Mark 4:1

1 He went back to teaching by the sea. A crowd built up to such a great size that he had to get into an offshore boat, using the boat as a pulpit as the people pushed to the water's edge.

Mark 4:1 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 4:1

And he began again to teach by the sea side
He went out of the house where he was at Capernaum, the same day he had the above discourse with the Scribes and Pharisees, and on which his mother and: brethren came to speak with him; and from thence he went where he had been before, and taught the people; namely, to the sea side, the shore of the sea of Galilee, or Tiberias:

and there was gathered unto him a great multitude;
which followed him from the house, and from other parts of the city, and perhaps from the adjacent places:

so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea;
in the ship at sea, at some little distance from the shore; the sea of Tiberias being rather a lake, and within land, had no tide, and so was still and quiet:

and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land;
stood on the land, all along the sea shore; (See Gill on Matthew 13:1), (See Gill on Matthew 13:2).

Mark 4:1 In-Context

1 He went back to teaching by the sea. A crowd built up to such a great size that he had to get into an offshore boat, using the boat as a pulpit as the people pushed to the water's edge.

2 He taught by using stories, many stories.

3 "Listen. What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed.

4 As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road and birds ate it.

5 Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots,