He looked up, and said, “I see men; for I see them like trees walking.”
Then again he laid his hands on his eyes. He looked intently, and was restored, and saw everyone clearly.
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Mark 8:24-25 sits inside this longer paragraph.
He looked up, and said, “I see men; for I see them like trees walking.”
Then again he laid his hands on his eyes. He looked intently, and was restored, and saw everyone clearly. He sent him away to his house, saying, “Don’t enter into the village, nor tell anyone in the village.”
Parallel Translations
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He looked up, and said, “I see men; for I see them like trees walking.”
Then again he laid his hands on his eyes. He looked intently, and was restored, and saw everyone clearly.
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And he loked vp and sayde: I se the men: For I se the walke as they were trees.
After that he put his hondes agayne apon his eyes and made him see. And he was restored to his sight and sawe every man clerly.
Show all 3 translations
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And he looked vp, and said, I see men: for I see them walking like trees.
After that, he put his hands againe vpon his eyes, and made him looke againe. And hee was restored to his sight, and sawe euery man a farre off clearely.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (9)
- Proverbs 4:18 (v25) But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light that shines more and more until the perfect day.
- Isaiah 29:18 (v24) In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
- Philippians 1:6 (v25) being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
- Isaiah 32:3 (v24) The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
- 1 Corinthians 13:9-12 (v24) For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.…
Show all 9 cross-references
- 1 Peter 2:9 (v25) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of…
- 2 Peter 3:18 (v25) But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
- Judges 9:36 (v24) When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” Zebul said to him, “You see…
- Matthew 13:12 (v25) For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv24–25 He perceived some moving of men, when he could…
He perceived some moving of men, when he could not discern their bodies.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv24–25 24 And he looked up, and said, I see…
24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
Ver. 24. I see men as trees, walking] This was done, saith an expositor, to the end that Christ’s power might be the more distinctly known; as also to instruct men in their degrees and progresses of spiritual illumination, to give God the glory wholly, both for the beginning and for the accomplishment. He is author and finisher of our faith, Heb 12:2.
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 On vv24–25 And he looked up,.... This is omitted in the…
And he looked up,.... This is omitted in the Arabic and Persic versions. The sense is, that he opened his eyelids, and lifted up his eyes, to try if he could see, and he could, and did see again; his sight was returned again, though very imperfectly as yet:
and said, I see men, as trees, walking: he saw some objects at a little distance from him, which, by their motion, he supposed to be men; otherwise his sight was so imperfect, that he could not have distinguished them from trees: he was capable of discerning the bulk of their bodies, and that they walked, or moved forward; but he could not distinguish the particular parts of their bodies; they seemed to be like trunks of trees, in an erect posture, and which he should have took for such, had it not been for their walking. As this man immediately, upon Christ's putting spittle on his eyes, and laying his hands on him, had sight given him, though it was very obscure and glimmering; so, as soon as ever the Gospel comes with power, it dispels the darkness of the mind, and introduces light; though at first it is but very small; it is let in gradually: the sinner is first convinced of the evil of his actions, and then of the sinfulness of his nature; he first sees the ability and suitableness of Christ as a Saviour, and after that his willingness, and his interest in him as such; and all this is commonly before he is so well acquainted with the dignity and infiniteness of his person, as the Son of God: and it is some time before he has his spiritual senses exercised to discern between good and evil, between truth and error; or arrives to a clear and distinct knowledge of Gospel truths, and a stability in them. Hence it is, that such are greatly harassed with Satan's temptations; are disquieted in their souls; are filled with doubts and fears, and are in danger of being imposed upon by false teachers.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v24 I see men as trees walking - He distinguished…
I see men as trees walking - He distinguished men from trees only by their motion.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv24–25 Verse 24. I see men as trees, walking.] His…
Verse 24. I see men as trees, walking.] His sight was so imperfect that he could not distinguish between men and trees, only by the motion of the former.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv24–25 I see men, as trees, walking - I see…
I see men, as trees, walking - I see men walking, but see them so indistinctly that, but for their “motion,” I could not distinguish them from trees. I cannot distinctly see their shapes and features. Probably our Lord did not “at once” restore him fully to sight, that he might strengthen his faith. Seeing that Jesus had partially restored him, it was evidence that he could “wholly,” and it led him to exercise faith anew in him, and to feel more strikingly his dependence on him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv24–25 Man[1] as trees walking. In the Latin text, walking…
Man[1] as trees walking. In the Latin text, walking may agree either with men, or with trees, but the Greek shews that walking must be referred to men. Perhaps Christ restored sight in this manner to the man by degrees, to make him more sensible of the benefit; or to teach us how difficult is a sinner’s conversion; of which this was a figure. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Video homines velut arbores ambulantes, Greek: Blepo taus anthropous os dendra peripatountas.
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v24 24. Men as trees, walking — Had the man…
24. Men as trees, walking — Had the man been born blind he would not have recognized either men or trees as such. One who has received his sight for the first time would not know a circle from a square, or identify any visible form as being what he had heretofore known.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv24–25 24. as trees, walking] He had not been born…
24. as trees, walking] He had not been born blind. He remembered the appearance of natural objects, and in the haze of his brightening vision he saw certain moving forms about him, “trees he should have accounted them from their height, but men from their motion.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv24–25 (24) I see men as trees, walking.—The better MSS.…
(24) I see men as trees, walking.—The better MSS. give two words expressing different forms of perception, “I behold men, for I see them walking as trees.” His sight was not yet clear, but he interpreted what it told him rightly. The naturalness of this description of the first impression of the restored sense strikes every reader. From the point of view which looks on our Lord’s miracles as having a symbolic character, and being, as it were, acted parables, we may see in it that which represents an analogous stage in the spiritual growth of men, when truths for which before they had no faculty of vision are seen for the first time, but are not as yet apprehended in their full or definite proportions. They need a second touch of the Divine Hand, the passing away of another film of ignorance or prejudice, and then they too see all things clearly.
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 On vv24–25 And he looked up, and said, I see men…
And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. He looked ups natural action. He instinctively looked in the direction of the source of light. The words in the Greek of the next clause are as follows: blepw toupouv oti wv dendra orw peripatountav : I see men; for I behold them as trees, walking; that is, "I see something confusedly and obscurely, not clearly; for I see what I think must be men, and yet so dimly that they look to me like trees, only that I know that men move from their places, whereas trees do not." The word "walking" refers to the men, and not to the trees, as is evident from the Greek. This man, as yet partially blind, saw men as in shadow, magnified by the mist, looking much larger than they really were.
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 On vv24–25 24. I see men; for I behold them as…
24. I see men; for I behold them as trees, walking. Certain moving forms about him, but without the power of discerning their shape or magnitude; trees he should have accounted them from their height, but men from their motion.
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v24 He looked up
He looked up
"The man looked up"
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I see men who look like walking trees
The man sees men walking around, yet they are not clear to him, so he compares them to trees. AT: "Yes, I see people! They are walking around, but I cannot see them clearly. They look like trees" (See: Simile)
Then he again
"Then Jesus again"
and the man opened his eyes, his sight was restored
The phrase "his sight was restored" can be written in active form. AT: "restoring the man's sight, and then the man opened his eyes" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
like
restore
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v24 8:24-25 The healing was not instantaneous—the man saw imperfectly…
8:24-25 The healing was not instantaneous—the man saw imperfectly at first. Jesus’ second laying on of hands brought complete healing. Who is this man who stills the sea and heals the blind? Peter reveals this in the next account—he is the Messiah (8:29).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.