The Fallible Study Bible

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Mark2:13–17

Jesus Calls Levi

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Mark 2:13–17 — Jesus Calls Levi. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

13

Once again Jesus went out beside the sea. All the people came to Him, and He taught them there.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai palin exēlthen para tēn thalassan kai pas ho ochlos ērcheto pros auton kai edidasken autous

Word by word16 · parsed
ΚαὶKai[Once]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πάλινpalinagainG3825
√ πάλιν — (adverbially) anew, iAdverb
palin: anew, again The adverb makes this a repetition, and Mark uses it as a seam between scenes rather than a time stamp.
ἐξῆλθενexēlthen[Jesus] went outG1831
√ ἐξέρχομαι — to issue (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
exerchomai: to issue, go out Aorist indicative, a single decisive exit. Jesus leaves the house of Mark 2:1 where the roof had been opened and the paralytic forgiven, and goes to open ground. Maclaren reads the whole following section as a deliberate advance toward the disreputable classes; the geography is already part of the argument.
παρὰparabesideG3844
√ παρά — properly, nearPreposition
τὴνtēntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
θάλασσανthalassanseaG2281
√ θάλασσα — the sea (genitive case or specially)NounAccusative Feminine Singular
thalassa: the sea The lake shore is Mark's open-air synagogue, and the customs post sits on it.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πᾶςpasAllG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ὄχλοςochlospeopleG3793
√ ὄχλος — a throng (as borne along)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ochlos: a throng, as borne along The word pictures a mass carried along rather than an assembly convened, and it is the crowd that the scribes of verse 16 will have to push into.
ἤρχετοērchetocameG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbImperfect Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
erchomai: to come or go Imperfect middle or passive: coming and coming. The same verb appears in the first person aorist at verse 17 (ēlthon, I came), so the crowd's coming and the Son's coming are said with one lexeme at the two ends of this unit.
πρὸςprostoG4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
αὐτόνautonHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐδίδασκενedidaskenHe taughtG1321
√ διδάσκω — to teach (in the same broad application)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
didaskō: to teach Imperfect: the teaching is the setting, not an episode. Poole draws the ministerial inference that teaching is the great work; Geneva sets the harder frame, that this same gospel offends the proud and saves the humble, which is precisely what happens by verse 16.
αὐτούςautousthem [there]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
14

As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai paragōn eiden Leuin ton tou Halphaiou kathēmenon epi to telōnion Akolouthei moi kai legei autō kai anastas ēkolouthēsen autō

Word by word20 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
παράγωνparagōnAs He was walking alongG3855
√ παράγω — to lead near, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
paragō: to lead near, pass by Present participle: the call is issued in passing, with no summons, no interview and no negotiation.
εἶδενeidenHe sawG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ΛευὶνLeuinLeviG3018
√ Λευΐς — Lewis (iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
Leuis: Levi A rare name in the Greek New Testament (3 verses). Mark and Luke call him Levi; Barnes, Poole and Geneva identify him with Matthew, Poole noting that it was ordinary with the Jews to have two names, and Cambridge suggesting the name Matthew (Mattathias, gift of God) was taken after the call. Mark himself never makes the identification, and his own apostle list at Mark 3:18 has Matthew without a note.
τὸνton[son]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἉλφαίουHalphaiouof AlphaeusG256
√ Ἀλφαῖος — Alphæus, an IsraeliteNounGenitive Masculine Singular
Alphaios: Alphaeus A rare name (5 verses), which is why the patronymic has carried so much speculation. Gill makes this Alphaeus the same father as James's, producing four apostle brothers; Cambridge resists, since in the apostle lists the two are never paired as other brothers are. The brief supports both men's existence and neither man's theory, so this stays an open question.
καθήμενονkathēmenonsittingG2521
√ κάθημαι — and (to sitVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveAccusative Masculine Singular
kathēmai: to sit Present participle: the man is found seated at his post, in office, mid-transaction. The posture matters because the next verb makes him stand.
ἐπὶepiatG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
τελώνιονtelōniontax boothG5058
√ τελώνιον — a tax-gatherer's place of businessNounAccusative Neuter Singular
telōnion: a tax-gatherer's place of business A rare noun for the toll house itself. The call comes to a man at his desk in a trade that Cambridge says was trebly hated when the collector was himself a Jew; Christ does not wait for him to resign first.
ἈκολούθειAkoloutheiFollowG190
√ ἀκολουθέω — properly, to be in the same way with, iVerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
akoloutheō: to be in the same way with Present imperative, two words in Greek. The root means to be on the same road, so the command is not "assent" but "come along where I go." Gill, reading this as efficacious grace, insists the will is not forced yet the call always obtains what it designs.
μοιmoiMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounDative 1st Person Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
λέγειlegeiHe toldG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτῷautōhimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀναστὰςanastas[Levi] got upG450
√ ἀνίστημι — to stand up (literal or figurative, transitive or intransitive)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
anistēmi: to stand up Aorist participle, "having risen." The Greek subordinates the rising to the following, so the standing up is not a second achievement but the shape of the one act of obedience. The same verb carries resurrection weight elsewhere in Mark, and here a man rises out of the toll booth.
ἠκολούθησενēkolouthēsen[and] followedG190
√ ἀκολουθέω — properly, to be in the same way with, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
akoloutheō: to follow Aorist indicative answering the present imperative of word 11: the continuing command met by a completed act. Mark reports no farewell and no accounting; Maclaren observes that he left everything in his custom-house to look after itself.
αὐτῷautōHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
15

While Jesus was dining at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him and His disciples—for there were many who followed Him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai ginetai auton katakeisthai en autou tē oikia kai polloi telōnai kai hamartōloi synanekeinto tō Iēsou kai autou tois mathētais gar ēsan polloi kai ēkolouthoun autō

Word by word26 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiWhileG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
γίνεταιginetaiG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
ginomai: to come to be Present indicative, and BSB leaves it untranslated. Mark's idiom, and it comes to pass that he is reclining, is the narrative hinge that turns the call of one man into a public scene; Pulpit judges egeneto the best reading and treats the clause as the opening of the episode rather than a subordinate time marker.
αὐτὸνauton[Jesus]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
κατακεῖσθαιkatakeisthaiwas diningG2621
√ κατάκειμαι — to lie down, iVerbPresent Infinitive Middle or Passive
katakeimai: to lie down Present infinitive after ginetai. Reclining is the festal posture, not ordinary eating, and it is what makes the scene public and scandalous: a shared couch is shared standing.
ἐνenatG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
αὐτοῦautou[Levi’s]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
οἰκίᾳoikiahouseG3614
√ οἰκία — properly, residence (abstractly), but usually (concretely) an abode (literally or figuratively)NounDative Feminine Singular
oikia: residence, an abode A private house, the one social space a scribe could not regulate. Pulpit reads Matthew's invitation of his old associates as the immediate fruit of his call, good being ever diffusive of itself.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πολλοὶpolloimanyG4183
√ πολύς — (singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) manyAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
τελῶναιtelōnaitax collectorsG5057
√ τελώνης — a tax-farmer, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
telōnēs: a tax-farmer Cambridge is precise that the men here are not the Roman knights who farmed the taxes but the portitores, local subcontractors, which is why they were both despised and available. The word occurs in 20 verses and clusters almost entirely in scenes of this kind.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἁμαρτωλοὶhamartōloisinnersG268
√ ἁμαρτωλός — sinful, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
hamartōlos: sinful, a sinner Used as a substantive, and in this unit it is first a label supplied by others (verses 15 and 16) and then, at verse 17, a word Jesus takes into His own mouth as the object of His mission. The whole unit turns on who is allowed to use it.
συνανέκειντοsynanekeintowere eating withG4873
√ συνανάκειμαι — to recline in company with (at a meal)VerbImperfect Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Plural
synanakeimai: to recline in company with at a meal A rare compound (7 verses) built of with, up and lie. Mark does not say Jesus tolerated their presence; the verb makes the tax collectors and sinners co-recliners with Jesus and His disciples. This is the sourced fact the scribes' question is about.
τῷtōG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦIēsou[Him]G2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounDative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
μαθηταῖςmathētaisdisciplesG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounDative Masculine Plural
mathētēs: a learner The disciples are at the same couches, which is why in verse 16 they, not Jesus, are the ones cross-examined.
γὰρgarforG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἦσανēsanthere wereG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
πολλοὶpolloimanyG4183
√ πολύς — (singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) manyAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἠκολούθουνēkolouthounwho followedG190
√ ἀκολουθέω — properly, to be in the same way with, iVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
akoloutheō: to follow Imperfect: a continuing following by many. Maclaren notes that Mark emphasises the effect of this advance by repeatedly mentioning the numbers of them who followed Him.
αὐτῷautōHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
16

When the scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai hoi grammateis tōn Pharisaiōn idontes hoti esthiei meta tōn hamartōlōn kai telōnōn elegon tois autou mathētais Hoti esthiei meta tōn telōnōn kai hamartōlōn

Word by word24 · parsed
καὶkaiWhenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οἱhoitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
γραμματεῖςgrammateisscribesG1122
√ γραμματεύς — scribe, town-clerkNounNominative Masculine Plural
grammateus: scribe, town-clerk The professional interpreters of the law. Their objection is not squeamishness but jurisprudence: as Pulpit paraphrases the charge, by this conduct He transgresses the Law of God and the traditions of the elders, therefore why follow Him.
τῶνtōnwho [were]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
ΦαρισαίωνPharisaiōnPhariseesG5330
√ Φαρισαῖος — a separatist, iNounGenitive Masculine Plural
Pharisaios: a separatist The party name itself means separated ones, which is the whole collision in one word: a sect defined by whom it will not recline with meets a Messiah defined by whom He will.
ἰδόντεςidontessawG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
horaō: to see, attend to Aorist participle. Cambridge and Pulpit both judge that the scribes were not guests but onlookers who found their way in, since sharing the couches would have implicated them in the same charge.
ὅτιhoti[Jesus]G3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ἐσθίειesthieieatingG2068
√ ἐσθίω — used only in certain tenses, the rest being supplied by G5315 (φάγω)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
μετὰmetawithG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
τῶνtōnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
ἁμαρτωλῶνhamartōlōnvvvG268
√ ἁμαρτωλός — sinful, iAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
καὶkaivvvG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τελωνῶνtelōnōn[these people]G5057
√ τελώνης — a tax-farmer, iNounGenitive Masculine Plural
ἔλεγονelegonthey askedG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
epō / legō: to speak, say Imperfect, a sustained muttering rather than a single question, and aimed at the disciples. Maclaren reads the tactic as covert insinuation into the disciples' minds, perhaps in hope of sowing suspicions there.
τοῖςtois. . .G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
μαθηταῖςmathētaisdisciplesG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounDative Masculine Plural
mathētēs: a learner The learners are questioned about their teacher's table, so the first attack on Jesus in this unit is an attempt to separate His followers from Him.
ὍτιHotiWhy {does}G3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
hoti: that, why The interrogative use turns the report into an indictment.
ἐσθίειesthieiHe eatG2068
√ ἐσθίω — used only in certain tenses, the rest being supplied by G5315 (φάγω)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
μετὰmetawithG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
τῶνtōnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
τελωνῶνtelōnōntax collectorsG5057
√ τελώνης — a tax-farmer, iNounGenitive Masculine Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἁμαρτωλῶνhamartōlōnsinnersG268
√ ἁμαρτωλός — sinful, iAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
17

On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai ho akousas Iēsous legei autois hoti Ou hoi ischyontes echousin chreian iatrou all’ hoi kakōs echontes ouk ēlthon kalesai dikaious alla hamartōlous

Word by word23 · parsed
ΚαὶKai[On]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἀκούσαςakousashearing thisG191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
akouō: to hear Aorist participle. Gill allows both that Christ overheard the muttering and that the disciples reported it; either way the answer is given to the scribes, not about them.
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
λέγειlegeitoldG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ΟὐOu[It is] notG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
οἱhoitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ἰσχύοντεςischyonteshealthyG2480
√ ἰσχύω — to have (or exercise) force (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
ischyō: to have or exercise force The strong are the self-sufficient. Maclaren's reading is that Jesus speaks to the cavillers for the moment in their own dialect, taking them at their own valuation, and that the concession is deadly: to conceit ourselves whole bars us off from getting any good from Him.
ἔχουσινechousin[who]G2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
χρείανchreianneedG5532
√ χρεία — employment, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
chreia: employment, need Need is the only qualification named in the sentence, and it is the one thing the objectors have denied of themselves.
ἰατροῦiatroua doctorG2395
√ ἰατρός — a physicianNounGenitive Masculine Singular
iatros: a physician A rare noun (7 verses). Pulpit presses the logic of the image: the physician is not infected by the patient's disease but overcomes it, so it is an honour, not a disgrace, to be found among the sick. Henry adds the honest limit, that our good Physician had the power of healing in himself and was in no danger of taking the disease, but it is not so with us.
ἀλλ’all’butG235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
οἱhoitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
κακῶςkakōssickG2560
√ κακῶς — badly (physically or morally)Adverb
kakōs: badly, physically or morally The adverb holds the two senses together, which is why one saying answers both a question about diet and a question about sin.
ἔχοντεςechontes. . .G2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
οὐκoukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἦλθονēlthonI have not comeG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active1st Person Singular
erchomai: to come First person aorist, the first mission statement in Mark's Gospel from Jesus' own lips. To say I came is to speak of a purpose formed before the arrival; Pulpit reads it as being sent from heaven by the Father, and Mark 10:45 will put the same verb to the ransom.
καλέσαιkalesaito callG2564
√ καλέω — to "call" (properly, aloud, but used in a variety of applications, directly or otherwise)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
kaleō: to call, to invite Aorist infinitive of purpose. The verb is both a summons and an invitation to table, and both meanings are literally happening in the room: Levi was called at his booth, and sinners are reclining now.
δικαίουςdikaiousthe righteousG1342
√ δίκαιος — equitable (in character or act)AdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
dikaios: equitable in character or act Gill is careful that the righteous here are not those made righteous by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, but those outwardly righteous before men who trusted in themselves. Benson puts the same point plainly, that if these were righteous, He would not call them. Read otherwise, the verse would deny the mission to everyone, since all have sinned, which Maclaren says vanishes in the fact that we all are sick.
ἀλλὰallabutG235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
ἁμαρτωλούςhamartōloussinnersG268
√ ἁμαρτωλός — sinful, iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
hamartōlos: sinner The scribes' term of exclusion becomes the stated object of the mission, and the sentence stops there.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The shore again, and a teaching that will not stay indoors — Mark 2:13

⚙ Mark builds the scene out of two imperfects. The crowd ἤρχετο (was coming, and coming) and Jesus ἐδίδασκεν (was teaching, and teaching), while the exit itself is a single aorist ἐξῆλθεν. Cambridge places the walk out of Capernaum through a suburb of fishers' huts and custom-houses, and Barnes identifies the water as the Sea of Tiberias on whose shore the town stood: the road to the toll booth is the road out of the house where a paralytic was just forgiven. Pulpit reads the πάλιν (again) as pointing back to the earlier going forth of Mark 1:35. Poole takes the imperfect of teaching as a standing lesson for ministers, that they must be persons apt to teach, and Geneva's one-line gloss on this verse states the tension the rest of the unit will dramatise, that this gospel offends the proud and saves the humble.

ii. A present imperative at the toll booth — Mark 2:14

⚙ Three details are doing the work, and all three are in the parse. παράγων is a participle of passing by, so the call is issued in transit. καθήμενον has Levi seated at the τελώνιον, and Pulpit renders that rare noun more literally as the place of toll, set on the trade line from Damascus to Accho where duties on shipping were taken; Cambridge adds that the hatred of the office was trebled when the collector was himself a Jew. Then Ἀκολούθει μοι, two words, present imperative: keep coming along my road. Gill's account is that Christ is always first, that His eye was upon Levi as He passed by, and that the word carried quickening power; Gill's doctrine of efficacious grace is his own, but the order he observes is Mark's, since the text records no approach from Levi. Pulpit lists what the condescension amounts to, that the publican was called not only to grace but to be a friend, an apostle and an evangelist. On the man's identity the voices divide with the evidence: Poole and Barnes say two names were ordinary among the Jews and identify Levi with Matthew, Ellicott notes that Mark alone calls him son of Alphaeus, Cambridge suggests the new name came with the call, and Gill builds a family of apostle brothers that Cambridge expressly doubts because the lists never pair them. Mark himself asserts none of it.

iii. Co-recliners: the table that provoked the question — Mark 2:15-2:16

⚙ The scandal is lexical before it is ethical. συνανέκειντο (G4873, rare, 7 verses) does not mean that sinners were tolerated nearby; it means they were reclining at table together with Jesus and His disciples. Barnes notes that the words at meat are not in the Greek at all, the posture is: as he reclined at his meal. The Greek says only "in his house"; Gill, Pulpit and Cambridge supply Levi's, Cambridge and Pulpit citing Luke 5:29 for the great feast, and Pulpit reads the guest list as evangelism by the newly called, good being ever diffusive of itself. Cambridge sharpens who these guests were: not the wealthy tax farmers but the local portitores, whom the Jews ranked with harlots and sinners. Then verse 16 reverses the pair of nouns, sinners and tax collectors in the report, tax collectors and sinners in the question, which Pulpit notes as if the terms were convertible, and the protest is addressed to the disciples. Cambridge judges the tactic to be caution after the healing of the paralytic; Maclaren calls it covert insinuation into the disciples' minds, in hope of sowing suspicions there. Henry's observation stands over the whole scene, that it is no new thing for what is both well done and well designed to be slandered.

iv. The Physician's sentence, and the mission it states — Mark 2:17

⚙ The answer has two halves, a proverb and a claim. Gill treats the first as proverbial, and Pulpit presses its logic, that the physician is not infected by the patient but overcomes the disease, so attending the sick is his honour and the more so the greater the sickness. Henry keeps the analogy honest by marking where it breaks for us, since our good Physician had the power of healing in himself and was in no danger of taking the disease, but it is not so with us. Maclaren's reading of the strong and the sick is the sharpest in the brief: Jesus speaks to the cavillers for the moment in their own dialect, taking them at their own valuation, and the concession is lethal, because to think ourselves whole bars us off from any good from Him. Then the claim: οὐκ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλούς. The verb is first person aorist, I came, and the infinitive καλέσαι is the verb of summons and of invitation to a table, both of which are literally in front of them. Benson states the inference without decoration, that if these were righteous He would not call them, and Gill defines the righteous as those outwardly righteous before men who trusted in themselves, not those made righteous by imputed righteousness. Ellicott records the textual fact that matters most for honesty here: Mark and Luke omit the Old Testament citation that Matthew 9:13 gives. Mark's sentence ends on the scribes' own word for other people.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read only from what is in front of us, this unit is a single argument carried by two verbs and a posture. The command to Levi is a present imperative, keep following, and the crowd at the table is described with the imperfect of the same verb; so discipleship in Mark is introduced as a road, not a decision, and the first man on it is a tax collector still sitting in his booth when he is called. The posture word συνανέκειντο is what the scribes actually object to, because reclining together is shared standing, and their party name means the separated ones. Jesus does not answer by denying the association or by qualifying it; He renames it. What looks like indiscriminate table fellowship is triage, and what looks like moral hygiene is a refusal of treatment. The saying's danger is that it grants the scribes their own categories for one sentence and then leaves them outside the mission they thought they were defending, since the only qualification named in the whole verse is χρείαν, need. Two honest limits: Mark does not say Levi is Matthew, and Mark does not include the Hosea citation that Matthew 9:13 supplies, so neither may be smuggled in as this Gospel's own claim. A line of ours, offered to be tested and not a verse of Scripture, stands beside this reading below.

The couch, not the courtroom, is where this Physician takes His first case history.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The same call in three Gospels: the rare toll booth and the rarer name verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ Matthew 9:9 and Luke 5:27 report this call with the same verbs Mark uses, and the Verifier's computed bases carry two uncommon lexemes: τελώνιον (G5058, the toll place, in only 3 verses) shared with Matthew 9:9, and the name Λευΐς (G3018, in only 3 verses) shared with Luke 5:29, alongside ἀκολουθέω (G190) and κάθημαι (G2521). This is Greek to Greek within the synoptic tradition, so the shared vocabulary is a genuine verbal link. JFB and Poole simply cross-reference the passages as one history; Ellicott notes the point where they diverge, that Mark alone gives the patronymic son of Alphaeus.

Matthew 9:9 · Luke 5:27 · Luke 5:29

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G5058 τελώνιον (rare, in 3 vv) with Matthew 9:9 and G3018 Λευΐς (rare, in 3 vv) with Luke 5:29, plus G190 ἀκολουθέω (in 86 vv) and G2521 κάθημαι (in 89 vv); Greek to Greek synoptic parallel of the same saying and scene, not an Old Testament quotation

The physician saying, word for word across the synoptics verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ The proverb and its application recur at Matthew 9:12 and Luke 5:31 with the same rare vocabulary: ἰατρός (G2395, physician, in 7 verses), κακῶς (G2560, badly, in 16 verses) and χρεία (G5532, need). Luke 8:43 shows the other side of the same rare noun, a woman whom physicians could not heal, and shares Mark's ἰσχύω (G2480) as well. Pulpit develops the image at length, that the physician overcomes the disease rather than catching it; Henry marks the disanalogy for ordinary people.

Matthew 9:12 · Luke 5:31 · Luke 8:43

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G2395 ἰατρός (rare, in 7 vv), G2560 κακῶς (in 16 vv), G5532 χρεία (in 47 vv) with Matthew 9:12 and Luke 5:31, and G2395 with G2480 ἰσχύω at Luke 8:43; same saying in the same Greek, a synoptic parallel rather than a citation of the Old Testament

Reclining together: the rare verb of shared table verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ συνανάκειμαι (G4873) occurs in only 7 verses, and Matthew 9:10 uses it of this very meal, with τελώνης (G5057) beside it. Luke 7:37 supplies the near neighbour κατάκειμαι (G2621, in 12 verses) with ἁμαρτωλός (G268) and οἰκία (G3614) in a different house, where a sinful woman reaches a reclining Jesus. Cambridge's note on the portitores and the Jewish grouping of publicans with harlots and sinners is what makes the two scenes one social fact. The Matthew link is verbal, the same sentence in the same Greek; the Luke 7 echo is badged separately below, because a related word in a different episode is motif and not quotation.

Matthew 9:10

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G4873 συνανάκειμαι (rare, in 7 vv) with Matthew 9:10, plus G5057 τελώνης (in 20 vv) and G4183 πολύς (in 322 vv); Greek to Greek report of the same meal, not an Old Testament citation

A sinner reaching a reclining Jesus structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Luke 7:37 sets a woman named ἁμαρτωλός (G268) in a house (οἰκία, G3614) where Jesus is κατάκειμαι (G2621, in 12 verses), the same verb Mark uses of Him at Levi's table. The shared words are real but ordinary, and the episode is a different one, so no quotation is claimed: what repeats is the arrangement, that His reclining is precisely what gives a sinner access to Him and what gives the onlooker an objection. Cambridge's note that the Jews grouped publicans with harlots and sinners is the social fact both scenes turn on.

Luke 7:37

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G2621 κατάκειμαι (in 12 vv), G268 ἁμαρτωλός (in 45 vv) and G3614 οἰκία (in 85 vv); all common, and the episode differs, so the link is the repeated arrangement of reclining, access and objection rather than a verbal quotation

Friend of tax collectors and sinners: the taunt that became a title structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:34 put Mark's two nouns, τελώνης (G5057) and ἁμαρτωλός (G268), into the mouths of the same critics as a charge against the Son of Man, and Luke 5:30 and Matthew 9:11 keep the pairing in the objection to His disciples. The shared lexemes are real, but no quotation is being claimed here: this is one recurring accusation rather than one sentence, so we tier it thematic. Maclaren's reading of the tactic, sarcasm that evoked Christ's own programme of His mission, is the connection that matters.

Matthew 11:19 · Luke 7:34 · Luke 5:30 · Matthew 9:11

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G5057 τελώνης (in 20 vv) and G268 ἁμαρτωλός (in 45 vv) at Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34, Luke 5:30 and Matthew 9:11; both lexemes are common and the link is a recurring accusation motif, not a quotation, so the tier is thematic rather than verbal

The mercy text Mark does not quote structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Matthew 9:13 has Jesus answer this same objection by citing Hosea 6:6, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. Mark has no citation at all: his sentence stops at sinners, and the Verifier offers no Hosea basis because a Greek to Hebrew pair cannot share Strong's numbers. Ellicott records the omission and attributes it to Mark and Luke writing for Gentile readers. ⚙ Our judgment is that the sense of Hosea 6:6 fits Mark's saying exactly, and that this is still Matthew's citation and not Mark's, so the link is structural and the tier can never be verbal.

Hosea 6:6 · Matthew 9:13

basis: Cross-Testament pairing, so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible between Mark's Greek and Hosea's Hebrew; Matthew 9:13 makes the citation explicit while Mark 2:17 contains no citation, a fact confirmed by this unit's interlinear and noted by Ellicott, so the tier is structural and the mercy theme is the recorded basis

Is there no physician there? The prophets' unhealed wound typological

⚙ Jeremiah 8:22 asks whether there is no balm in Gilead and no physician there, over a people whose wound is not healed; Hosea 14:4 has the LORD promise to heal their apostasy freely. Mark 2:17 answers a question about table manners with the figure both prophets use for the covenant condition, sickness needing a healer. No verbal link is possible across the Testaments, and Mark makes no allusion claim; the figural reading is ours to test, though the physician image for God's dealing with Israel is ancient and widely held.

Jeremiah 8:22 · Hosea 14:4

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so shared Strong's numbers cannot be computed and no verbal tier is available; the basis is the shared figure of sickness and physician for covenant sin and healing, a widely held prophetic image, offered as a figural reading and not as a quotation by Mark

The seat of sinners, and the couch of the Son of Man structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The scribes of the Pharisees, whose party name means the separated ones, are reading their own psalms consistently: Psalm 1:1 blesses the man who does not sit in the seat of scoffers, and Psalm 26:4-5 refuses to sit with the wicked. Mark's συνανέκειντο puts Jesus on the couch with exactly those men. Cambridge's note that the Jews ranked publicans with harlots and sinners shows the objection was not invented. ⚙ Our reading is that Jesus does not overturn the psalms but distinguishes the physician from the companion, a distinction Pulpit makes in almost those words; that reading is inference, so the tier stays thematic.

Psalm 1:1 · Psalm 26:4

basis: Cross-Testament, so no shared Strong's lexeme is available and no verbal claim is made; the basis is the direct antithesis of posture and company (sitting or reclining with sinners) between the psalms as the scribes would read them and Mark's rare G4873 συνανάκειμαι, with Mark supplying no citation

Which Alphaeus, and which son: a contested identification flagged: verify source

⚙ The Verifier finds the rare name Ἀλφαῖος (G256, in 5 verses) at Mark 3:18, Matthew 10:3, Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13, where it belongs to James son of Alphaeus. Gill takes Mark's Levi to be brother to that James and builds a family of four or five apostles; Cambridge objects that the two are never named together as other apostolic brothers are, and Gill himself reports that Beza's most ancient copy reads James instead of Levi here, which he judges wrong. The name link is a fact; the identification built on it is disputed, and the textual variant is part of why. We flag rather than assert.

Mark 3:18 · Matthew 10:3 · Acts 1:13

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G256 Ἀλφαῖος (in 5 vv) at Mark 3:18, Matthew 10:3, Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13; the shared proper name is secure but the inference that Levi son of Alphaeus is brother to James son of Alphaeus is contested (Gill for it, Cambridge against) and Gill reports a manuscript reading James for Levi in this verse, so the link is flagged and not tiered verbal

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The Physician who is not defiled by the ward ancient/widely-held

⚙ The figure Jesus chooses for Himself in verse 17 is a rare one, ἰατρός (7 verses), and He chooses it to answer a purity objection. Pulpit's development is the classic reading: the physician is not infected by the disease of the patient but overcomes it and drives it from him, so it is no disgrace but rather an honour to associate with the sick, and the greater the sickness the greater the honour, whence Christ is the physician of sinners and not their companion. Maclaren says the same in his own terms, that Jesus is conscious of power to heal all soul-sickness and therefore goes where He is most needed, that a doctor's place is where disease is rife, and that going down in order to lift others is Christ's mission. Gill catalogues the disease, wounds and bruises and putrefying sores, and names the medicine, a blood that cleanses from all sin. Henry marks the limit that keeps this from being advice to us: our good Physician had the power of healing in himself and was in no danger of taking the disease, but it is not so with us. ⚙ Read with the prophets, this is the answer to Jeremiah's unanswered question about a physician in Gilead.

Mark 2:17 · Jeremiah 8:22 · Hosea 14:4

I came: the first mission statement in Mark from His own lips ancient/widely-held

⚙ οὐκ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλούς is a first person aorist of arrival with a purpose infinitive, and it says, in one clause, that He came from somewhere, was sent for something, and chose His company accordingly. Pulpit puts the sending in the paraphrase, that He is sent from heaven by the Father to be the Physician of the souls of sinners. Benson draws the logic tight, that if these were righteous He would not call them, but now they are the very persons He came to save, and Gill fixes who the righteous are, those outwardly righteous before men who trusted in themselves and so in their own apprehension needed neither Christ nor repentance. Pulpit adds the apostolic echo that the called man himself would later stand for, citing 1 Timothy 1:15, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. ⚙ Mark will use the same verb of coming again at Mark 10:45, where the purpose is named as a ransom for many, so this unit is the first statement of a mission whose cost that later verse prices.

Mark 2:17 · 1 Timothy 1:15 · Mark 10:45

The call that creates its own obedience ancient/widely-held

⚙ In verse 14 the only thing between a seated tax collector and an apostle is two words of Christ. Mark records no approach, no petition and no preparation from Levi's side; Gill presses exactly that order, that Christ is always first with His people, that His eye was upon Levi as He passed by, and that the word carried quickening power so that the man rose and left all. Cambridge tempers it with a historical suggestion, that the new disciple had already heard the discourses and seen the miracles and was therefore prepared in the eyes of Him who read the heart; Pulpit reports Chrysostom to the same effect, that our Lord called Matthew who was already constrained by the report of His miracles, and answers Porphyry's charge that the first disciples followed blindly. ⚙ The two accounts are not equal in support: Mark's text gives the bare call and the bare rising, and the preparation is inference from the parallels. What Mark does show is a Christ whose summons is effective in the moment it is spoken, which is the same authority the crowd had just seen forgive sins at Mark 2:10.

Mark 2:14 · Mark 2:10

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (c. 1905)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

⚙ Text: BSB with the Berean interlinear and Strong's tagging supplied in the brief. Four honesty items specific to this unit. (1) Mark 2:17 ends at ἁμαρτωλούς. Gill and Geneva both quote the saying as "but sinners to repentance," because they work from the Received Text; this unit's interlinear has no such words in Mark, and the phrase is secure at Luke 5:32. Where those commentators are quoted here, that difference stands behind their wording. (2) Mark 2:15 says only "in his house." Levi's house is an inference from Luke 5:29, made by Gill, Pulpit and Cambridge; Mark's pronoun does not settle it. (3) In Mark 2:16 the gloss column of the interlinear is irregular, marking the first pair of nouns with placeholders where BSB substitutes "these people"; the Greek there reads sinners and tax collectors, and tax collectors and sinners in the question, an inversion Pulpit notes from the approved readings. Also, the interlinear tags ἔλεγον under G2036 (ἔπω) rather than G3004; that is the brief's tagging, and the form is imperfect either way. (4) The identification of Levi with Matthew is held by Poole, Barnes, Ellicott, Cambridge, Gill and Pulpit, and is not stated by Mark; Gill's further identification of Levi as brother of James son of Alphaeus is disputed by Cambridge, and Gill himself reports a manuscript reading James for Levi in this verse. Several entries in the brief are cross-references only (JFB throughout, Barnes at Mark 2:16 and Mark 2:17, Poole at Mark 2:15), so those authors carry less weight here than their notes on Matthew 9 would. The Maclaren and Gill entries were capped in the brief; nothing here depends on the capped remainder. Everything marked ⚙ is machine synthesis and fallible.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)