Matthew 13:2

Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat down, while all the people stood on the shore.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses the massive crowds gathered by the sea, having just left a house and taken a seat near the water, immediately before delivering a series of parables.

The words — συνήχθησαν (sunēchthēsan) translates literally as “were gathered together,” describing the crowd’s movement toward Jesus. ὥστε (hōste) means “so that,” indicating the result or purpose of the gathering rather than a direct cause.

The thread — The pattern of Jesus teaching from a boat to gathered crowds appears in Luke 5:3, while Matthew 4:25 records similar large followings from Galilee and beyond.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize Jesus’ deliberate positioning to address a multitude, establishing the physical framework for his subsequent parabolic instruction.

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 great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

Cross-references

Luke 5:3 Jesus got into the boat belonging to Simon and asked him to put out a little from shore. And sitting down, He taught the people from the boat.
Genesis 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.
Matthew 4:25 Large crowds followed Him, having come from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
Matthew 15:30 Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them.
Mark 4:1 Once again Jesus began to teach beside the sea, and such a large crowd gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people crowded along the shore.
Luke 8:4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, He told them this parable: