Mark 8

1 In those days, when there was a very great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to himself and said to them,

2 “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have stayed with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

3 If I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come a long way.”

4 His disciples answered him, “From where could one satisfy these people with bread here in a deserted place?”

5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.”

6 He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves. Having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to serve, and they served the multitude.

7 They also had a few small fish. Having blessed them, he said to serve these also.

8 They ate and were filled. They took up seven baskets of broken pieces that were left over.

9 Those who had eaten were about four thousand. Then he sent them away.

10 Immediately he entered into the boat with his disciples and came into the region of Dalmanutha.

11 The Pharisees came out and began to question him, seeking from him a sign from heaven and testing him.

12 He sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Most certainly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

13 He left them, and again entering into the boat, departed to the other side.

14 They forgot to take bread; and they didn’t have more than one loaf in the boat with them.

15 He warned them, saying, “Take heed: beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”

16 They reasoned with one another, saying, “It’s because we have no bread.”

17 Jesus, perceiving it, said to them, “Why do you reason that it’s because you have no bread? Don’t you perceive yet or understand? Is your heart still hardened?

18 Having eyes, don’t you see? Having ears, don’t you hear? Don’t you remember?

19 When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They told him, “Twelve.”

20 “When the seven loaves fed the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They told him, “Seven.”

21 He asked them, “Don’t you understand yet?”

22 He came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him.

23 He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spat on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.

24 He looked up, and said, “I see men, but I see them like walking trees.”

25 Then again he laid his hands on his eyes. He looked intently, and was restored, and saw everyone clearly.

26 He sent him away to his house, saying, “Don’t enter into the village, nor tell anyone in the village.”

27 Jesus went out, with his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”

28 They told him, “John the Baptizer, and others say Elijah, but others, one of the prophets.”

29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”

30 He commanded them that they should tell no one about him.

31 He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

32 He spoke to them openly. Peter took him and began to rebuke him.

33 But he, turning around and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you have in mind not the things of God, but the things of men.”

34 He called the multitude to himself with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the sake of the Good News will save it.

36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?

37 For what will a man give in exchange for his life?

38 For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Around Mark 8

Book context

MarkEditorial draft

Mark opens with “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1) and moves quickly from scene to scene, starting with Jesus announcing that God’s Kingdom is at hand (1:14 to 15). It explains Jewish terms such as “Corban” for its readers (7:11), which suggests an audience not all familiar with Jewish practice. A central saying is that the Son of Man came “to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:45). The text does not name its author; early tradition links it to John Mark and the preaching of Peter, and Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) places it in Rome around AD 63. Many scholars today regard Mark as the earliest Gospel.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · common interpretation · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

Mark 8 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

Three days with Jesus, and nothing left to eat. He has compassion on the crowd and will not send them home fasting. With seven loaves and a few small fish he gives thanks, and about four thousand eat and are filled, with seven baskets left over. The Pharisees then ask for a sign from heaven, and Jesus sighs deeply and refuses.

In the boat he warns his disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod, and they think he means bread. He asks them to remember the baskets from the two feedings. At Bethsaida he heals a blind man in two stages. The man first says, “I see men, but I see them like walking trees” and then, at a second touch, sees everyone clearly.

On the road to Caesarea Philippi Jesus asks who people say he is, and who the disciples say. Peter answers, “You are the Christ.” Jesus begins to teach that he must suffer, be killed and rise. Peter begins to rebuke him and is rebuked in turn. Jesus calls his followers to take up their cross.

Background

This chapter is the turning point of Mark. Before it the question is who Jesus is; after it, the focus moves toward Jerusalem and the cross. Christ is the Greek form of Messiah, meaning anointed one. Son of Man is Jesus’s usual way of speaking of himself, and it draws on Daniel 7. The healing of the blind man comes just before Peter’s confession, and many readers see a link between gradual sight and gradual understanding. Caesarea Philippi was a largely non-Jewish city north of Galilee.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 26 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes