Without a parable he didn’t speak to them; but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
Parallel Translations
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Without a parable he didn’t speak to them; but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
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And with out similitude spake he no thinge vnto them. But when they were aparte he expounded all thinges to his disciples.
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And without parables spake hee nothing vnto them: but he expounded all thinges to his disciples apart.
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Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Mark 4:34 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 16:25 I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.
- Mark 4:10 When he was alone, those who were around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.
- Luke 24:27 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
- Matthew 13:36-43 Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field.” He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
- Matthew 15:15-20 Peter answered him, “Explain the parable to us.” So Jesus said, “Do you also still not understand? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body? But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man.”
- Luke 8:9-10 Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?” He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of God’s Kingdom, but to the rest in parables; that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’
- Luke 24:44-46 He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures. He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
- Mark 7:17-23 When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him, because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making all foods clean?” He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Word for word, Loosed, as you would say, read…
Word for word, Loosed, as you would say, read them the hard riddles.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 34 But without a parable spake he not unto…
34 But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
Ver. 34. He expounded] He read them the riddles, as it were, or untied the knots, επελυε. So, Jdg 7:15, we read of a dream, and the interpretation, or breaking of it. A metaphor from the breaking of a nut to get the kernel.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he arose and rebuked the wind,.... He arose…
And he arose and rebuked the wind,.... He arose from off his pillow, and stood up; and in a majestic and authoritative way reproved the wind, as if it was a servant that had exceeded his commission; at which he shows some resentment:
and said unto the sea, peace, be still; as if that which was very tumultuous and boisterous, and threatened with shipwreck and the loss of lives, had raged too much and too long:
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and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm; which was very unusual and extraordinary; for after the wind has ceased, and the storm is over, the waters of the sea being agitated thereby, keep raging, and in a violent motion, for a considerable time; whereas here, as soon as ever the word was spoken, immediately, at once, the wind ceased, and the sea was calmed: a clear proof this, that he must be the most high God, who gathers the winds in his fists, and stills the noise of the seas and their waves.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 34. He expounded all things to his disciples.]…
Verse 34. He expounded all things to his disciples.] That they might be capable of instructing others. Outside hearers, those who do not come into close fellowship with the true disciples of Christ, have seldom more than a superficial knowledge of Divine things.
In the fellowship of the saints, where Jesus the teacher is always to be found, every thing is made plain,-for the secret of the Lord is with them who fear him.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Without a parable spake he not unto them -…
Without a parable spake he not unto them - That is, the things pertaining to his kingdom. On other subjects he spake without parables. On these, such was their prejudice, so many notions had they contrary to the nature of his kingdom, and so liable would plain instructions have been to give offence, that he employed this method to “insinuate” truth gradually into their minds, and to prepare them fully to understand the nature of his kingdom.
They were alone - His disciples.
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He expounded - Explained. Showed them more at length the spiritual meaning of the parables.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (34) He expounded.—The word may be noted as being…
(34) He expounded.—The word may be noted as being the verb from which is formed the noun “interpretation” in 2Pe_1:20, and so takes its place in the coincidences of phraseology which connect that Epistle with this Gospel. (See Introduction.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain "Without a parable spake he not unto them.
"Without a parable spake he not unto them.
To be understood of Christ"s general habit or manner of teaching. It was specially characteristic of him after it became evident that the Pharisees were seeking an occasion for his destruction. This practice proved
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I THE VASTNESS OF HIS SPIRITUAL RESOURCES.
1. When prevented from using direct statements, he adopted an indirect mode of expression. The truth was not stifled, it only assumed another form. There was not the least sign of labour or effort in making this transition. He played upon the varying moods and appearances of nature as a skilled musician upon his instrument, so as not only to discourse sweet sounds, but to suggest Divine ideas and principles. His supplies of spiritual truth must have been as inexhaustible as nature itself. He must have had many modes and degrees of expression in which to clothe the same truth. Restriction of speech in one direction only developed a larger liberty in another.
2. In order to this his perception of truth must have been of a very deep and vital nature. His parables were not only facile, they were felicitous. In them truth lived and breathed. It is not as more or less distant analogies one reads them, but as one might look at the naked truth itself. How instinctively must he have discerned the Divine side of things! And there is in his figurative teaching an unassuming originality, a vigor and vividness that could spring from nothing less than inward understanding of spiritual principles a practical, sympathetic familiarity with them in their root and essence. The author of such similitudes cannot be conceived of as standing apart from Divine truth, but as one with it; therefore the conclusion, "I am the Truth," is inevitable.
II HIS DIDACTIC SKILL. The parables are beautiful, but it is not as creations of artistic genius that they chiefly impress us. Jesus was not the slave of his imagination. A careful adaptation of means to ends is perceptible in all his utterances. You feel he did not want to paint a beautiful picture, but simply to tell the truth. The latter was thus rendered:
(1) self-demonstrative;
(2) familiar and forcible; and
(3) memorable.
III HIS PRACTICAL MORAL PURPOSE. By his parables our Lord:
1. Demonstrated the unity of creation. The words and works of God were one in their meaning and message. A multitude of phenomena so varied and different, yet so mutually suggestive and harmoniously concurrent in testimony, could not be a soulless medley or a resultant of blind forces; it must be a system throughout, informed and controlled by one governing mind, and moving onward to a worthy if at present inadequately apprehended end.
2. Redeemed nature and human life from base associations. In everything there was discernible the idea;" the humblest thing was suggestive, if rightly interrogated, of the Divine. Henceforth nothing was to be considered "common or unclean.
3. R endered human experience a Divine discipline. Every-day events and circumstances were charged with spiritual lessons, and revealed as "working together for good to them that love God. M.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 34. Without a parable, etc. See notes on Matt.…
34. Without a parable, etc. See notes on Matt. 13:36–43.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.