Mark

10:46-52

The journey to God's mountain, 6:1-10:52

3. The new law, 9:14-10:52

vii] A blind man comes to see through faith and follows his master

The story of blind Bartimaeus is the last healing miracle recorded in Mark. It rounds off the set of stories which began with the healing of the possessed boy, 9:14-29. Although the healing of Bartimaeus again reveals something of Jesus' messianic credentials, the story focuses on the response of Bartimaeus himself. He tenaciously cries out for mercy and ends up following Jesus. The persistent faith of the blind man is the focus of this story, a faith that leads him on the road to Calvary.

For Mark, this miracle story climaxes the ministry of Jesus prior to his entry into Jerusalem. It reveals Jesus' messianic credentials (he is the "Son of David", the royal messiah) and how the promised blessings of the kingdom may be accessed (a faith that looks to God for mercy). Although some question the degree of the blind man's messianic comprehension, the spiritual depth of his cry for mercy and the commitment-level of his "following on the way", it is more than likely that Mark views his confession and response as pivotal. At the moment of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem there is at least one person who recognizes who Jesus is, seeks from him the only hope for fallen humanity, namely the mercy of God, and rather than sitting beside the way, strikes out with Jesus along the way. Mark would have the reader of his gospel come to that same recognition, that same response and that some commitment to "the way", and so, like blind Bartimaeus, move from darkness to light.

Iericw "Jericho" - Indicating that Jesus is moving closer to Jerusalem. The site is identified in all the records of this story.

outou gen. "Jesus" - he ..... [and his disciples and a large crowd]. Taking the genitive with the genitive absolute participle "were leaving", as does "disciples" and "crowd".

ekporeuomenou (ekporeuomai) gen. aor. part. "As ... were leaving [the city]" - [and he] going forth [from Jericho]. The participle is adverbial, genitive absolute, temporal, as NIV. Indicating that they were actually passing through Jericho, pressing on toward Jerusalem.

ikanou adj. "large [crowd]" - Here taking the sense "significant", Cranfield.

tofloV prosaithV "a blind man" - a blind beggar.

oJ uiJoV Timaiou "[Bartimaeus] (that is, the Son of Timaeus)" - Cranfield questions the placement of this explanatory phrase before the Aramaic "Bartimaeus", rather than after, and also the use of the Greek name "Timaeus", rather than "Timay". He suggests that it is a scribal gloss.

ekaqhto (kaqhmai) imperf. "was sitting" - was sitting down. The imperfect is obviously iterative expressing repeated action; "it was his custom to sit", Robertson. "Was sitting in his usual place beside the road", Phillips.

para + acc. "by [the roadside]" - beside [the way].

akousaV (akouw) aor. part. "when he heard" - having heard. The participle is adverbial, temporal, as NIV.

oJti "that" - that. Introducing a dependent statement of perception, what he heard.

estin pres. "it was" - it is. The original tense of the statement is being expressed, "it is Jesus of Nazareth."

oJ NazarhnoV gen. "[Jesus] of Nazareth" - The genitive is adjectival, "Jesus who comes from Nazareth."

krazein (krazw) pres. inf. "[he began] to shout" - [he began] to cry out [and to say]. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "began".

uiJe Dauid Ihsou "Jesus son of David" - The title is messianic and thus demonstrates messianic recognition by the blind man. It is, of course, possible that the title is nothing more than a formal recognition of Jesus' family ties ("honorific", Gundry), although this seems unlikely. If the title does express messianic recognition, it is interesting that Jesus doesn't silence the blind man, although at this late stage in his ministry there would be little point. Boring argues that "son of David", for Mark, amounts to a misunderstanding of Jesus' true identity, but most other commentators take it as a genuine recognition of Jesus' messianic credentials, eg. Evans, Edwards, Marcus, France ("It is now time, as Jesus approaches Jerusalem, for the messianic aspect of his ministry to become more public").

elehson (eleew) aor. imp. "have mercy on [me]" - Very much an echo of the Psalter (6:2, 9:13, 122:3) and properly the cry of the faithful who recognize that the mercy of God is available to those who cry out for mercy.

epetimwn (epitimaw) imperf. "[many] rebuked [him]" - were telling sharply, sternly. The imperfect is possibly expressing repeated action (iterative), or prolonged action (durative), although verbs of speech are often imperfect as a matter of form, ie. a series of words is not by nature punctiliar and therefore an aorist is an inappropriate tense. Followed by a dative of direct object "him", where the dative sense of the verb "rebuked" is identified in the object; "they spoke sternly to him." "Rebuked" may be a bit strong, better "a number of the people checked him", Moffatt.

iJna + subj. "to [be quiet]" - that [he may be quiet]. This construction forms a dependent statement of commanding, object of the verb "rebuked", "that he should be quiet" = "be quiet".

siwphsh/ (siwpaw) aor. subj. "be quiet" - he may be quiet, silent. The aorist is ingressive where the emphasis is placed at the beginning of the action, "shut your mouth", cf. Zerwick.

pollw/ mallon "all the more" - much more. The adjective "much" takes the dative of measure, "he shouted by much more."

staV (iJsthmi) aor. part. "[Jesus] stopped [and said]" - having stood [Jesus said]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "said", as NIV.

legonteV "-" - [they called the blind man] saying [to him]. Attendant circumstance participle, redundant.

qarsei (qarsew) pres. imp. "cheer up!" - be brave, be courageous, be cheerful. "Its all right now, get up, he's calling you", Phillips.

apobalwn (apaballw) aor. part. "throwing [his cloak] aside" - having thrown off, tossed aside. This, and the following participle, "having jumped up", are attendant circumstance, expressing action accompanying the verb "he came"; "throwing off his cloak and leaping to his feet, Bartimaeus went to Jesus."

apokriqeiV (apokrinomai) aor. pas. part. "-" - having answered [him, Jesus said]. Attendant circumstance participle, virtually redundant, expressing action accompanying the main verb "said". "Jesus spoke to him and said", Moffatt.

autw/ dat. pro. "[Jesus asked] him" - him. Dative direct object after the verb/part "answering" = "replied to him".

poihsw (poiew) aor. subj. "[what do you want me] to do [for you]" - [what do you wish] I may do [for you]. A dependent statement of hoping (an object clause dependent on a verb of thinking), which takes a subjunctive verb, would normally be introduced by iJna. Plummer argues that iJna is not used after qelw "when the first verb is in the second person, and the second verb is in the first."

rJabbouni "Rabbi" - teacher. Marcus notes that the title is of early Palestinian Aramaic origin and may be properly translated "master / lord", rather than just "teacher". The term often has even more exalted uses, ref. "ribbon" to God, often used of God. See also Gundry. It is interesting that Mark does not translate the word for his readers. Obviously he knew that they were bilingual enough to understand it (a further hint as to the recipients of this gospel).

iJna + subj. "[I want to see]" - that [I may see]. Introducing a dependent statement of hoping with "I want/will/wish" assumed, "I wish that I may see". Probably imperatival, "I want to see again", Barclay.

It is likely that Bartimaeus has genuinely responded to Christ and now follows as a disciple, although there are those who think that he simply floats off into the crowd, having met his immediate physical needs, so Kingsbury (Christology). Either way, for Mark the blind man's response to Jesus provides the pattern for his reader's response: a faith that saves, with a consequent following to Calvary.

uJpage (uJpagw) pres. imp. "go" - A common linguistic feature of Jesus = "you don't have to sit on the edge of the road begging any more", Gundry.

hJ pistiV (iV ewV) "[your] faith" - faith. Here dependence on Christ.

seswken (swzw) perf. "has healed [you]" - has saved, restored, healed. Of course, "made you well / healed you / cured you" is intended at the practical level, but in the choice of the word, with its instrument "faith", Mark indicates that he has a double meaning in mind. "Your faith has restored you", Berkeley, is heading in the right direction, although Mark would probably like us to use the stronger "saved" = saved from blindness and death.

euquV "immediately" - The immediacy of the healing, and thus its effectiveness, is being emphasized.

hkolouqei (akoleuqew) imperf. "followed" - he was following. The imperfect is possibly inceptive, "he began to follow", but a more durative sense is probably intended, ie. he willingly followed Christ on the uphill road to Calvary = the way of discipleship; for Mark, a proper faith-response.

en th/ oJdw/ "along the road" - on the way. Mark is possibly just saying that Bartimaeus simply follows Jesus along the road, but something more is probably intended, "he followed in the way of Christ", ie. he became a disciple, which is probably why his name is remembered.

Mark Introduction

lectionarystudies.com