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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Mark 11 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/mark/11.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; 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loose him, and bring <i>him</i>.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">A colt tied.</span>—St. Mark, with St. Luke and St. John, omits the mention of the “she-ass” bound with the colt, on which St. Matthew lays stress as a literal fulfilment of <a href="/zechariah/9-9.htm" title="Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on an ass, and on a colt the foal of an ass.">Zechariah 9:9</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Whereon never man sat.</span>—The fact is mentioned by St. Mark and St. Luke only.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-4.htm">Mark 11:4</a></div><div class="verse">And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.</div>(4) <span class= "bld">Without in a place where two ways met.</span>—Each touch is characteristic of St. Mark, and implies personal observation on the part of his informant. The colt was at the door—outside, not inside, the court-yard; it was not at “a place,” but at “<span class= "ital">the</span> place,” as we speak of “<span class= "ital">the</span> cross-roads,” where two ways met.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-5.htm">Mark 11:5</a></div><div class="verse">And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?</div>(5) <span class= "bld">And certain of them that stood there.</span>—This again, though perhaps implied in our Lord’s words, is not reported by St. Matthew.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-8.htm">Mark 11:8</a></div><div class="verse">And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed <i>them</i> in the way.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">Branches off the trees.</span>—The Greek word for “branches” is used by St. Mark only. It describes the leafy boughs forming, as they were thrown down, a kind of litter or matting, rather than the woody branches.<p><span class= "bld">Off the trees.</span>—The better MSS. give “from the fields,” a reading which, perhaps, agrees better with the account of the “branches” given in the preceding Note.<p><span class= "bld">And strawed them in the way.</span>—Omitted in the better MSS.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-10.htm">Mark 11:10</a></div><div class="verse">Blessed <i>be</i> the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.</div>(10) <span class= "bld">Blessed be the kingdom.</span>—The shout of blessing for the kingdom as well as for the king, is another touch by which St. Mark’s record is distinguished from the others.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-11.htm">Mark 11:11</a></div><div class="verse">And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">And now the eventide was come.</span>—On the apparent discrepancy between St. Mark’s narrative and that of St. Matthew and St. Luke, see Note on <a href="/matthew/21-12.htm" title="And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,">Matthew 21:12</a>. The minuteness and precision of St. Mark’s report are in themselves, <span class= "ital">primâ facie,</span> an evidence in its favour. The word “eventide” is somewhat indefinite, but it included the two or three hours before sunset, as well as after. The procession, if it started in the morning, had probably been delayed by frequent halts, and its movement through such a dense crowd must have been but slow.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-12.htm">Mark 11:12</a></div><div class="verse">And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:</div>(12-14) <span class= "bld">And on the morrow.</span>—On the chronological difficulty presented by this verse, see Note on <a href="/context/matthew/21-18.htm" title="Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungry.">Matthew 21:18-19</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-13.htm">Mark 11:13</a></div><div class="verse">And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not <i>yet</i>.</div>(13) <span class= "bld">For the time of figs was not yet.</span>—It has been sometimes urged that this gives the reason for our Lord’s coming to seek “if haply he might find” fruit. The fig season had not come, and therefore the fruit, if any had been borne, would not have been gathered. There is nothing, however, against taking the words in their more natural sequence. The precocious foliage had suggested the thought that some of the early ripe figs might be already formed; but it was no exception, as far as fruit was concerned, to others of its kind. For it, as for them, the season, even of the earliest fruit, had not come. The seeing the fig-tree “afar off,” is a touch peculiar to St. Mark, and adds force to the narrative, as implying a keener pressure of hunger than St. Matthew’s description.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-15.htm">Mark 11:15</a></div><div class="verse">And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;</div>(15-19) <span class= "bld">And Jesus went into the temple.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/context/matthew/21-12.htm" title="And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,">Matthew 21:12-17</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-16.htm">Mark 11:16</a></div><div class="verse">And would not suffer that any man should carry <i>any</i> vessel through the temple.</div>(16) <span class= "bld">And would not suffer that any man.</span>—Peculiar to St. Mark. The vessels referred to included, probably, the baskets and other common implements of traffic. Men were using the courts of the Temple as a short cut from one part of the city to another.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-18.htm">Mark 11:18</a></div><div class="verse">And the scribes and chief priests heard <i>it</i>, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.</div>(18) <span class= "bld">They feared him.</span>—Peculiar to St. Mark. Note also his omission of the facts recorded by St. Matthew: (1) the healing of the blind and the lame in the Temple; (2) the children crying Hosanna.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-19.htm">Mark 11:19</a></div><div class="verse">And when even was come, he went out of the city.</div>(19) <span class= "bld">And when even was come.</span>—Another note of time peculiar to St. Mark.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-20.htm">Mark 11:20</a></div><div class="verse">And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.</div>(20-25) <span class= "bld">And in the morning.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/context/matthew/21-20.htm" title="And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!">Matthew 21:20-22</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-21.htm">Mark 11:21</a></div><div class="verse">And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.</div>(21-22) <span class= "bld">And Peter calling to remembrance.</span>—St. Mark alone names Peter as the speaker. The form of our Lord’s answer, “Have faith in God,” is also peculiar to him.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-23.htm">Mark 11:23</a></div><div class="verse">For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.</div>(23) <span class= "bld">Those things . . . he shall have whatsoever he saith.</span>—The better MSS. give, “that <span class= "ital">the thing</span> which he saith cometh to pass,” and “he shall have <span class= "ital">it.”</span> The promise is specific rather than general in its form, and so prepares the way for the wider generalisation of the next verse.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-24.htm">Mark 11:24</a></div><div class="verse">Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive <i>them</i>, and ye shall have <i>them</i>.</div>(24) <span class= "bld">Believe that ye receive them.</span>—The better MSS. give the latter verb in the past tense, “Believe that ye received them.” It is obvious that, as a rule, such words imply prayer for spiritual rather than temporal blessings. In that region the subjective faith becomes an objective reality. We are to believe, not that we shall one day have what we pray for in a future more or less distant, but that we actually receive it as we pray. In most, if not in all cases, in prayer for peace, pardon, illumination, the promise, though it sounds hyperbolical, is psychologically true.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-25.htm">Mark 11:25</a></div><div class="verse">And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.</div>(25-26) <span class= "bld">And when ye stand praying, forgive.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/matthew/6-14.htm" title="For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:">Matthew 6:14</a>. The reproduction of the words which are recorded as having been spoken in the Sermon on the Mount, is very significant. The prayer even of intensest faith is not perfect, unless the temper of the worshipper is also that of the Charity which forgives offences. Such words exclude from the prayers of Christ’s disciples wishes more or less vindictive, which, as in Psalms 69, 109, had seemed natural and right under a less perfect manifestation of the will and mind of the Father.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-27.htm">Mark 11:27</a></div><div class="verse">And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,</div>(27-33) <span class= "bld">And they come again to Jerusalem.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/context/matthew/21-23.htm" title="And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority do you these things? and who gave you this authority?">Matthew 21:23-27</a>. Peculiar to St. Mark is the fact that our Lord was “walking” as well as teaching in the Temple.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-32.htm">Mark 11:32</a></div><div class="verse">But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all <i>men</i> counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.</div>(32) <span class= "bld">That he was a prophet indeed.</span>—The intensifying adverb is one of St. Mark’s graphic touches of emphasis.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/mark/11-33.htm">Mark 11:33</a></div><div class="verse">And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.</div>(33) <span class= "bld">We cannot tell.</span>—Better, as also in <a href="/matthew/21-27.htm" title="And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said to them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.">Matthew 21:27</a>, <span class= "ital">We do not know.</span> The repetition of the verb “tell” in the English, gives an unreal emphasis which is not in the Greek. The real stress lies on the pronoun “I.”<p><span class= "bld"><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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