Mark 3:8

8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and the other side of Jordan, and the country about Tyre and Sidon, a great number, hearing what great things he did, came to him.

Mark 3:8 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 3:8

And from Jerusalem
The metropolis of the country of Judea;

and from Idumea,
or Edom, as the Syriac version reads it; a country that lay on the south of Judea, formerly inhabited by the sons of Edom, but now by Jews; or at least the inhabitants of it were proselytes to the Jewish religion. Mention is made of the plains of Idumea, along with Gazera, Azotus, and Jamnia, as in 1 Maccabees:

``Howbeit all the hindmost of them were slain with the sword: for they pursued them unto Gazera, and unto the plains of Idumea, and Azotus, and Jamnia, so that there were slain of them upon a three thousand men.'' (1 Maccabees 4:15)

Pliny ^F20 speaks of Idumea and Judea together, as a part of Syria; and Ptolemy says ^F21, this country lies on the west of the river Jordan; and it is here added,

and from beyond Jordan;
the country of Peraea, on the east of Jordan:

and they about Tyre and Sidon;
either the inhabitants of these places, as the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions favour, reading "a great company from Tyre and Sidon"; or those that lived near the borders, and upon the confines of these cities of Phoenicia:

a great multitude;
when all met together, from these several parts; who

when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him:
for his fame went through all the countries, for the miracles he wrought; which drew this vast concourse of people after him; and who, inquiring where he was, came to him at the sea of Galilee.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 12.
F21 Geograph. l. 5. c. 16.

Mark 3:8 In-Context

6 And the Pharisees went out, and straight away made designs with the Herodians about how they might put him to death.

7 And Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea, and a great number from Galilee came after him: and from Judaea,

8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and the other side of Jordan, and the country about Tyre and Sidon, a great number, hearing what great things he did, came to him.

9 And he made a request to his disciples to have a little boat ready for him, so that he might not be crushed by the people;

10 For he had made such a great number well that all those who were diseased were falling down before him for the purpose of touching him.