But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out:
but they, when they saw him walking on the sea, supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;
And they having seen him walking on the sea, thought it to be an apparition, and cried out,
But they, seeing him walking on the sea, thought that it was an apparition, and cried out.
Mark — The Gospel of the servant in motion. The narrative hinges at Peter's confession (8:27). Before: the Servant revealed. After: the Servant suffers.
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 verses this one reaches7
He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
During the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the sea.
But they were startled and frightened, thinking they had seen a spirit.
When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.
fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
The walk8
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
Job 9:8He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
leads to
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,
He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent,
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
can you, like Him, spread out the skies to reflect the heat like a mirror of bronze?
This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man…
Through
Luke 24:37But they were startled and frightened, thinking they had seen a spirit.
leads to
When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.
but when they saw Him walking on the sea, they cried out, thinking He was a ghost—
“Do not be afraid,” the king replied. “What do you see?” “I see a god coming up out of the earth,” the woman answered.
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
Voices4
But notice also another circumstance, namely that before ending the danger, He casts them into even greater fear; for when they saw Him, they cried out in fright, thinking it was a ghost. Then the Lord immediately encourages them with His voice, saying: "Do not …
Theophylact of Ohrid· Commentary on Mark, 1107patristic
But when they saw him walking on the sea,.... See Gill on Mat 14:26; they supposed it had been a spirit; a phantom, a spectre, an apparition, a nocturnal demon: and cried out; as men affrighted at the sight, and fearing they should be hurt by it, or that it portended some evil to them; See Gill on Mat 14:26.
John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed
But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out--"for fear" (Mt 14:26). He would appear to them at first like a dark moving speck upon the waters; then as a human figure; but in the dark tempestuous sky, and not dreaming that it could be their Lord, they take it for a spirit.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871reformed
Christ makes a visit to his own country, the place not of his birth, but of his education; that was Nazareth; where his relations were. He had been in danger of his life among them ( Luke iv. 29 ), and yet he came among them again; so strangely doth he wait to be gracious, and seek the salvation of his enemies.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
