Marc 3:8

8 De Jérusalem, de l'Idumée et d'au-delà du Jourdain. Et ceux des environs de Tyr et de Sidon, ayant entendu parler des grandes choses qu'il faisait, vinrent aussi vers lui en grand nombre.

Marc 3:8 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 3:8

And from Jerusalem
The metropolis of the country of Judea;

and from Idumea,
or Edom, as the Syriac version reads it; a country that lay on the south of Judea, formerly inhabited by the sons of Edom, but now by Jews; or at least the inhabitants of it were proselytes to the Jewish religion. Mention is made of the plains of Idumea, along with Gazera, Azotus, and Jamnia, as in 1 Maccabees:

``Howbeit all the hindmost of them were slain with the sword: for they pursued them unto Gazera, and unto the plains of Idumea, and Azotus, and Jamnia, so that there were slain of them upon a three thousand men.'' (1 Maccabees 4:15)
Pliny F20 speaks of Idumea and Judea together, as a part of Syria; and Ptolemy says F21, this country lies on the west of the river Jordan; and it is here added,

and from beyond Jordan;
the country of Peraea, on the east of Jordan:

and they about Tyre and Sidon;
either the inhabitants of these places, as the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions favour, reading "a great company from Tyre and Sidon"; or those that lived near the borders, and upon the confines of these cities of Phoenicia:

a great multitude;
when all met together, from these several parts; who

when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him:
for his fame went through all the countries, for the miracles he wrought; which drew this vast concourse of people after him; and who, inquiring where he was, came to him at the sea of Galilee.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 12.
F21 Geograph. l. 5. c. 16.

Marc 3:8 In-Context

6 Et les pharisiens étant sortis, tinrent aussitôt conseil avec les hérodiens contre lui, pour le faire périr.
7 Alors Jésus se retira avec ses disciples vers la mer, et une grande multitude le suivait de la Galilée, de la Judée,
8 De Jérusalem, de l'Idumée et d'au-delà du Jourdain. Et ceux des environs de Tyr et de Sidon, ayant entendu parler des grandes choses qu'il faisait, vinrent aussi vers lui en grand nombre.
9 Et il dit à ses disciples qu'il y eût une petite barque toute prête auprès de lui, à cause de la multitude, de peur qu'elle ne le pressât trop.
10 Car il en avait guéri plusieurs, de sorte que tous ceux qui avaient des maladies se jetaient sur lui pour le toucher.
The Ostervald translation is in the public domain.