Matthew 14:22

Constrained (hnagkasen). Literally, "compelled" or "forced." See this word also in Luke 14:23 . The explanation for this strong word in Mark 6:45 and Matthew 14:22 is given in John 6:15 . It is the excited purpose of the crowd to take Jesus by force and to make him national king. This would be political revolution and would defeat all the plans of Jesus about his kingdom. Things have reached a climax. The disciples were evidently swept off their feet by the mob psychology for they still shared the Pharisaic hope of a political kingdom. With the disciples out of the way Jesus could handle the crowd more easily, till he should send the multitudes away (ew ou apolush tou oclou). The use of the aorist subjunctive with ew or ew ou is a neat and common Greek idiom where the purpose is not yet realized. So in John 18:30 ; John 26:36 . "While" sometimes renders it well. The subjunctive is retained after a past tense instead of the change to the optative of the ancient Attic. The optative is very rare anyhow, but Luke uses it with prin h in Acts 25:16 .