Mark 3:8

8 and from Jerusalem and from Idumaea and from beyond Jordan. And those who dwell around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came unto 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 as the Pharisees went forth, they took counsel with the Herodians against him, to kill him.

7 But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea

8 and from Jerusalem and from Idumaea and from beyond Jordan. And those who dwell around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came unto him.

9 And he spoke to his disciples that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.

10 For he had healed many, insomuch that as many as had plagues pressed upon him to touch him.