Mark 4:10

10 When He was alone, the Twelve and the others who were about Him requested Him to explain His figurative language.

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 But some of the seed falls into good ground, and gives a return: it comes up and increases, and yields thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold."

9 "Listen," He added, "every one who has ears to listen with!"

10 When He was alone, the Twelve and the others who were about Him requested Him to explain His figurative language.

11 "To you," He replied, "has been entrusted the secret truth concerning the Kingdom of God; but to those others outside your number all this is spoken in figurative language;

12 that "`They may look and look but not see, and listen and listen but not understand, lest perchance they should return and be pardoned.'"