Mark 4:10

The Reason for the Parables

10 And when he was alone, those around him together with the twelve began asking him about the parables.

Mark 4:10 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 4:10

And when he was alone
After the multitude was dismissed, and he either remained in the ship, or left it, and retired to some private place, it may be to Simon's house in Capernaum. The Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read, "when they were alone"; meaning as follows,

they that were about him with the twelve;
that is, such disciples of his, who, besides the twelve, constantly attended him; perhaps those who now were, or hereafter were the seventy disciples. The Vulgate Latin reads, "the twelve that were with him". In Beza's most ancient copy it is read, "his disciples"; and to this agrees the Persic version; and so the other evangelists, Matthew and Luke, relate, that his disciples came and

asked of him the parable;
the meaning of it, and why he chose this way of speaking to the people, ( Matthew 13:10 ) ( Luke 8:9 ) , though that word may include others besides the twelve.

Mark 4:10 In-Context

8 And other [seed] fell on the good soil, and produced grain, coming up and increasing, and it bore [a crop]--one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred [times as much].

9 And he said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!"

10 And when he was alone, those around him together with the twelve began asking him about the parables.

11 And he said to them, "To you has been granted the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is in parables,

12 so that '{they may look closely} and not perceive, and {they may listen carefully} and not understand, lest they turn and it be forgiven them.'"

Footnotes

• [a]. The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began asking")