Bible Strands
Matthew 9:1
Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus enters a boat, crosses the water, and arrives at His own town, an action that immediately precedes the delivery of a paralytic to Him. This relocation establishes the physical location for the ensuing encounter.
The words — ἐμβὰς (embas) translates literally as "having entered" or "having climbed into," while διεπέρασεν (dieperasen) means "He passed over" or "crossed through." These aorist participles and verbs chart the precise sequence of movement that frames the narrative.
The thread — The arrival at a lakeside settlement mirrors Jesus' prior move to Capernaum by the sea (Matthew 4:13), while the surrounding warnings about unresponsive audiences (Matthew 7:6) and the fear-driven expulsion from other regions (Luke 8:37) outline the recurring pattern of His itinerant ministry.
Why it lands — The verse records a factual relocation that positions Jesus to confront both faith and resistance in a familiar place. A reader must track how physical movement precedes spiritual engagement, noting that proximity to Jesus does not automatically produce response.
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 entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.
Cross-references
- Matthew 4:13 Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
- Luke 8:37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to depart from them, because great fear had taken hold of them. So He got into the boat and started back.
- Matthew 7:6 Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
- Matthew 8:18 When Jesus saw a large crowd around Him, He gave orders to cross to the other side of the sea.
- Mark 5:21 When Jesus had again crossed by boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him beside the sea.
- Revelation 22:11 Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”
- Matthew 8:23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.