After receiving the report of his apostles’ labors, Jesus said to
them, “Come ye yourselves apart into a retired place, and rest awhile:”
for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much
as to eat. And he took them and went privately by ship aside, into a
_lonely_ place, near the city called Bethsaida. And the people saw him
departing, and many knew him, and went on foot to the place, out of
all the country, and outwent them, and came together to him as soon
as he reached there. And he received them, and spoke unto them of the
kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. It was on
this occasion that he performed the miracle of feeding the multitude
with five loaves and two fishes. So great was the impression made on
their minds by this extraordinary act of benevolence and power, that
he thought it best, in order to avoid the hindrance of his great task,
by any popular commotion in his favor, to go away in such a manner as
to be effectually beyond their reach for the time.――With this view he
constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and go before him to
the other side of the lake, opposite to Bethsaida, where they then
were; while he sent away the people. After sending the multitude away,
he went up into a mountain, apart, to pray. And after night fall, the
vessel was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. Thence
he saw them toiling with rowing, (for the wind was contrary to them,
and the ship tossed in the waves:) and about three or four o’clock in
the morning, he comes to them, walking on the sea, and appeared as if
about to pass unconcernedly by them. But when they saw him walking upon
the sea. they supposed it to have been a spirit, and they all cried
out, “It is a spirit;” for they all saw him, and were alarmed; and
immediately he spoke to them, and said “Be comforted; it is I; be not
afraid.” And Peter, foremost in zeal on this occasion, as at almost all
times, said to him, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee upon the
water.” And he said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the
vessel, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the
wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, “Lord,
save me.” And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught
him; and said to him, “O thou of little faith! wherefore didst thou
doubt?” And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased; and
they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. And
all they that were in the vessel came and worshiped him, saying, “Of
a truth, thou art the Son of God.” This amazement and reverence was
certainly very tardily acknowledged by them, after all the wonders they
had seen wrought by him; but they considered not the miracle of the
loaves, the most recent of all, which happened but a few hours before.
For this thoughtlessness, in a matter so striking and weighty, Jesus
himself afterwards rebuked them, referring both to this miracle of
feeding the five thousand, and to a subsequent similar one. However,
the various great actions of a similar character, thus repeated before
them, seem at last to have had a proper effect, since, on an occasion
not long after, they boldly and clearly made their profession of faith
in Jesus, as the Christ.
“_A lonely place._”――The word _desert_, which is the adjective
given in this passage, in the common English version, (Matthew
xiv. 13, 15, Mark vi. 31, 32, 35, Luke ix. 10, 12,) does not
convey to the reader, the true idea of the character of the
place. The Greek word Ερημος (_eremos_) does not in the passages
just quoted, mean “_desert_,” in our modern sense of that
English word, which always conveys the idea of “desolation,”
“wildness” and “barrenness,” as well as “solitude.” But the
Greek word by no means implied these darker characteristics. The
primary, uniform idea of the word is, “_lonely_,” “_solitary_,”
and so little does it imply “barrenness,” that it is applied
to lands, rich, fertile and pleasant, a connection, of course,
perfectly inconsistent with our ideas of a _desert_ place.
Schleusner gives the idea very fairly under Ερημια, (_eremia_,)
a derivative of this word. “Notat locum aliquem vel tractum
terrae, non tam _incultum_ et _horridum_, quam minus habitabilem,
――_solitudinem_,――locum vacuum quidem ab hominibus, _pascuis_
tamen et _agris abundantem_, et _arboribus obsitum_.” “It means
a place or tract of land, not so much uncultivated and wild, as
it does one thinly inhabited,――a solitude, a place empty of men
indeed, yet rich in pastures and fields, and planted with trees.”
But after giving this very clear and satisfactory account of
the derivative, he immediately after gives to the primitive
itself, the primary meaning “_desertus, desolatus, vastus,
devastatus_,” and refers to passages where the word is applied
to ruined cities; but in every one of those passages, the
true idea is that above given as the meaning, “stripped of
inhabitants,” and not “desolated” or “laid waste.” Hedericus
gives this as the first meaning, “_desertus, solus, solitarius,
inhabitatus_.” Schneider also fully expresses it, in German,
by “_einsam_,” (_lonely, solitary_,) in which he is followed by
Passow, his improver, and by Donnegan, his English translator.
Jones and Pickering, also give it thus. Bretschneider and Wahl,
in their New Testament Lexicons, have given a just and proper
classification of the meanings. The word “_desert_” came into
our English translation, by the minute verbal adherence of the
translators to the Vulgate or Latin version, where the word is
expressed by “_desertum_” probably enough because _desertus_,
in Latin, does not mean _desert_ in English, nor any thing like
it, but simply “lonely,” “uninhabited;”――in short, it has the
force of the English participle, “_deserted_,” and not of the
adjective “_desert_,” which has probably acquired its modern
meaning, and lost its old one, since our common translation was
made; thus making one instance, among ten thousand others, of
the imperfection of this ancient translation, which was, at best,
but a servile English rendering of the Vulgate. Campbell, in his
four gospels, has repeated this passage, without correcting the
error, though Hammond, long before, in his just and beautiful
paraphrase, (on Matthew xiv. 13,) had corrected it by the
expression, “_a place not inhabited_.” Charles Thomson, in
his version, has overlooked the error in Matthew xiv. 13, 15,
but has corrected it in Mark vi. 31, &c., and in Luke ix. 10;
expressing it by “_solitary_.” The remark of the apostles to
Jesus, “This place is lonely,” does not require the idea of a
barren or wild place; it was enough that it was far from any
village, and had not inhabitants enough to furnish food for
five thousand men; as in 2 Corinthians xi. 26, it is used in
opposition to “city,” in the sense of “the country.”