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1–2. The worries of Herod Antipas. – 3–12. Execution of John the Baptist. – 13–21. The return of the disciples and the feeding of five thousand people with five loaves. – 22–33. Calming the storm on the lake. – 34–36. Return to the land of Gennesaret. Matthew 14:1. At that time Herod the tetrarch heard a rumor about Jesus In this and the next verses, the evangelist places what he would have to place after the 12th verse if he were telling in the order of time, because Herod could have uttered the words of the 2nd verse after John was executed. “The rumor about Jesus” and Herod’s remark serve as an occasion for the evangelist to recall the circumstances of the execution of the Baptist, which have not yet been described in the Gospel. Both other evangelists tell about Herod's worries much later than Matthew. Moreover, the sequence of the story in Mark is the same as in Matthew, but Luke has no story at all about the execution of the Baptist. The Evangelist Luke confines himself only to remarks about his death, similar to the remarks of Matthew, but with the difference that (like Mark) he puts words about the resurrection of John from the dead into the mouth not of Herod himself, but of those around him, while Herod only repeats the opinions about the Baptist expressed by them. In essentials, the reports of weather forecasters on this subject are similar. “At that time” here, as in many other places, is an indefinite designation of time. Mark and Luke date the events to the time after the embassy of the apostles (Matthew 10:5), as a result of which the rumor about Christ spread greatly. "At that time Herod heard (literally) a rumor (τὴν ἀκοήν) about Jesus." This was Herod Antipas, the brother of Archelaus and the son of Herod I, who beat the Bethlehem babies, born from Malphaka of the Samaritan woman. The part of Herod's kingdom assigned to Antipas in his father's second will (in the first he was appointed king) was Galilee and Perea, where he was confirmed by Augustus as tetrarch. He was married to the daughter of the Arab king Arethas, whom he rejected because of Herodias. The name Herod was initially purely personal, but then passed on to Herod's two sons, Herod Boethus and Herod Antipas, and then to King Agrippa I and other younger members of Herod's house. The word "tetrarch" in Greek should be read τεραάρχης, and not τετράρχης, i.e. without elision of the first a (see Blass, Gram., § 28, 8). Instead of this exact title (Luke 3:1, 19, Luke 9:7; Acts 13:1; Josephus, “Antiquities of the Jews,” XVII, 8, 1; XXIII, 2, 3), Antipas is given in popular speech, like other ruling Herods, the still inaccurate title of “king” (Matt. 14:9; Mark 6:14, 22). A similar inaccuracy is found in the Jewish historian Josephus (“Jewish Antiquities”, XVIII, 4, 3; “Life”, 1). Matthew 14:2. and he said to those who served with him: This is John the Baptist; he rose from the dead, and therefore miracles are done by him. (Cf. Mark 6:14–16; Luke 9:7–9). In Mark (Mark 6:14ff.), King Herod heard about what was said by the evangelist in the previous verses, i.e. about the preaching of the disciples sent to preach, their casting out demons and other healings (Mark 6:12–13), and not “about Jesus,” as it appears (underlined) in the Russian translation. Luke (Luke 9:7) speaks about this even more clearly: “Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was happening” (in the Synodal translation: “about everything that Jesus did” - ὑπ´ αὐτοῦ inauthentic) indicating the same circumstances as indicated in Mark. However, Mark adds: “for His name, i.e. Christ, it became clear” (in the Synodal translation this text is placed in brackets). What is described in more detail by other weather forecasters, Matthew sets out in abbreviated sentences of the 1st and 2nd verses. In it, Herod speaks to his “youths” (i.e. slaves, or “serving under him”, as in the Russian translation). Matthew 14:3. For Herod, having taken John, bound him and put him in prison for Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, (Cf. Mark 6:17; Luke 3:19–20). This verse is a return to what the Evangelist Luke spoke about earlier (Luke 3:19–20). In terms of time, this should be so, because John had been in prison for a relatively long time, and the evangelist now wants to tell about the death of the Baptist, adding explanations taken from the early history of the Baptist to his story. The shortest story here is in Matthew. The explanation, equally brief, that Herod's marriage was adulterous, is given in the next verse. Mark (Mark 6:17) adds: “because he married her”; and Luke (Luke 3:19) - that the Baptist denounced Herod not only for marrying Herodias, but “for everything that Herod did that was bad.” Josephus Flavius ​​points out (“Jewish Antiquities,” XVIII, 5, 2) to Herod’s fear of political unrest as the reason for John’s imprisonment. The fact that the political dangers were mixed, as the Gospels report, with the discontent of Herod and Herodias over John’s denunciations of their illegal marriage is not surprising. Matthew 14:4. because John said to him: You must not have it. John Chrysostom asks: what was this ancient law, broken by Herod and strongly supported by John? And he answers: that the wife of a childless man dying had to marry his brother (Deut. 25:5). Since “Herod married his brother’s wife, who had a daughter, John reproaches him for this.” Theophylact, agreeing with Chrysostom, adds: “Some say that Herod took away both his wife and the tetrarchy while Philip was still alive. But one way or another, what was done was illegal.” The illegality, of course, lay precisely in the fact that Antipas took for himself the wife of his then still living brother, as can be concluded from the testimony of the evangelists. “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife, it is your brother’s nakedness. If anyone takes his brother's wife, it is abominable; he has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they will be childless" (Lev.18:16, 20:21). It must be added here that Antipas’s first wife was also alive and ran away to her father, having heard about his intention to marry Herodias. This is enough to show the actual illegality of the marriage, and there is no need to add that Antipas and Herodias were related to each other or forbidden degrees of kinship, because Herodias was the niece of Antipas, the daughter of his half-brother Aristobulus. The Baptist recognized the old Jewish rights and, on their basis, quite correctly said: “It is not permissible for you to take her.” Matthew 14:5. And he wanted to kill him, but he was afraid of the people, because they revered him as a prophet. Euthymius Zigavinus interprets this passage on the basis of Mark and says that Herodias initially raged against John and wanted to kill him. But Herod did not agree to this, knowing that John was righteous and holy. Therefore, Antipas did a lot of things, obeying him, and listened to him with pleasure. Matthew 14:6. During the celebration of Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the assembly and pleased Herod, Both this verse and the entire story told in verses 6–12 are greatly abbreviated from Mark 6:21–29. “The daughter of Herodias, who danced before Herod,” is not called Salome in the Gospels. Information that Herodias had a daughter, Salome, who married the tetrarch Philip, is borrowed from Josephus. The expression “before the meeting” in Russian is somewhat inaccurate. In the original ἐν τῷ μέσῳ, “in the middle.” If we only had Matthew’s story, then this word in itself would be difficult to understand, because Matthew says nothing about a large society; one could only guess about it if it were not for Luke’s story. Matthew 14:7. Therefore, he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. It is believed that the king had previously given Salome something on special days, and if so, then this could have encouraged her even more to please him. But such an assumption, of course, should remain only an assumption. The oath of the intoxicated king, although he could not keep his word if the girl demanded something impossible, is psychologically quite understandable. Matthew 14:8. She, at the instigation of her mother, said: Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter. Theophylact asks: “Why is “here” added? And he answers: “Fearing that Herod, having come to his senses, would not repent later. Therefore, Herod hurries, saying: “Give it to me here.” The words “at the instigation of his mother” (προβιβασθεῖσα, cf. Acts 19:33) cannot be literally translated from Greek. It is best to translate “forced” or “taught”, deriving this word from βαίνω. Matthew 14:9. And the king was saddened, but, for the sake of the oath and those reclining with him, he commanded to give her, According to Theophylact, he was saddened because of virtue, for the enemy is surprised at virtue. However, by virtue of his oath, he gives an inhuman gift. In Jerome, the words “the king was sad” are assigned to verse 8. Jerome says that Herod feigned sadness on his face while rejoicing in his soul. But in general, in the Gospels, the girl’s request seems completely unexpected both for the king and for his guests. The addition “for the sake of those reclining with him” indicates that Herod wanted to make them participants in his atrocity. According to Bengel, the king was afraid of the guests and the guests were afraid of him. They should have asked for John, but they did not ask, and therefore became participants in the murder. Having called Herod a tetrarch in verse 1, Matthew now calls him a king. The word "oaths" is plural in the Greek text; Apparently, Herod repeated his oath several times. Matthew 14:10. and sent to cut off John's head in prison. The whole story becomes quite understandable if we accept, according to the testimony of Josephus about the imprisonment of the Baptist in Macheron, that the feast itself took place there, and not in Tiberias (the residence of Herod) and not in Libya (Betaramta), a city rebuilt and fortified by Antipas, lying on the eastern side of the Jordan and not far from Jericho. Macheron was initially fortified by Alexander Iannai and then by Herod I, who built a royal palace there. It was located on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, on the southern border of Perea. It was the strongest Jewish fortress after Jerusalem. Now the city is in ruins. The place where he stood is known to the native Arabs as M'kaur. Matthew 14:11. And they brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and she took it to her mother. This matter does not remain without examples in those barbaric times. According to Jerome's story, Flaminius, a Roman leader, at the request of his mistress, who said that she had never seen a beheaded man, ordered the death of a criminal at a feast. For other examples, see Geikie, Life and Teachings of Christ II, 235–237. The exact time of the execution of the Baptist is quite difficult to determine. Schürer (Geschichte), having carefully considered the opinions of Keim and Wieseler (I, 443 et seq.), comes to the following final conclusion: “In the end, we must, adhering to the testimony of the New Testament, attribute the death of Christ to Easter 30 (according to our account), the Baptist to 29, and the marriage of Antipas with Herodias to a slightly earlier time, perhaps to 29 or several years earlier.” Matthew 14:12. His disciples came and took his body and buried it; and they went and told Jesus. Mark does not speak about the announcement to the Savior of the death of the Baptist by the disciples of John. Matthew 14:13. And when Jesus heard, he departed from there in a boat to a desert place alone; and the people, having heard about this, followed Him from the cities on foot. (Cf. Mark 6:30–33; Luke 9:10–11; John 6:1–2). The following story about the miracle of feeding five thousand with five loaves is found in all four evangelists. The Evangelist John here clearly approaches the weather forecasters for the first time. In Mark, the Savior tells the disciples to go alone to a deserted place and rest a little. For there were many coming and going, so that they had no time to eat. Matthew does not speak about the disciples, but about Jesus Christ alone. The reason for the removal is clear from the Gospel of Mark. Therefore, it seems incorrect to interpret that He retired to the eastern shore either out of fear of death at the hands of Herod Antipas, or even in order to spare His enemies and prevent them from adding another to one crime. According to Luke, the events are presented in the same connection as in other weather forecasters, but the Savior retires to the other shore after the twelve, who returned from the sermon, told Christ about what they saw. John does not indicate the reasons for the removal. From all this we can only conclude that there was not one reason for the deletion, but several, and nothing prevents us from combining them. The special reason given by Matthew is the rumor of John's death. Ἐκει ῀θεν means “from there,” but the place from where the Savior departed is not precisely indicated. Perhaps the departure across the lake was from the place where the Savior received news of the death of John; may be from Nazareth (Matthew 13:54), if we accept that the speech of Matthew 13:54–58 is in close connection with this verse. Instead of ἔρημον τόπον (“desert place”) in Luke 9:10 the city of Bethsaida. By comparing Luke’s expression “to a city called Bethsaida” (“to a desert place, near the city called Bethsaida”, this reading from Luke, as in the Russian translation, is not considered the best) with the testimony of Matthew and Mark, we can deduce that the place of removal was a “deserted place” near Bethsaida, which, as is clear from the context, was located on the other side of the lake. Bethsaida was located on the northern side of Lake Galilee, slightly above the confluence of the Jordan. It was rebuilt by the tetrarch Philip, who, in honor of Augustus' daughter Julia, named the city Julia. It was located on the eastern bank of the Jordan. Subsequently, it was presented by Nero to Agrippa II. And now, on the eastern corner of the Butaiha plain, travelers find a deserted place that meets all the requirements of the gospel story. Both then and now it was deserted, because the land here is inconvenient for cultivation. Matthew 14:14. And Jesus went out and saw a multitude of people, and had compassion on them, and healed their sick. (Cf. Mark 6:34; Luke 9:11). The word “coming out” (ἐξελθών) is interpreted by some, according to Mark, as “out of the boat”; others - “from a desert place.” Still others consider both interpretations to be incorrect, because there is nothing to prove both interpretations, and all this leads to the idea that there is a gap in the synoptic tradition. But what is unclear from the weather forecasters is clear from John, who says that before the miraculous feeding of the people, Jesus Christ ascended the mountain and sat there with His disciples. ῟Εσπαλαγχνίσθη refers not to the sick, but to the “people,” as does the subsequent αὐτῶν. It could be that Christ's regret was caused by the sight of a people who had many sick people. But in Mark it is somewhat different: Christ’s compassion was caused by the sight of the people, who were like sheep who did not have a shepherd. Matthew 14:15. When evening came, His disciples came to Him and said: This is a deserted place and the time is already late; send the people away so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves. (Cf. Mark 6:35; Luke 9:12; John 6:5–7). According to John's story, the Savior, seeing the people, asked Philip where to buy bread to feed the people. Matthew says that at first the disciples told Christ to let the people go to buy food for themselves in nearby places. One can assume, agreeing with Augustine, that only after these words the Lord told Philip what John mentions; Matthew and the other evangelists omit this last point. Therefore, says Augustine, there is no need for anyone to worry about these issues at all, because here one evangelist reports what others omit. Some suggest that the disciples apparently stocked up on food for themselves earlier. But this assumption is contradicted by Matthew 14:17 and parallel passages. The first Jewish evening (ὀψία) arrived around 3 pm; ὀψία in verse 23 indicates a late time when night has fallen. Ἡ ὥρα παρῆλθεν ἤδη means “hour,” – present tense, “has already passed.” The meaning is this: the deadline has come when you need to think about food for the people. Other weather forecasters express the same idea in different expressions: ὥρας πολλῆς γενομένη (Mark), and: ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤρξατο κλίνειν (Luke). The apostles here are called μαθηταί disciples. The story of the weather forecasters is confirmed by the story of the fourth evangelist, although in some places he presents things somewhat differently compared to other evangelists (for example, John 6:8–9). Matthew 14:16. But Jesus said to them: They don’t need to go, you give them something to eat. (Cf. Mark 6:37; Luke 9:13). This verse in Matthew is somewhat more complete than in other weather forecasters. The latter do not have the words “they don’t need to go.” “You give them something to eat” - these words are the same (in the Greek text) for all three evangelists, only in Luke, perhaps, it is more correct instead of ὑμεῖς φαγεῖν, as in Matthew and Mark, - φαγεῖν ὑμεῖς. In John these words are omitted. According to Zigavin, “they shall not” is said instead of “they shall not.” Matthew 14:17. They said to Him: We have here only five loaves and two fish. (Cf. Mark 6:37–38; Luke 9:13; John 6:8–9). It should be noted that Matthew, Mark and Luke speak of five loaves and two fish, but do not report that the loaves were barley. Only John alone speaks of barley loaves. We also read about the boy who had these five loaves and two fish in one John. A similar miracle is in 2 Kings 4:42–44, only there are twenty barley loaves and a hundred people. See also Numbers 11:21–22. Matthew 14:18. He said: Bring them here to Me. Matthew 14:19. And he ordered the people to lie down on the grass and, taking five loaves and two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed and, breaking them, gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the people. (Cf. Mark 6:39–41; Luke 9:14–16; John 6:10–11). Matthew's story is shorter than the story of all the other evangelists. Mark's story is more picturesque and more detailed. Luke adds that Christ ordered the people to be seated “in rows of fifty.” Matthew and Luke do not speak of the distribution of fish, although it is reported that Christ took the fish; in Mark and John - about the distribution of fish. John Chrysostom says: “When (Jesus Christ) forgave sins, opened paradise and brought a thief into it, when he sovereignly abolished the old law, raised many dead, tamed the sea, revealed the secrets of the heart, opened the eyes - which deeds are characteristic of one God, and not of another - in none of these actions do we see Him praying. And when he intends to multiply the loaves, which was much less important than all the previously calculated actions, then he looks to heaven, both in confirmation of His embassy from the Father... and to teach us not to begin the meal before giving thanks to Him who gives us food.” Schürer says: “The Jews had a wonderful custom - not to eat or drink anything without prayer (according to the commandment of Deut. 8:10).” Hilary does not know where the loaves are multiplied, whether in the place where the meal was, or in the hands of those receiving, or in the mouths of those eating. Others tried to define the phenomenon more closely and said that the multiplication took place in the hands of the disciples, because there would be too little time left for Jesus Christ if He Himself began to distribute pieces of bread and parts of fish to each of the 5,000 people. But the disciples who distributed the loaves, according to DeWette’s calculations, would have to distribute with both hands about 216 times. And if each of them still stretched out his hand to receive the bread and fish, then they had to stretch out their hands 432 times. Calculations of this kind, unless they are superfluous, may show that some of the circumstances surrounding the miracle did not go beyond the limits of the possible or even the ordinary. Jewish breads were usually wide and thin, like flat cakes; This is probably why we never hear in the New Testament about cutting bread, but only about breaking it. Tsang notes that the detailed description of the distribution of bread by the disciples and the consistent testimony of the evangelists regarding the number of boxes equal to the number of apostles, into which the uneaten pieces of bread left on the ground were collected, strengthen the impression that the participation of the apostles in this entire action from beginning to end was of essential importance for the story. The apostles had to learn first of all that they had to fulfill the commission to feed the people even when natural means for this were lacking. Matthew 14:20. And they all ate and were filled; and they took up the remaining pieces, twelve baskets full; (Cf. Mark 6:42–43; Luke 9:17; John 6:12–13). The first sentence of Matthew's verse is literally similar to Mark 6:42; in Luke 9:17 the word “all” is rearranged: “and they all ate and were filled.” John adds: “When they were full, he said (says) to his disciples: gather up the remaining pieces so that nothing is lost.” This last command, which indirectly testifies to the reality of the miracle, because it would seem strange if imagined, is not found in the other evangelists. But they all agree that 12 boxes of pieces were collected (Mark, in addition to pieces of bread, also talks about the remains of fish). “The miracle was not limited to that (i.e., the multiplication of loaves). The Lord made it appear that there was an excess, and the excess was not in whole loaves, but in pieces, to show that these were definitely the remains of those loaves and so that those who were not present at the miracle could know that it happened” (St. John Chrysostom). When asked where these “boxes” (κόφινοι) came from, they answer that they were an ordinary property of the Jews. Even Juvenal speaks about them (Saturae, III, 14 and VI, 542: judaeis, quorum cophinus foenumque supellet). The Jews often used them when traveling. However, in the present case, there were apparently few boxes in comparison with the number of those gathered. What was taken in them was probably used up on the way, and the boxes were already empty. Since the number of boxes is 12, then perhaps they belonged only to the apostles. Matthew 14:21. and those who ate were about five thousand people, besides women and children. (Cf. Mark 6:44; Luke 9:14; John 6:10). Luke and John said this before. Mark simply has “about five thousand men,” while Matthew has “about five thousand men” (husbands, ἄνδρες), “except women and children.” Origen considers this speech of Matthew to be “ambiguous” (ἀμφίβολον), because it is not known whether at the feeding there were only five thousand men and not a single woman and not a single child, or that there were five thousand husbands, not counting women and children. Some, according to Origen, interpreted this passage as saying that there were no women or children at all when the five loaves and two fish were multiplied. But if there were no women and children at all, then why did the evangelist need to add this increase? He could have expressed himself in the same way as the other evangelists, who make no mention of women or children. We cannot agree with the opinion that Matthew is exaggerating, because the miracle in itself does not seem even greater if there were also women and children among the assembled men. That the latter were present, Tsang considers “self-explanatory,” because with such a large number of men who gathered mainly to receive healing, there could have been women and children. Only men were counted. There were probably few women and children, and no attention was paid to them when counting. Matthew 14:22. And immediately Jesus forced His disciples to get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, until He sent the people away. (Cf. Mark 6:45; John 6:14–15). Luke skips the entire further story; Mark adds that the Savior forced the disciples to go to the other side “to Bethsaida,” i.e., as one must assume, to western Bethsaida near Capernaum. This is reinforced by John 6:17, which directly refers to Capernaum. If we only had the account of Matthew and Mark, the reasons why the Savior compelled His disciples to go to the other side of the lake would be completely unclear. Both evangelists limit themselves to an objective historical presentation of facts, and their expressions, with the exception of some individual words, are literally similar. Only John explains the reasons for the disciples crossing the lake in his Gospel. Moreover, of the two verses of John 6:14–15, only the last part of John 6:15 somewhat coincides with Matthew 14:23 and Mark 6:46. Matthew 14:23. And, having dismissed the people, He went up to the mountain to pray in private; and in the evening he remained there alone. (Cf. Mark 6:46; John 6:15–17). Evangelist John says clearly why the Savior withdrew to the mountain. The people who saw the miracle wanted to come and unexpectedly take Christ and make him, obviously, an earthly king. Therefore Christ withdrew to the mountain. At this time it was already deep night. Matthew 14:24. And the boat was already in the middle of the sea, and it was beaten by waves, because the wind was contrary. Matthew 14:25. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. (Cf. (Mark 6:48; John 6:19), with quite significant differences). Mark adds: “I wanted to bypass them.” The Jews and Greeks changed their night posts and guards three times during the night. The Romans had four guards, and this custom spread to Palestine from the time of Pompey. Four watches are hinted at in Mark 13:35; Acts 12:4 and directly stated here in Matthew and Mark. The four warriors of whom the guard usually consisted were called a quaternion, and the four quaternions took turns during the night (cf. John 19:23). Since the feeding of the people was around the time of Passover (John 6:4), i.e. in the last half of March or the beginning of April, or around the time of the vernal equinox, when night was equal to day, then the fourth watch of the night was around 3 o'clock in the morning. The storm continued for three night watches until the fourth. Over the course of nine hours, the students laboriously swam 25 or 30 stadia (185 meters). Matthew 14:26. And the disciples, seeing Him walking on the sea, were alarmed and said: this is a ghost; and they cried out in fear. (Cf. Mark 6:49–50; John 6:19). The objectivity of the phenomenon is indicated by Mark’s expression “all”, i.e. were in the boat, and Matthew has a plural form in which verbs and participles are placed (ἰδόντες, λέγοντες, ἐταράχθησαν, ἔκραξαν). The phenomenon could be considered a hallucination if it were only about one person. But no two people have the same hallucinations, just like dreams. Matthew 14:27. But Jesus immediately spoke to them and said, “Be of good cheer; It's me, don't be afraid. (Cf. Mark 6:50; John 6:20–21). The Savior reveals the mistake of the disciples, which caused fear in them, with a categorical statement that it was He. This meant that the phenomenon that happened before the disciples was not a ghost, but reality. Matthew 14:28. Peter answered Him: Lord! If it is You, command me to come to You on the water. The story of Peter's walk on the waters is not found in other evangelists, and it is unique to Matthew. Literally: “command me to go to You to the waters.” With his faith, says Hilary, Peter was ahead of others. He is the first to answer Christ: “You are... the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16); the first will contradict Christ, considering His suffering to be evil (Matthew 16:22); the first solemnly promises to die with Christ and not to renounce (Matthew 26:33); the first prevents him from washing his feet (John 13:8); draws a sword against those who have taken the Lord (John 18:10). Jerome says almost the same thing, only in a little more detail. The words “if it is You” have been interpreted by some in the sense that they express not faith, but Peter’s doubt. But they can only indicate a sudden change in Peter’s soul, from a state of uncertainty and fear to a state of complete faith that the Person of the Savior walking on the waters was truly before Him. Matthew 14:29. He said: go. And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to come to Jesus, Matthew 14:30. but, seeing the strong wind, he got scared and, starting to drown, shouted: Lord! save me. The expression “seeing a strong wind” is very characteristic. Peter, of course, did not see the wind, but only saw a strong storm or rising waters. The wind is here indicated as the cause of the excitement, and this word is used to designate generally all the circumstances of the storm. Matthew 14:31. Jesus immediately stretched out his hand, supported him and said to him: you of little faith! why did you doubt? Instead of “supported” it is better to “take” (ἐπελάβετο). The verb διστάζω expresses doubt, hesitation, double thought, opinion, position. Peter's faith forced him and gave him the opportunity to walk on the waters, fear made him plunge into the water (καταποντίζεσθαι). Chrysostom says that “this incident is more wonderful than before, that’s why it happened after. When Christ showed that He is the Lord of the sea, He performed another most amazing sign before the disciples. Previously He only forbade the winds, but now He Himself walks on the waters, and He allows others to do the same.” Regarding Peter’s fear, John Chrysostom says: “It is so useless to be close to Christ for someone who is not close to Him by faith.” Matthew 14:32. And when they entered the boat, the wind died down. Wed. Mark 6:51, which speaks of only one Savior, that He entered the boat. Matthew has the plural form (“they entered”). Mark speaks of one Savior, because earlier he reported only Him walking on the sea. John (John 6:21) says: “They wanted to take Him into the boat.” From this they concluded that if the disciples wanted it, then Christ Himself did not want it, and together with Peter he went through a lot to confirm his faith, but when they approached the shore, they entered the boat. Matthew 14:33. Those who were in the boat came up, worshiped Him and said: Truly You are the Son of God. During the entire time Christ and Peter walked on the waters, the storm continued. It only calmed down when they entered the boat near the shore. Mark inserts: “and they were exceedingly amazed and amazed” (Mark 6:51). And further: “for they did not understand the miracle of the loaves, because their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:52). The connection between these expressions is not obvious. According to Origen, the words “Truly You are the Son of God” were spoken by the disciples in the boat (cf. Matt. 14:22; Mark 6:45). Matthew 14:34. And having crossed over, they arrived in the land of Gennesaret. (Cf. Mark 6:53; John 6:21). The evangelists do not indicate the exact location of the dressage, saying that they landed in the land of Gennesaret, but not in Bethsaida (Mark) or Capernaum (John), where the disciples originally wanted to go. In all likelihood, the landing site was somewhat south of Bethsaida (western) and Capernaum. The word “Gennisaret” or “Gennisar” was used not only for Lake Galilee, which also bore the names “Sea of ​​Galilee”, “Sea of ​​Tiberias”, but also for the western shore of the lake, which was once one of the most fertile places in Palestine, but is now completely wild. The ancient Hebrew names Kinneret (Num. 34:11), Kinnerot (Josh. 11:2, 19:35; 1 Kings 15:20) served as a designation for the lake (from the Hebrew “kinnor” - a harp, which the lake resembles in appearance), a city in the tribe of Naphtali (Josh. 19:35) and the area around it. You might be interested in: