1
When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain and sat down. His disciples came to Him,
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Greek — tap a word ↓
de Idōn tous ochlous anebē eis to oros kai autou kathisantos hoi autou mathētai prosēlthan autō
Word by word16 · parsed
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
de: but, and, now A connective, not a time word; BSB's "When" belongs to the participle that follows.
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
horaō: to see, to perceive, to attend to Aorist active participle. Strong's widens the root beyond eyesight to attending to, and the whole sermon hangs off this seeing: the crowds are perceived, then answered. Benson reads the moment pastorally, that the Son of God, seeing the multitude, felt a strong desire to give them instruction. The grammar supports the causal weight Benson puts on it, since the participle subordinates the seeing to the ascent.
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
√ ὄχλος — a throng (as borne along)NounAccusative Masculine Plural
ochlos: a throng, as borne along Accusative plural, definite. JFB and Pulpit both tie these crowds back to Matthew 4:25, so the article is anaphoric: not crowds in general, but those already following. Note the pressure this puts on the scene, since the crowds are seen but the disciples are the ones who come near.
√ ἀναβαίνω — to go up (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
anabainō: to go up Aorist indicative active, the first finite verb of the sermon, and a punctiliar one: a single completed climb, set against the durative imperfect ἐδίδασκεν that follows in verse 2. The motion of the discourse is upward before it is verbal. Matthew uses the same verb with the same mountain word at 14:23 and 15:29, where the going up is for prayer and for healing; here it is for teaching, and at 15:29 the ascent is followed by the same seating verb as here.
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
A simple preposition of motion into or toward.
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
The article with oros, the pivot of the Cambridge and Pulpit dispute recorded in the divergences.
√ ὄρος — perhaps akin to G142 (αἴρω)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
oros: mountain Strong's notes only a possible kinship with G142 airō (to lift). The named voices divide sharply on what this mountain is. Cambridge calls it the Sinai of the New Law; Pulpit, following Thayer, says it is "not any special mountain, but the mountain nearest the place spoken of"; Barnes reports the traditional site at the Horns of Hattin and says plainly that he has no great confidence in it. The text itself gives an article and no name.
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
Coordinating conjunction, joining the ascent to the seating.
√ 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
The genitive pronoun that supplies the subject of the genitive absolute in the next word.
√ καθίζω — to seat down, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveGenitive Masculine Singular
kathizō: to seat down Aorist participle in a genitive absolute. Sitting is not rest but office: Gill says the posture was that of masters, and quotes Maimonides on the master seated at the head with the disciples before him in a circuit, and the Talmudic tradition that after Rabban Gamaliel died they learned the law sitting. Cambridge adds that in the Talmud "to sit" is nearly synonymous with "to teach". The posture is therefore a claim of authority before a word is spoken.
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
The article marking the disciples as the subject of the finite verb.
√ 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
The possessive genitive: the disciples are specifically his.
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
mathētēs: a learner Strong's gives the plain sense, a learner, and Barnes presses it: the word means learners, those who are taught, and does not by itself imply that they were all Christians. Pulpit agrees that the word covers all personal followers who attached themselves to him to learn, at least until the crisis of John 6:66. Cambridge, more boldly, calls this approach the beginning of the Christian Church. Two named voices, two different weights on one noun.
√ προσέρχομαι — to approach, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
proserchomai: to approach, to come to Aorist indicative active, plural, and the main verb of the clause. In the Greek the sentence culminates not in the sitting but in the drawing near. Pulpit fills in what the verb implies, that they came up to him and presumably sat down in front of him to listen.
√ 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
Dative of the person approached.