Mark 8:24 BSB — MannaFest

Mark 8:24

The man looked up and said, “I can see the people, but they look like trees walking around.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And he looked up, and said, I see men; for I behold them as trees, walking.

KJV

And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

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Commentary

2 voices

Bede

Catena Aurea by Aquinas (735)

(ubi sup.) Seeing indeed the shapes of bodies amongst the shadows, but unable to distinguish the outlines of the limbs, from the continued darkness of his sight; just as trees standing thick together are wont to appear to men who see them from afar, or by the dim light of the night, so that it cannot easily be known whether they be trees or men.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

I see men as trees, walking - His sight was so imperfect that he could not distinguish between men and trees, only by the motion of the former.

J.C. Ryle

1816–1900

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)

We do not know the reason of the peculiar means employed by our Lord Jesus Christ, in working the miracle recorded in these verses. We see a blind man miraculously healed. We know that a word from our Lord's mouth, or a touch of His hand would have been sufficient to effect a cure. But we see Jesus taking this blind man by the hand — leading him out of the town — spitting on his eyes — putting His hands on him, and then, and not until then, restoring his sight.

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 701: “Seeing And Not Seeing—Or, Men As Trees Walking” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1866)

OUR Savior very frequently healed the sick by a touch, for He intended to impress upon us the truth that the infirmities of fallen humanity can only be removed by contact with His own blessed humanity. He had, however, other lessons to teach, and therefore He adopted other methods of action in healing the sick. Moreover, it was wise for other reasons to manifest variety in His methods.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

11 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
ἀναβλέψας	anablepsas	having looked up	G308 →
ἔλεγεν·	elegen	he was saying;	G3004 →
βλέπω	blepō	I see	G991 →
τοὺς	tous	the	G3588 →
ἀνθρώπους	anthrōpous	men	G444 →
ὅτι	hoti	for	G3754 →
ὡς	hōs	as	G5613 →
δένδρα	dendra	trees	G1186 →
ὁρῶ	horō	I see [them]	G3708 →
περιπατοῦντας.	peripatountas	walking.	G4043 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Isaiah 29:18
On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
leads to
- Matthew 11:5
  The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
- Isaiah 35:5
  Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
- Proverbs 20:12
  Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both.
- Mark 7:37
  The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
- Isaiah 32:3
  Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
Through
Isaiah 32:3
Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
leads to
- Isaiah 29:18
  On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
- 2 Corinthians 4:6
  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of…
- Acts 26:18
  to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified…