Bible Strands
Mark 3:9
Jesus asked His disciples to have a boat ready for Him so that the crowd would not crush Him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to His disciples during a period of intense public ministry when large crowds from Jerusalem, Idumea, Tyre, and Sidon are pressing in on Him. He instructs them to prepare a boat to prevent the surging crowd from crushing Him.
The words — The Greek verb προσκαρτερῇ (proskarterēa) literally means "may wait upon," indicating the disciples are to station a boat nearby as a precaution. The conjunction ἵνα (ina) introduces the purpose clause, framing the boat as a means to avoid being crushed by the crowd.
The thread — This pattern of Jesus withdrawing from pressing crowds appears in Mark 5:30, where He detects power leaving Him amid the throng, and in John 6:15, where He retreats to a mountain to avoid being made king by force.
Why it lands — The text records Jesus ordering a boat to prevent the crowd from crushing Him. It asks a reader to recognize that strategic withdrawal is a practical response to unmanageable crowds, not a rejection of them.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.