Mark 8:18
in Mark 8‘Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?’ And do you not remember?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
KJV
Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
⋯
This verse in Mark 8
Commentary
4 notes on this verseHaving eyes, see ye not?.... Meaning perhaps both the eyes of their bodies, and of their understandings: they had bodily eyes, and with them saw the miracles he wrought, and yet took little notice of them; and the eyes of their understandings were enlightened by Christ, and yet saw things but very darkly: and having ears, hear ye not?
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
Having eyes, do you not see?
John Gill takes the eyes in two senses. With their bodily eyes they had watched the miracles yet taken little notice of them. The eyes of their understanding had been opened by Christ, yet they still saw things darkly.
The record, by era
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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὀφθαλμοὺς | ophthalmous | Eyes | G3788 → | 100 times |
| ἔχοντες | echontes | having | G2192 → | 707 times |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| βλέπετε, | blepete | do you see? | G991 → | 132 times |
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ὦτα | ota | ears | G3775 → | 36 times |
| ἔχοντες | echontes | having | G2192 → | 707 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἀκούετε; | akouete | do you hear? | G191 → | 425 times |
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| μνημονεύετε; | mnemoneuete | do you remember? | G3421 → |
ὀφθαλμοὺςEyes
ophthalmousG3788 →100 times
ἔχοντεςhaving
echontesG2192 →707 times
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
βλέπετε,do you see?
blepeteG991 →132 times
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ὦταears
otaG3775 →36 times
ἔχοντεςhaving
echontesG2192 →707 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἀκούετε;do you hear?
akoueteG191 →425 times
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
μνημονεύετε;do you remember?
mnemoneueteG3421 →
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 4:12so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”
it leads to
- Isaiah 6:9–10
And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 5:21
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 44:18
They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
- Matthew 13:14–15
In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
- Deuteronomy 29:4
Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.
- Isaiah 6:9–10
Through
Jeremiah 5:21“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
it leads to
- Acts 28:26
‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
- Ezekiel 12:2
“Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.
- Romans 11:8
as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
- Acts 28:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
About Mark
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament.