Limitless Word
So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.
Mark 6:32 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB They went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.
  • KJV And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.
  • BSB So they went away in a boat by themselves to a solitary place.
  • NKJV So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.
  • NASB And they went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

They withdrew by boat to a deserted place. It sets the stage for the feeding of the five thousand.

Overview

Seeking solitude and rest, Jesus and the Twelve crossed the lake to a remote spot. Their attempt to escape the crowds would be overtaken by the people's eagerness, but it leads directly into one of Jesus' great miracles. The verse highlights both Christ's desire to care for His own and the unrelenting need of the multitudes.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Mark 4:36Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other small boats were also with him.
  • Mark 6:45Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat, and to go ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he himself sent the multitude away.
  • Mark 8:2–9“I have compassion on the multitude, because they have stayed with me now three days, and have nothing to eat.
  • John 6:5–13Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes, and seeing that a great multitude was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?”
  • Mark 3:9He spoke to his disciples that a little boat should stay near him because of the crowd, so that they wouldn’t press on him.
  • Matt 14:13–21Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat, to a deserted place apart. When the multitudes heard it, they followed him on foot from the cities.
  • Luke 9:10–17The apostles, when they had returned, told him what things they had done. He took them, and withdrew apart to a deserted place of a city called Bethsaida.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Mark videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Mark 6:32YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MarkMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

How Mark 6:32 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.