Markus 6:33

6:33 But many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they hurried on foot ¹  from all the towns ²  and arrived there ahead of them. ³ 

Markus 6:48

6:48 He ⁴  saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. As the night was ending, ⁵  he came to them walking on the sea, ⁶  for ⁷  he wanted to pass by them. ⁸ 

¹ tn Grk “ran together on foot.” The idea of συντρέχω (suntrecw) is “to come together quickly to form a crowd” (L&N 15.133).

² tn Or “cities.”

³ tc The translation here follows the reading προῆλθον (prohlqon, “they preceded”), found in א B [phone] pc lat co. Some mss (D 28 33 700 pc) read συνῆλθον (sunhlqon, “arrived there with them”), while the majority of mss, most of them late (Ì^84vid [A ˹³] Ï sy^h), conflate the two readings (προῆλθον αὐτοὺς καὶ συνῆλθον πρὸς αὐτόν, “they preceded them and came together to him”). The reading adopted here thus has better external credentials than the variants. As well, it is the harder reading internally, being changed “by copyists who thought it unlikely that the crowd on the land could have outstripped the boat” (TCGNT 78).

⁴ tn This verse is one complete sentence in the Greek text, but it has been broken into two sentences in English for clarity.

⁵ tn Grk “about the fourth watch of the night,” between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.

⁶ tn Or “on the lake.”

⁷ tn The καί (kai) was translated so as to introduce a subordinate clause, i.e., with the use of “for.” See BDF §442.9.

⁸ sn The statement he wanted to pass by them is somewhat difficult to understand. There are at least two common interpretations: (1) it refers to the perspective of the disciples, that is, from their point of view it seemed that Jesus wanted to pass by them; or (2) it refers to a theophany and uses the language of the Greek Old Testament (LXX) when God “passed by” Moses at Sinai (cf. Exod 33:19, 22). According to the latter alternative, Jesus is “passing by” the disciples during their struggle, in order to assure them of his presence with them. See W L. Lane, Mark (NICNT), 236.