capable of receiving Christ’s blessing. If Christ embraced them, why should not his Church embrace them?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The Rich Man Who Went Away Sorrowful
Mark 10:17-18
Jesus meets the title first with a question, Why do you call Me good, and a statement, No one is good except God alone. Readers differ on whether this veils a claim to deity or points the man to God alone.
Mark 10:17
“See this passage illustrated in the notes at Mat 19:16-30. Mar 10:17 Gone forth - From the place where he had been teaching. Into the way - Into the road or path on his journey. Running - Thus showing the intensity with which he desired to know the way of life. Zeal to know the way to be saved is proper, nor is it possible that it should be too intense if well directed. Nothing else is so important, and nothing demands, therefore, so much effort and haste.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:17
“Some circumstances here are, which we had not in Matthew, which makes his address to Christ very promising. He came running to Christ, which was an indication of his humility; he laid aside the gravity and grandeur of a ruler, when he came to Christ: thus too he manifested his earnestness and importunity; he ran as one in haste, and longing to be in conversation with Christ.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Gregory of Nazianzus explains that the man had praised Jesus as a good human teacher. Jesus answers that perfect goodness belongs to God alone. Matthew Henry draws the implication: to call him good rightly is to own him as God.
Mark 10:18
“The words, "None is good" are a reply to the young ruler who was testing him and had borne witness to his goodness as a human being. Consummate goodness, he meant, belongs to God alone, though the word "good" can be derivatively applied to human beings.”
Gregory of Nazianzus · written before 390 · Oration 30, on the Son 13patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:18
“He called him good Master; Christ would have him mean thereby, that he looked upon him to be God, since there is none good but one, that is God, who is one, and his name one, Zech. xiv.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Mark 10:19-20
You know the commandments: Jesus lists five commands of the second table and adds do not cheat others, absent from the Decalogue, which names withholding wages or goods owed. The man answers, all these I have kept from my youth, and Jesus lets the claim stand.
Mark 10:19
“Thou knowest the commandments,.... Which God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai; these the Jews taught their children; so that this young man might reasonably be thought to know what, and how many they were, though he was ignorant of the extent and spirituality of them; do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honour thy father and mother.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:19
“Keep the commandments; and thou knowest what they are. He mentions the six commandments of the second table, which prescribe our duty to our neighbour; he inverts the order, putting the seventh commandment before the sixth, to intimate that adultery is a sin no less heinous than murder itself.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Cross references
Mark 10:19
- QuotingExodus 20:12“Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
the commandments to the rich young ruler
Augustine judges from the man's sad departure that he spoke with more pride than truth. Jerome adds that riches already ruled him. Matthew Henry allows that freedom from open sin took him further than many, but it could not justify him.
Mark 10:20
“And he answered and, said unto him,.... With a great deal of pertness, master, all these have I observed from my youth; See Gill on Mat 19:20. In a certain copy, Beza says, it is added, as there, "what lack I yet?" and so in one of Stephens's copies.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:20
“He who declared that he had observed all the commandments had already yielded to the power of riches from the very outset.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Letter 118, to Julianpatristic
Mark 10:21-22
Jesus looked at him, loved him: , and said to him, There is one thing you lack. The command to sell everything you own and give to the poor reaches the attachment his keeping of the law had left untouched.
Mark 10:21
“This is why those who are rich find it hard to enter the kingdom of heaven. For it is a kingdom which desires for its citizens a soul that soars aloft free from all ties and hindrances. "Go your way," the Lord said, "and sell" not a part of your substance but "all that you have, and give to the poor";46 not to your friends or kinsfolk or relatives, nor to your wife or to your children.… When once you have put your hand to the plough, you must not look back.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Letter 118, to Julianpatristic
3 more voices on this verse
Mark 10:21
“Then Jesus, beholding him - Looking earnestly, εμβλεψας, or affectionately upon him, loved him, because of his youth, his earnestness, and his sincerity. One thing thou lackest - What was that? A heart disengaged from the world, and a complete renunciation of it and its concerns, that he might become a proper and successful laborer in the Lord’s vineyard. See Mat 19:21. To say that it was something else he lacked, when Christ explains here his own meaning, is to be wise above what is written.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 10:21
“Here is a sorrowful parting between Christ and this young man. Christ gave him a command of trial, by which it would appear whether he did in sincerity aim at eternal life, and press towards it: he seemed to have his heart much upon it, and if so, he is what he should be; but has he indeed his heart upon it?”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Mark 10:21
“YOUR mind's eye can see that procession yonder. Notice it carefully. At the head of it there walks One whom we rightly call Master and Lord. You may know Him by the prints of the nails in His hands and feet. I observe that He carries a Cross and that it is a very heavy one. Do you see the long line following Him? They are all those of whom the world was not worthy. That line has been continued even to this day and will be continued until the present dispensation shall close.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2946: “A Procession of Cross-bearers” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
because he had great wealth: John Chrysostom observes that wealth, as it grows, lights a greater flame of covetousness. Matthew Henry notes that Christ keeps no one against his will. He let the man go and did not call him back.
Mark 10:22
“Christ will keep no man against his will; and therefore we do not find that Christ called him back, but took this occasion to instruct his disciples in two things. The difficulty of the salvation of those who have an abundance of this world; because there are few who have a deal to leave, that can be persuaded to leave it for Christ, or to lay it out in doing good.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 10:22
“The rich man followed his own counsel, having rejected the precept of dividing his resources with the needy. He was abandoned by the Lord to his own opinion. There is no justification for applying the term "harshness" on this account to describe Christ. For each individual free will is able to choose to defile itself. "Behold, I have set before you good and evil." Choose that which is good.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Monogamy 14patristic
Mark 10:22
“And he was sad at that saying - This young man had perhaps been a saint, and an eminent apostle, had he been poor! From this, and a multitude of other cases, we may learn that it is oftentimes a misfortune to be rich: but who is aware of this? - and who believes it?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 10:23-25
A camel passing through the eye of a needle is deliberately impossible imagery. No ancient source supports the story of a small Jerusalem gate called the needle's eye.
Mark 10:23
“What am I to fasten on as the cause of this madness, except the weakness of faith, ever prone, to the concupiscences of worldly joys?-which, indeed, is chiefly found among the wealthier; for the more any is rich, and inflated with the name of "matron," the more capacious house does she require for her burdens, as it were a field wherein ambition may run its course. To such the churches look paltry.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · To His Wife Book IIpatristic
John Chrysostom notes that Jesus spoke this to disciples who owned nothing, so they would not be ashamed of their poverty. Matthew Henry places the danger in the heart: a poor man who sets his heart on a little is kept from Christ.
Mark 10:24
“Therefore the Lord unfolds the words of His former saying to His astonished disciples, as follows: But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard it is for them that trust in their riches to enter the kingdom of God. Where we must observe that He says not, how impossible, but how hard; for what is impossible cannot in any way come to pass, what is difficult can be compassed, though with labour.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:24
“They that have ever so much riches, but do not trust in them, that see the vanity of them, and their utter insufficiency to make a soul happy, have got over the difficulty, and can easily part with them for Christ: but they have ever so little, if they set their hearts upon that little, and place their happiness in it, it will keep them from Christ.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a camel to pass through the eye of a needle: John Chrysostom notes that Jesus moves here from hard to impossible. Matthew Henry reports a reading of the word camel as a ship's cable, still too thick for a needle. Clement of Alexandria adds that wealth itself shuts out no one who submits his life to God.
Mark 10:25
“So a rich man cannot get to heaven unless he is willing to part with the burthen of his worldly wealth, and stoop to the duties of a humble religion, and so enter at the strait gate. [2.] Others suggest that the word we translate a camel, sometimes signifies a cable-rope, which, though not to be got through a needle's eye, yet is of great affinity to it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:25
“The Saviour by no means has excluded the rich on account of wealth itself, and the possession of property, nor fenced off salvation against them; if they are able and willing to submit their life to God's commandments, and prefer them to transitory objects, and if they would look to the Lord with steady eye, as those who look for the nod of a good helmsman, what he wishes, what he orders, what he indicates, what signal he gives his mariners, where and whence he directs the ship's course.”
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · Who is the Rich Man that Shall Be Saved?patristic
Mark 10:26-27
Who then can be saved voices the disciples' shock, since their culture counted wealth as evidence of righteousness. Jesus answers, With man this is impossible, but not with God, placing salvation in God's power alone.
Mark 10:26
“It goes on; And they were astonished above measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? Since the number of poor people is immeasurably the greater, and these might be saved, though the rich perished, they must have understood Him to mean that all who love riches, although they cannot obtain them, are reckoned in the number of the rich.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Clement of Alexandria explains that a man working alone for freedom from his passions achieves nothing. God must do it. John Chrysostom adds that the rich man set on this path needs much grace, so his reward for following Christ is great.
Mark 10:27
“But the Lord replies, "Because what is impossible with men is possible with God." This again is full of great wisdom. For a man by himself working and toiling at freedom from passion achieves nothing. But if he plainly shows himself very desirous and earnest about this, he attains it by the addition of the power of God. For God conspires with willing souls. But if they abandon their eagerness, the spirit which is bestowed by God is also restrained.”
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · Who is the Rich Man that Shall Be Saved?patristic
Mark 10:28-31
Peter says we have left everything and followed You. Jesus answers with a hundredfold in the present age, along with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life.
Mark 10:28
“The greatest trial of a good man's constancy is, when his love to Christ comes to stand in competition with a love that is lawful, nay, that is his duty. It is easy to such a one to forsake a lust for Christ, for he hath that within him, that rises against it; but to forsake a father, a brother, a wife, for Christ, that is, to forsake those whom he knows he must love, is hard.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
for My sake and for the gospel: John Chrysostom hears in the list a hidden warning of persecution. Fathers would draw sons away from the faith, and wives their husbands. He also notes that Mark names the cause as Christ and the gospel together.
Mark 10:29
" If you wish to be the Lord's disciple, it is necessary you "take your cross, and follow the Lord: " your cross; that is, your own straits and tortures, or your body only, which is after the manner of a cross. Parents, wives, children, will have to be left behind, for God's sake. Do you hesitate about arts, and trades, and about professions likewise, for the sake of children and parents?
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Idolatrypatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:29
“And the Gospel’s - Read, for the sake of the Gospel. I have with Griesbach adopted ἑνεκεν, for the sake, on the authority of BCDEGHKMS, V, sixty others, and almost all the versions.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
John Wesley reads the hundredfold as measured in value, since the gifts come with persecutions. It means far more happiness than the things given up could afford. John Cassian finds the new family among all who serve Christ.
Mark 10:30
“For he who for the sake of Christ's name distances himself from his particular beloved father or mother or child, and gives himself over to the purest love of all who serve Christ, will receive a hundred times the measure of brothers and kinsfolk. Instead of but one he will begin to have so many fathers and brothers bound to him by a still more fervent and admirable affection.”
John Cassian · written before 435 · CONFERENCES 3.24.26patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 10:30
“He shall receive a hundred fold, houses, etc. - Not in the same kind: for it will generally be with persecutions: but in value: a hundred fold more happiness than any or all of these did or could afford. But let it be observed, none is entitled to this happiness, but he that will accept it with persecutions.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Mark 10:30
“In this time - Εν τῳ καιρῳ τουτῳ, In this very time. Though Jews and Gentiles have conspired together to destroy both me and you, my providence shall so work that nothing shall be lacking while any thing is necessary. And fathers. This is added by K, upwards of sixty others, Ethiopic, Gothic, Slavonic, Saxon, Armenian, Coptic, and in one of my own MSS. of the Vulgate. Some have been greatly embarrassed to find out the literal truth of these promises; and, some in flat opposition to the text, have said they are all to be understood spiritually.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
many who are first will be last: Clement of Alexandria says the saying is rich in meaning and reaches well beyond the wealthy. It applies to all who have given themselves to faith.
Mark 10:31
"The first shall be last, and the last first." This is fruitful in meaning and exposition, but does not demand investigation at present; for it refers not only to the wealthy alone, but plainly to all men, who have once surrendered themselves to faith.
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · Who is the Rich Man that Shall Be Saved?patristic
The Sons of Zebedee and the Ransom for Many
Mark 10:32-34
those who followed were afraid: The third prediction is the fullest: the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, then over to the Gentiles. It foretells a Jewish trial and a Gentile execution, and after three days He will rise again.
Mark 10:32
“And he took again the twelve - Or thus: For having again taken the twelve, etc. I translate και for, which signification it often bears; see Luk 1:22; Joh 12:35, and elsewhere. This gives the reason of the wonder and fear of the disciples, For he began to tell them on the way, what was to befall him. This sense of και, I find, is also noticed by Rosenmuller. See on Mat 20:17-19 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Mark 10:32
“Or, He went before them, and therefore they were amazed; they admired to see with what cheerfulness and alacrity he went on, though he knew he was going to suffer and die. Note, Christ's courage and constancy in going on with his undertaking for our salvation, are, and will be, the wonder of all his disciples.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Mark 10:32
“Our Redeemer, foreseeing that the souls of the disciples would be troubled by His passion, foretold to them long beforehand both the suffering of that same passion and the glory of His resurrection, so that when they saw Him dying, as had been predicted, they would not doubt that He would also rise again. But because the disciples, still carnal, were by no means able to grasp the words of the mystery, a miracle is performed.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 2patristic
Mark 10:32
“These artless, lifelike touches--not only from an eye-witness, but one whom the noble carriage of the Master struck with wonder and awe--are peculiar to Mark, and give the second Gospel a charm all its own; making us feel as if we ourselves were in the midst of the scenes it describes.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
we are going up to Jerusalem: John Chrysostom explains why Jesus lists each event in turn. Told beforehand, the disciples would be spared the shock of meeting them suddenly. Augustine identifies the Gentiles as the Romans, for Pilate was a Roman sent to govern Judea.
Mark 10:33
“Saying, behold we go up to Jerusalem,.... They were now upon the road thither. And the son of man; meaning himself, shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the Scribes; by the determinate counsel, and foreknowledge of God, and by the means of a treacherous disciple of his, Judas.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:33
“He did this to confirm the hearts of the disciples, that from hearing these things beforehand, they might the better bear them afterwards, and might not be alarmed at their suddenness, and also in order to show them that He suffered voluntarily; for he who foreknows a danger, and flies not, though flight is in his power, evidently of his own will gives himself up to suffering. But He takes His disciples apart, because it was fitting that He should reveal the mystery of His Passion to those who were more closely connected with Him.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
John Chrysostom reasons that Jesus had hidden none of the sorrows, so the disciples should also believe his promise to rise. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that they still clung to a Messiah who would not suffer. That gives their later witness to a dying Savior great weight.
Mark 10:34
“That they should have clung so tenaciously to the popular notion of an "unsuffering" Messiah, may surprise us; but it gives inexpressible weight to their after-testimony to a suffering and dying Saviour.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Mark 10:35-37
James and John open with we want You to do for us whatever we ask, directly after the fullest prediction of His suffering. They ask for the seats at His right and left in His glory.
Mark 10:35
“Let us mark in this passage, the ignorance of our Lord's disciples . We find James and John petitioning for the first places in the kingdom of glory. We find them confidently declaring their ability to drink of their Master's cup and be baptized with their Master's baptism. In spite of all the plain warnings of our Lord, they clung obstinately to the belief that Christ's kingdom on earth was immediately going to appear. Notwithstanding their many shortcomings in Christ's service, they had no misgivings as to their power to endure any thing which might come upon them.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:35
“The thought was doubtless suggested to her sons by the recent promise to the Twelve of "thrones to sit on, when the Son of man should sit on the throne of His glory" (Mt 19:28); but after the reproof so lately given them (Mr 9:33, &c.) they get their mother to speak for them.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Jesus already knew what was in their minds. He made them speak the unseemly request aloud before the others. John Gill adds that Christ gives no promise until the particular thing is named.
Mark 10:36
“And he said unto them,.... And also to their mother, and to them by her, what would ye that I should do for you? Christ insists upon their telling him the particular thing they wanted to have done for them, before he would give them any promise, though he knew very well what it was they were desirous of.”
one of us may sit at Your right hand: John Chrysostom notes that James and John had been honored above the others, so they expected an easy grant. Adam Clarke says they expected an earthly kingdom. Augustine answers that Christ leads to glory only by the way of humility.
Mark 10:37
“In thy glory - In the kingdom of thy glory - three MSS. Which kingdom they expected to be established on earth. And be baptized - Or, be baptized. Instead of και and η or, is the reading of BCDL, five others, Coptic, Armenian, later Syriac in the margin, Vulgate, all the Itala, and Origen. See the note on Mat 20:22.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 10:38-40
Jesus answers a request for glory with the cup and the baptism, Old Testament figures for an overwhelming ordeal, often of judgment. You will drink the cup that I drink proved true, with James martyred and John enduring persecution and exile.
Mark 10:38
“Here it is the cup of suffering. and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?--(Compare for the language, Ps 42:7). The object of this question seems to have been to try how far those two men were capable of the dignity to which they aspired and this on the principle that he who is able to suffer most for His sake will be the nearest to Him in His kingdom.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:38
“They maintain that those who have attained to perfect knowledge must of necessity be regenerated into that power which is above all. For it is otherwise impossible to find admittance within the Pleroma, since this [regeneration] it is which leads them down into the depths of Bythus. For the baptism instituted by the visible Jesus was for the remission of sins, but the redemption brought in by that Christ who descended upon Him, was for perfection; and they allege that the former is animal, but the latter spiritual.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book Ipatristic
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the brothers here own their mother's request as their own. They were sincere in their willingness to suffer. Ryle sees in the same answer how little they understood what they claimed.
Mark 10:39
“And they said unto him, We can--Here we see them owning their mother's petition for them as their own; and doubtless they were perfectly sincere in professing their willingness to follow their Master to any suffering He might have to endure.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John Wesley names those for whom the places are prepared. They are those who persevere in doing good and seek glory and immortality, as Romans 2:7 describes. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that asking for the seats only worked against gaining them.
Mark 10:40
“Save to them for whom it is prepared - Them who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality. For these only eternal life is prepared.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:40
“All we are sure of is, that their asking it was displeasing to Him "to whom all judgment is committed," and so was not fitted to gain their object, but just the reverse.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Mark 10:41-42
they became indignant with James and John: Jesus named the Gentile pattern, where those regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. Rome's client kings and governors were the model of greatness every disciple had grown up watching.
Mark 10:41
“And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John--or "were moved with indignation," as the same word is rendered in Mt 20:24. The expression "began to be," which is of frequent occurrence in the Gospels, means that more passed than is expressed, and that we have but the result.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
lord it over them: Matthew Henry notes that Jesus called the disciples to him in a familiar way, even while rebuking their ambition. It was a lesson in humility for all teachers. Such men should never bid their followers keep their distance.
Mark 10:42
“But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule--are recognized or acknowledged as rulers. over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them: and their great ones exercise authority upon them--as superiors exercising an acknowledged authority over inferiors.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Mark 10:43-45
whoever wants to become great among you: Among the disciples greatness is service, and its ground is His example: the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. Ransom, lutron in the Greek, is the price paid to free a slave or captive.
Mark 10:43
“But so shall it not be among you,.... Or "so let it not be", as in many copies; or as the Persic version renders it, "it ought not to be so among you"; such a lordly spirit does not become you; this is heathenish: but whosoever will be great among you shall be, as in Matthew "let him", Mat 20:26, be your minister.”
the slave of all: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it as the lowest service. The Berean text moves from servant in verse 43 to slave here. John Chrysostom answers the fear of losing by it: Christ's own humbling produced countless benefits and made his glory shine brighter.
Mark 10:44
“He erased the curse, he triumphed over death, he opened paradise. He struck down sin, he opened wide the vaults of the sky, he lifted our first fruits to heaven, he filled the whole world with godliness. He drove out error, he led back the truth, he made our firstfruits mount to the royal throne. He accomplished so many good deeds that neither I nor all humanity together could set them before your minds in words. Before he humbled himself, only the angels knew him. After he humbled himself, all human nature knew him.”
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · On the Incomprehensible Nature of God 8.46-47patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:44
“And whosoever of you will be the chiefest--or "first." shall be--that is, "let him be," or "shall be he who is prepared to be." servant of all--one in the lowest condition of service.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain that many stands in contrast to one: the one Son of Man for the many sinners. Augustine explains how the ransom works. Christ shared our penalty without our sin, and so canceled both.
Mark 10:45
“The Served of all came to be the Servant of all; and His last act was the grandest Service ever beheld by the universe of God--"HE GAVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY!", &c. "Many" is here to be taken, not in contrast with few or with all, but in opposition to one--the one Son of man for the many sinners.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:45
“It is profitable to me to know that for my sake Christ bore my infirmities, submitted to the affections of my body, that for me and for all he was made sin and a curse, that for me and in me was he humbled and made subject, that for me he is the lamb, the vine, the rock, the servant, the Son of a handmaid, knowing not the day of judgment, for my sake ignorant of the day and the hour.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.92patristic
Blind Bartimaeus Calls Out at Jericho
Mark 10:46-48
Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus: , is named where most of Mark's healed are left unnamed, likely because Mark's first readers knew him. His cry, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, is the first messianic title a supplicant gives Jesus in Mark.
Mark 10:46
“We read in these verses an account of one of our Lord's miracles. Let us see in it, as we read, a vivid emblem of spiritual things. We are not studying a history which concerns us personally no more than the exploits of Caesar or Alexander. We have before us a picture which ought to be deeply interesting to the soul of every Christian. In the first place, we have here an example of strong faith . We are told that as Jesus went out of Jericho, a blind man named Bartimaeus "sat by the wayside begging.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:46
“Blind Bartimeus - בר bar in Syriac signifies son. It appears that he was thus named because Timeus, Talmeus or Talmai, was the name of his father, and thus the son would be called Bar-talmeus, or Bartholomew. Some suppose υἱος Τιμαιου, the son of Timeus, to be an interpolation. Bartimeus the son of Timeus, ὁ τυφλος, The blind man. It was because he was the most remarkable that this evangelist mentions him by name, as a person probably well known in those parts.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew Henry notes that the title Son of David claims Jesus as the promised Messiah. Isaiah 35 foretold that he would give sight to the blind when he came to save. Charles Spurgeon notes he was both blind and poor.
Mark 10:47
“Misery is the object of mercy, his own miserable case he recommends to the compassion of the Son of David, of whom it was foretold, that, when he should come to save us, the eyes of the blind should be opened, Isa. xxxv. In coming to Christ for help and healing, we should have an eye to him as the promised Messiah, the Trustee of mercy and grace.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:47
“This blind man is rightly described as sitting beside the road and being a beggar; for the Truth himself says: "I am the way." Therefore whoever does not know the brightness of eternal light is blind; but if he already believes in the Redeemer, he sits beside the way; if, however, he already believes but neglects to ask that he might receive eternal light, and ceases from prayers, the blind man indeed sits beside the way but does not beg at all.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 2patristic
he cried out all the louder: John Gill thinks the title Son of David drew the rebuke. The beggar only repeated his cry more often and with greater urgency. Gregory the Dialogist reads the crowd as sinful desires that scatter our thoughts before Jesus reaches the heart.
Mark 10:48
“And many charged him that he should hold his peace,.... And be silent, and not call him the son of David, at least; nor ask any thing of him: but he cried the more a great deal: he lifted up his voice more loudly, and repeated the same words quicker and oftener, and with greater vehemency and importunity: thou son of David, have mercy on me; See Gill on Mat 20:31.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:48
“Those who precede Jesus as he comes—what do they signify but the crowds of carnal desires and the tumults of vices, which, before Jesus comes to our heart, scatter our thoughts with their temptations and disturb the voice of the heart in prayer? For often when we wish to turn to the Lord after committing sins, when we strive to pray against those very vices we have committed, the phantoms of the sins we have done rush upon the heart, strike back against the vision of our mind, confuse the soul, and suppress the voice of our entreaty.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 2patristic
Mark 10:49-50
Jesus stopped and said: Throwing off his cloak, Bartimaeus jumped up and came to Jesus. The cloak was likely his one possession, given up more readily than the rich man two scenes earlier gave up his wealth.
Mark 10:49
“And Jesus stood still,.... Hearing his voice, and knowing what charges and reproofs were given him to be silent: and commanded him to be called and led and brought unto him: this order was given; either to his disciples, or to some of the multitude, probably the latter: and they call the blind man, saying unto him, be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee; or "because he calleth thee", as the Arabic version renders it; suggesting, that some hopes might be conceived from thence, that something would be done in his favour.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:49
“But when we persist intensely in our prayer, we fix Jesus as He passes by in our mind. Behold, He who was passing by before now stands still, because while we still suffer the crowds of phantasms in prayer, we perceive Jesus as somewhat passing by. But when we persist intensely in prayer, Jesus stands still to restore our sight, because God is fixed in the heart, and the lost light is restored.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 2patristic
Throwing off his cloak: Adam Clarke describes the cloak as the loose blanket a beggar wore against the weather. He threw it off so nothing would slow him on the way to Christ. John Gill notes the old reading that he sprang up.
Mark 10:50
“And he casting away his garment,.... His upper garment, and which no doubt was little worth; though this he did, that he might make the quicker dispatch to Christ: rose; from off the bank, or ground, whereon he sat, in an instant: and "sprung up", as the Vulgate Latin, and Beza's ancient copy read, with great nimbleness, and in haste: and came to Jesus; being led by the persons that were sent to call him.”
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 10:50
“Again, he throws away his garment and leaps, who, throwing aside the bands of the world, with unencumbered pace hastens to the Giver of eternal light.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Mark 10:50
“And he, casting away his garment - He cast off his outward covering, a blanket, or loose piece of cloth, the usual upper garment of an Asiatic mendicant, which kept him from the inclemency of the weather, that he might have nothing to hinder him from getting speedily to Christ.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 10:51-52
Jesus asks what He asked James and John, What do you want Me to do for you. Where they sought glory and were refused, he asks let me see again, and he followed Jesus along the road.
Mark 10:51
And it should be noted what He says to the blind man as he approaches: "What do you want Me to do for you?" Did He who was able to restore light not know what the blind man wanted? But He wishes to be asked for that which He foreknows both that we will ask and that He will grant. For He urges us persistently to prayer, and yet says: "For your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask Him."
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 2patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 10:51
“And Jesus answered and said unto him,.... Being come to him, and standing before him: what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? What means this vehement cry? what is it thou designest by mercy? is it money thou askest for, to relieve thy wants? or is it that thy sight may be restored?”
Mark 10:51
“No doubt our Lord's disciples imagined that He was going up to Jerusalem to take unto Himself the Kingdom. They hoped that they would be partakers of that earthly grandeur which they had fondly pictured would glitter around the Person of the Son of David. When, therefore, the blind man ventured to cry out clamorously to Him, whom they esteemed to be a great King, they thought it a daring intrusion. Who was the son of Timaeus that he should say, "You Son of David, have mercy on me"?”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3537: “A Definite Challenge for Definite Prayer” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
Matthew Henry notes that Christ doubled the gift by crediting the man's faith. It was faith in the Son of David's pity and power, more than persistence, that he honored. Gregory the Dialogist calls faith the way to that light.
Mark 10:52
“Followed Jesus in the way - Instead of τῳ Ιησου, Jesus, several eminent critics read αυτω, him. This is the reading of ABCDL, fourteen others, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, later Syriac in the margin, two Persic, Vulgate, all the Itala, and Origen once. Jesus is the common reading; but this sacred name having occurred so immediately before, there could be no necessity for repeating it here, nor would the repetition have been elegant.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 10:52
“How Christ made it a double favour to him, by putting the honour of it upon his faith; " Thy faith hath made thee whole; faith in Christ as the Son of David, and in his pity and power; not thy importunity, but thy faith, setting Christ on work, or rather Christ setting thy faith on work." Those supplies are most comfortable, that are fetched in by our faith.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
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Studies28
- The Deity of Christ
- Elders and Deacons
- Entering the Kingdom
- Barnabas, a Good Man
- The Words Tov and Agathosyne
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Mark; Augustine of Hippo; Basil of Caesarea; Charles Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 266: “The Blind Beggar” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Clement of Alexandria; Gregory of Nazianzus, ORATION 30, ON THE SON 13; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 2; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Mark; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, LETTER 118, TO JULIAN; John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists; John Cassian, CONFERENCES 3.24.26; John Chrysostom; John Gill; John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, EXHORTATION TO CHASTITY 5.