Mark 8:17
in Mark 8Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jesus perceiving it saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? do ye not yet perceive, neither understand? have ye your heart hardened?
KJV
And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?
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This verse in Mark 8
Commentary
6 notes on this verseFor when the Lord said that they should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, that is, the teaching of the Pharisees, they thought that the Lord was reminding them about the leaven of bread. And so He rightly reproaches them as not understanding the …
This site's exposition
the disciples had forgotten to take bread
on Mark 8:14-21
Jesus warns against the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod, and the disciples think He spoke of bread. He walks them through both feedings by the numbers, twelve and seven, and His last question, Do you still not understand, is left unanswered.
This site's exposition
Do you have such hard hearts?
Charles Spurgeon observes that the disciples thought Jesus shared their worry and had shaped his words as a rebuke. His mind held no anxious care about bread for himself or for them. They had been with him long and still misread him.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
But the disciples themselves thought that the Lord spoke of the leaven of bread. Wherefore it goes on, And they reasoned amongst themselves, saying, it is because we have no bread; and this they said, as not understanding the power of Christ, who could make bread out of nothing; wherefore the Lord reproves them; for there follows, And when Jesus knew it, he said unto them, Why reason ye because ye have no bread?
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And when Jesus knew it,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
Let us notice the solemn warning which our Lord gives to His disciples at the beginning of this passage. He says, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod." We are not left to conjecture the meaning of this warning. This is made clear by the parallel passage in Matthew's Gospel. We there read that Jesus did not mean the leaven of "bread," but the leaven of "doctrine." The self-righteousness and formalism of the Pharisees — the worldliness and skepticism of the courtiers of Herod, were the object of our Lord's caution. Against both He bids His disciples be on their guard. Such warnings are of deep importance. It would be well for the Church of Christ, if they had been more remembered. The assaults of persecution from without have never done half so much harm to the Church, as the rise of false doctrines within. False prophets and false teachers within the camp have done far more mischief in Christendom than all the bloody persecutions of the emperors of Rome. The sword of the foe has never done such damage to the cause of truth as the tongue and the pen. The doctrines which our Lord specifies, are precisely those which have always been found to inflict most injury on the cause of Christianity. Formalism on the one hand, and skepticism on the other, have been chronic diseases in the professing Church of Christ. In every age multitudes of Christians have been infected by them. In every age men need to watch against them, and be on their guard. The expression used by our Lord in speaking of false doctrine is singularly forcible and appropriate. He calls it "leaven." No word more suitable could have been employed. It exactly describes the small beginnings of false doctrine — the subtle quiet way in which it insensibly pervades a man's religion — the deadly power with which it changes the whole character of his Christianity.
The words behind it
19 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| γνοὺς | gnous | having known [it] | G1097 → | 221 times |
| λέγει | legei | He says | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| αὐτοῖς· | autois | to them; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| τί | ti | Why | G5101 → | 563 times |
| διαλογίζεσθε | dialogizesthe | reason you | G1260 → | 16 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | because | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| ἄρτους | artous | loaves | G740 → | 97 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἔχετε; | echete | you have? | G2192 → | 707 times |
| οὔπω | oupo | Not yet | G3768 → | 26 times |
| νοεῖτε | noeite | do you perceive | G3539 → | 14 times |
| οὐδὲ | oude | nor | G3761 → | 141 times |
| συνίετε; | suniete | understand? | G4920 → | 26 times |
| πεπωρωμένην | peporomenen | Hardened | G4456 → | |
| ἔχετε | echete | do you have | G2192 → | 707 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| καρδίαν | kardian | heart | G2588 → | 156 times |
| ὑμῶν; | humon | of you? | G4771 → | 2973 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
γνοὺςhaving known [it]
gnousG1097 →221 times
λέγειHe says
legeiG3004 →1325 times
αὐτοῖς·to them;
autoisG846 →5565 times
τίWhy
tiG5101 →563 times
διαλογίζεσθεreason you
dialogizestheG1260 →16 times
ὅτιbecause
hotiG3754 →1292 times
ἄρτουςloaves
artousG740 →97 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἔχετε;you have?
echeteG2192 →707 times
οὔπωNot yet
oupoG3768 →26 times
νοεῖτεdo you perceive
noeiteG3539 →14 times
οὐδὲnor
oudeG3761 →141 times
συνίετε;understand?
sunieteG4920 →26 times
πεπωρωμένηνHardened
peporomenenG4456 →
ἔχετεdo you have
echeteG2192 →707 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
καρδίανheart
kardianG2588 →156 times
ὑμῶν;of you?
humonG4771 →2973 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Mark 6:52for they had not understood about the loaves, but their hearts had been hardened.
it leads to
- Luke 24:25
Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
- Mark 8:17–21
Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts?
- Isaiah 63:17
Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
- Mark 16:14
Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
- Luke 24:25
Through
Mark 3:5Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.
it leads to
- Luke 6:10
And after looking around at all of them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and it was restored.
- Luke 6:10
Through
Isaiah 63:17Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
it leads to
- Isaiah 6:10
Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
- Ezekiel 14:7–9
For when any Israelite or any foreigner dwelling in Israel separates himself from Me, sets up idols in his heart, and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the…
- Joshua 11:20
For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the LORD…
- Isaiah 6:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
About Mark

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1822: “Certain Curious Calculations About Loaves and Fishes” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.
